On 8/4/17, Steve Kinney <admin@pilobilus.net> wrote:
On 08/03/2017 02:54 PM, \0xDynamite wrote:
Speaking of cryptography (harhar),
That joke, btw, was because there's hardly any discussion on this lists subject.
I was contemplating an idea to generate random streams of random numbers using chaos theory (not the first), specifically the logistic equation [3.5x(1-x)], when I came across the argument (http://www.cs.utsa.edu/~wagner/laws/chaos.html) that such generators are "psuedo-random", but I don't think is true.
The equation is capable of producing an infinite stream of numbers that get more random as you continue to use the equation. The amount of true randomness approaches the depth of your word size, but in theory you can create an implementation with arbitrary depth (say 10000 bits).
Is this interesting to anyone?
Thing is, the output of an equation that takes one iteration's output as input for the next round, etc. is 100% deterministic: The same equation, with same initial input, produces the same output every time.
Would not a coin flip with the exact same initial parameters (height, force, deterministic air currents, and striking surface) have the same result?
Being unable to predict an iterated feedback function's 9 millionth digit on its 9 millionth iteration by any means other than actually iterating it 9 million times qualifies the function as "chaotic."
Yes, although I differentiate between deterministic chaos and non-deterministic by using the term "stochastic" for the former.
Only physical sources can generate real entropy in this sense: Decaying isotopes, noise from a leaky diode, tumbling dice, snapshots of variable hardware states in a computer (least significant n. digits of CPU temperature, fan speed, keystroke intervals, etc.) do qualify as entropy;
That's part of the question, are those things deterministic, albeit at several more orders maginitiudes than our computers? I ask this semi-rhetorically, because in my cosmology, the universe must have some non-determinism in order for life to appear. Marxos