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arXiv:1404.1499physics.pop-ph

A Ballistic Monte Carlo Approximation of π

Vincent Dumoulin, Félix Thouin

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Abstract

We compute a Monte Carlo approximation of π using importance sampling with shots coming out of a Mossberg 500 pump-action shotgun as the proposal distribution. An approximated value of 3.131 is obtained, corresponding to a 0.33% error on the exact value of π. To our knowledge, this represents the first attempt at estimating π using such method, thus opening up new perspectives towards computing mathematical constants using everyday tools.

arXiv comments
Correct minor typos, refine data analysis by using different subsets of the samples to estimate density and estimate π. Results have not changed significatively
Journal reference
DOI
Subjects
physics.pop-phPopular Physics

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Linked by 1 identifiable commenter in 1 comment across 1 thread, from Dec 2018 to Dec 2018. Found in 1 HN submission from Sep 2014 to Sep 2014. Open submission discussions.

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  1. Finding Pi from Random Numbers 1 comment

    • This is a classic statistics/machine learning exercise. It is also the topic of my favorite scientific paper of all time: https://arxiv.org/abs/1404.1499 > A Ballistic Monte Carlo Approximation of π >>We compute a Monte Carlo approximation of π using importance sampling with…

      hannasanarionView on HNParent context

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