Hands-On GPU Programming with Python and CUDA

Estimating π with Monte Carlo

First, we will apply our new knowledge of cuRAND to perform an estimate of the well-known mathematical constant π, or Pi, which is, of course, the never-ending irrational number 3.14159265358979...

To get an estimate, though, we need to take a moment to think about what this means. Let's think about a circle. Remember that the radius of a circle is the length from the center of the circle to any point in the circle; usually, this is designated with R. The diameter is defined as D = 2R, and the circumference C is the length around the circle. Pi is then defined as π = C / D . We can use Euclidean geometry to find a formula for the area of the circle, which turns out being A = πR² . Now, let's think about a circle ...