Numerical Methods and Optimization in Finance

Chapter Six

Generating Random Numbers

Publisher Summary

Physical and real-world processes, such as radioactive decay—or the outcomes from a fair casino roulette table—can only produce genuine random numbers in the strictest sense. If the efficient market hypothesis holds, one might argue that asset prices, too, contain genuine randomness; even when properties and underlying principles are understood and known, the actual outcome cannot be perfectly predicted and must, therefore, be considered random. Genuine random numbers coming from computers are rare if not impossible; devices that measure physical activities (e.g., background radiation) could do the trick here. Random numbers from software might look genuinely random at first glance, yet they ...