math::quasirandom - Quasi-random points for integration and Monte Carlo type methods
Contents
Category
Mathematics
tcllib 1.1 math::quasirandom(3tcl)
Commands
A quasi-random point generator is created using the qrpoint class:
::math::quasirandom::qrpointcreateNAMEDIM ?ARGS?
This command takes the following arguments:
string NAME
The name of the command to be created (alternatively: the new subcommand will generate a
unique name)
integer/string DIM
The number of dimensions or one of: "circle", "disk", "sphere" or "ball"
strings ARGS
Zero or more key-value pairs. The supported options are:
• -startindex: The index for the next point to be generated (default: 1)
• -evaluationsnumber: The number of evaluations to be used by default (default: 100)
The points that are returned lie in the hyperblock [0,1[^n (n the number of dimensions) or on the unit
circle, within the unit disk, on the unit sphere or within the unit ball.
Each generator supports the following subcommands:
gennext
Return the coordinates of the next quasi-random point
genset-startindex
Reset the index for the next quasi-random point. This is useful to control which list of points is
returned. Returns the new or the current value, if no value is given.
genset-evaluationsnumber
Reset the default number of evaluations in compound algorithms. Note that the actual number is the
smallest 4-fold larger or equal to the given number. (The 4-fold plays a role in the detailed
integration routine.)
genintegralfuncminmaxargs
Calculate the integral of the given function over the block (or the circle, sphere etc.)
string func
The name of the function to be integrated
list minmax
List of pairs of minimum and maximum coordinates. This can be used to map the quasi-random
coordinates to the desired hyper-block.
If the space is a circle, disk etc. then this argument should be a single value, the
radius. The circle, disk, etc. is centred at the origin. If this is not what is required,
then a coordinate transformation should be made within the function.
strings args
Zero or more key-value pairs. The following options are supported:
• -evaluationsnumber: The number of evaluations to be used. If not specified use the
default of the generator object.
Description
In many applications pseudo-random numbers and pseudo-random points in a (limited) sample space play an
important role. For instance in any type of Monte Carlo simulation. Pseudo-random numbers, however, may
be too random and as a consequence a large number of data points is required to reduce the error or
fluctuation in the results to the desired value.
Quasi-random numbers can be used as an alternative: instead of "completely" arbitrary points, points are
generated that are diverse enough to cover the entire sample space in a more or less uniform way. As a
consequence convergence to the limit can be much faster, when such quasi-random numbers are well-chosen.
The package defines a class "qrpoint" that creates a command to generate quasi-random points in 1, 2 or
more dimensions. The command can either generate separate points, so that they can be used in a user-
defined algorithm or use these points to calculate integrals of functions defined over 1, 2 or more
dimensions. It also holds several other common algorithms. (NOTE: these are not implemented yet)
One particular characteristic of the generators is that there are no tuning parameters involved, which
makes the use particularly simple.
Keywords
mathematics, quasi-random
Name
math::quasirandom - Quasi-random points for integration and Monte Carlo type methods
References
Various algorithms exist for generating quasi-random numbers. The generators created in this package are
based on: http://extremelearning.com.au/unreasonable-effectiveness-of-quasirandom-sequences/Synopsis
package require Tcl8.69
package require TclOO
package require math::quasirandom1.1::math::quasirandom::qrpointcreateNAMEDIM ?ARGS?
gennextgenset-startindexgenset-evaluationsnumbergenintegralfuncminmaxargs
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Todo
Implement other algorithms and variants
Implement more unit tests.
Comparison to pseudo-random numbers for integration.
