Category Archives: Probability

Benoît’s Fractals

Posted on October 17, 2010 by

Mandelbrot set Benoît Mandelbrot passed away a few dayes ago on October 14, 2010. Since 1987, Mandelbrot was a member of the Yale’s mathematics department. This chapterette from my book “Gina says: Adventures in the Blogosphere String War”   about fractals is brought here on this … Continue reading →

Posted in Geometry, Obituary, Physics, Probability | 6 Comments

Midrasha Talks are Now Online

Posted on March 21, 2010 by

Itai Benjamini listening to Gadi Kozma There are 41 lectures from the Midrasha on Probability and Geometry: The Mathematics of Oded Schramm which are now online. Joram Lindenstrauss’s concluding lecture (click on the picture to see) Laci Lovasz More pictures … Continue reading →

Posted in Combinatorics, Conferences, Probability | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Test Your Intuition (11): Is it Rational to Insure a Toaster

Posted on February 28, 2010 by

Here is a question from last year’s exam in the course “Basic Ideas of Mathematics”:   You buy a toaster for 200 NIS ($50) and you are offered one year of insurance for 24 NIS ($6).   a) Is it … Continue reading →

Posted in Probability, Rationality, Teaching, Test your intuition | Tagged , | 18 Comments

Itamar Pitowsky: Probability in Physics, Where does it Come From?

Posted on February 15, 2010 by

I came across a videotaped lecture by Itamar Pitowsky given at PITP some years ago on the question of probability in physics that we discussed in two earlier posts on randomness in nature (I, II). There are links below to … Continue reading →

Posted in Obituary, Philosophy, Physics, Probability | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Noise Stability and Threshold Circuits

Posted on February 10, 2010 by

The purpose of this post is to describe an old conjecture (or guesses, see this post) by Itai Benjamini, Oded Schramm and myself (taken from this paper) on noise stability of threshold functions. I will start by formulating the conjectures and … Continue reading →

Posted in Combinatorics, Computer Science and Optimization, Probability | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Randomness in Nature II

Posted on January 20, 2010 by

In a previous post we presented a MO question by Liza about randomness:  What is the explanation of the apparent randomness of high-level phenomena in nature? 1. Is it accepted that these phenomena are not really random, meaning that given enough … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Physics, Probability | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments

Randomness in Nature

Posted on December 27, 2009 by

Here is an excellent question asked by Liza on “Mathoverflow“. What is the explanation of the apparent randomness of high-level phenomena in nature? For example the distribution of females vs. males in a population (I am referring to randomness in terms … Continue reading →

Posted in Probability | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Midrasha News

Posted on December 22, 2009 by

Our Midrasha is going very very well. There are many great talks, mostly very clear and helpful. Various different directions which interlace very nicely. Some moving new mathematical breakthroughs; very few fresh from the oven. Tomorrow is the last day. Update: I will try … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences, Probability | Tagged | 4 Comments

Four Derandomization Problems

Posted on December 6, 2009 by

Polymath4 is devoted to a question about derandomization: To find a deterministic polynomial time algorithm for finding a k-digit prime.  So I (belatedly) devote this post to derandomization and, in particular, the following four problems. 1) Find a deterministic algorithm for primality 2) Find … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Science and Optimization, Probability | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Midrasha Mathematicae: The Mathematics of Oded Schramm

Posted on November 19, 2009 by

Update: The midrasha is taking place now. After 3 and a half school-days we have a break untill sunday. Clicking on the poster above will lead you the webpage of the event and to  a link to an online broadcast of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences, Probability | 1 Comment