Truly random number generation: an example

Abstract

Randomness is crucial for a variety of applications, ranging from gambling to computer simulations, and from cryptography to statistics. However, many of the currently used methods for generating randomness do not meet the criteria that are necessary for these applications to work properly and safely. A common problem is that a sequence of numbers may look random but nevertheless not be truly random. In fact, the sequence may pass all standard statistical tests and yet be perfectly predictable. This renders it useless for many applications. For example, in cryptography, the predictability of a randomly" chosen password is obviously undesirable. Here, we review a recently developed approach to generating true | and hence unpredictable | randomness.