Sci/Tech Fastest random number generator: Sounds of silence proving a hit.

[tom_mai78101]

(Phys.org) -- Researchers at The Australian National University have developed the fastest random number generator in the world by listening to the 'sounds of silence'.

The researchers – Professor Ping Koy Lam, Dr Thomas Symul and Dr Syed Assad from the ANU ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology – have tuned their very sensitive light detectors to listen to vacuum – a region of space that is empty.

Professor Lam said vacuum was once thought to be completely empty, dark, and silent until the discovery of the modern quantum theory. Since then scientists have discovered that vacuum is an extent of space that has virtual sub-atomic particles spontaneously appearing and disappearing.

It is the presence of these virtual particles that give rise to random noise. This ‘vacuum noise’ is omnipresent and may affect and ultimately pose a limit to the performances of fibre optic communication, radio broadcasts and computer operation.

“While it has always been thought to be an annoyance that engineers and scientists would like to circumvent, we instead exploited this vacuum noise and used it to generate random numbers,” Professor Lam said.

Fastest random number generator: Sounds of silence proving a hit

(Phys.org) -- Researchers at The Australian National University have developed the fastest random number generator in the world by listening to the 'sounds of silence'.

phys.org

 

[Jindo]

At first I genuinely thought they'd accomplished this with that Simon & Garfunkel song, I was slightly disappointed.

Still the concept of truly random numbers has always intrigued me so it's good to hear about advancements like this.

 

[Accname]

Until they prove that isnt random but happens in a certain very complex pattern.

 

[tom_mai78101]

Until they prove that isnt random but happens in a certain very complex pattern.

It is certainly so complex, Man had once tried to use it to defeat a computer bot and actually win.

 

[camelCase]

I think this link is appropriate as a follow up of tom_mai's comment: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2162

 

[Dan]

I'm a bit confused as to why it would be any more effective than random.org which uses atmospheric noise to generate numbers... both are virtually the same idea, aren't they?

Anyone?

 

[phyrex1an]

I'm a bit confused as to why it would be any more effective than random.org which uses atmospheric noise to generate numbers... both are virtually the same idea, aren't they?

Anyone?

If I'm reading this right, random.org is based on atmospheric noise but this is based on quantum fluctuations.

 

[Dan]

If I'm reading this right, random.org is based on atmospheric noise but this is based on quantum fluctuations.

Yes on the atmospheric noise part and a idk on the quantum fluctuations part.

Anyways, point being, what is the difference in application really? Random is random as far as I know.

(And yes I know that algorithms for random numbers don't create truly random sequences, but afaik, random.org already generates truely random numbers based on atmospheric noise... which should be as random as random can be.)

 

[Accname]

The title says this is the "fastest" random number generator.
That might be a difference i guess.
And still i argue this is only considered "random" until somebody finds out that it isnt random at all but happening at a very complex pattern.