Randomness

Does objective, perfect randomness exist, or is randomness merely a product of our ignorance?

Randomness would seem to make a mathematical statement harder to prove. In fact, it often does the opposite.

Mathematicians have proved that a random process applied to a random surface will yield consistent patterns.

Pure, verifiable randomness is hard to come by. Two proposals show how to make quantum computers into randomness factories.

All descriptions of change are a unique blend of chance and determinism, according to the sweeping mathematical proof of the “weak Pinsker conjecture.”

City blocks help illustrate why walking randomly tends to take you away from your starting point.

Why is it that when you walk randomly, the more you walk, the farther you get from your starting point?

Mathematicians have had a hard time finding commonalities in large groups of random shapes — until recently.

Researchers have uncovered deep connections among different types of random objects, illuminating hidden geometric structures.