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From: mccool@dgp.toronto.edu (Michael McCool)
Newsgroups: sci.math,comp.graphics
Subject: Re: question regarding random numbers
Message-ID: <1990Oct31.112427.694@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu>
Date: 31 Oct 90 16:24:27 GMT
References: <29358@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> <CEDMAN.90Oct29210857@lynx.ps.uci.edu>
Lines: 18

>There is one general method of getting random variables given an arbitrary
>distribution. It is known under the handy name of Metropolis-Rosenbluth-
>-Rosenbluth-Teller-Teller-algorithm.

>As such random numbers are very important for the numerical integration
>of high-dimensional integrals (High meaning something of the order of 10^23 
>dimensions) using Monte-Carlo methods, this algorithm should be described
>in any text-book on numerical methods. I am having "Computational Physics"
>by Steven E.Koonin here at hand. The algorithm is quite simple, really,
>so if there is demand I can describe it to the net.

>	Carl Edman

And this is why the patent by Pixar for stochastic sampling is so bogus:
it is patenting theory that is already well-known and in the public domain.
You can't patent EVERY APPLICATION of the same method.

Michael McCool@dgp.toronto.edu