Talk:Alignments of random points

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Perhaps this page could be developed positively to deal with a realistic appraisal of the question of the alignement of random points.Harry Potter 21:19, 5 Aug 2003 (UTC)

[edit] needs derivation

In the article:

   "An estimate of the probability of alignments existing by chance",

In the second paragraph the statement: "The probability that the point is "near enough" to the line is roughly w/d."

What happens if w > d? Probability > 1?

Think in terms of areas, and assume a uniform distribution. Assume the area is a non-pathological shape (square, round, or some other compact shape, say). Also remember that this is an order-of-magnitude computation, hence the word "roughly". And yes, if the line tolerance is wide enough, the probability will be 1, since the tolerance zones of all possible lines passing through the area will cover then entire area. I'll toss in some words to clarify. -- The Anome 23:18, May 8, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Uniform distribution

"...estimate of the likelihood of alignments, assuming a plane covered with uniformly distributed "significant" points."

I thought the idea was that the points are distributed randomly, not uniformly. Davilla 20:43, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

The random points are distributed uniformly, i.e. they occur with equal likelyhood everywhere, as opposed to being clustered in one corner. linas 14:22, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Original Research

Davilla 20:45, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm removing the OR tag as there is no explanation as to why you think its OR. It looks plausible to me. linas 14:22, 14 September 2006 (UTC)