van der Corput sequence

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A van der Corput sequence is a low-discrepancy sequence over the unit interval first published in 1935 by the Dutch mathematician J. G. van der Corput. It is constructed by reversing the base n representation of the sequence of natural numbers (1, 2, 3, …). For example, the decimal van der Corput sequence begins:

0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 0.01, 0.11, 0.21, 0.31, 0.41, 0.51, 0.61, 0.71, 0.81, 0.91, 0.02, 0.12, 0.22, 0.32, …

whereas the binary van der Corput sequence can be written as:

0.12, 0.012, 0.112, 0.0012, 0.1012, 0.0112, 0.1112, 0.00012, 0.10012, 0.01012, 0.11012, 0.00112, 0.10112, 0.01112, 0.11112, …

or, equivalently, as:

\frac{1}{2}, \frac{1}{4}, \frac{3}{4}, \frac{1}{8}, \frac{5}{8}, \frac{3}{8}, \frac{7}{8}, \frac{1}{16}, \frac{9}{16}, \frac{5}{16}, \frac{13}{16}, \frac{3}{16}, \frac{11}{16}, \frac{7}{16}, \frac{15}{16}, \ldots

The elements of the van der Corput sequence (in any base) form a dense set in the unit interval: for any real number in [0, 1] there exists a subsequence of the van der Corput sequence that converges towards that number. They are also uniformly distributed over the unit interval.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • J. G. van der Corput, Verteilungsfunktionen. Proc. Ned. Akad. v. Wet., 38:813–821, 1935.

[edit] External links

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