algorithmic-complexity on Dimitris Kokoretsis https://dimitris.netlify.app/tags/algorithmic-complexity/ Recent content in algorithmic-complexity on Dimitris Kokoretsis Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Wed, 30 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 The birthday problem — Part 1: When counting fails https://dimitris.netlify.app/posts/birthday-problem-1/ Wed, 30 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://dimitris.netlify.app/posts/birthday-problem-1/ <img src="https://dimitris.netlify.app/posts/birthday-problem-1/images/intro_animation.gif"/> After the &ldquo;toy problem&rdquo; of the previous post, I decided to take a chance at a more tangible, real-world question. Consider this one: What is the probability that two students in a classroom share the same birthday? Intuitively (and correctly), you might think it depends on the total number of students. But for a realistic classroom of around 20 students, the probability should be quite low - whatever &ldquo;low&rdquo; means. After all, how many times have you witnessed that?