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Random Numbers from Astronomical Imaging

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2013

Kevin A. Pimbblet  and
Michael Bulmer
Kevin A. Pimbblet*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
Michael Bulmer
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
*
CCorresponding author. Email: pimbblet@physics.uq.edu.au
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Abstract

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This article describes a method to turn astronomical imaging into a random number generator by using the positions of incident cosmic rays and hot pixels to generate bit streams. We subject the resultant bit streams to a battery of standard benchmark statistical tests for randomness and show that these bit streams are statistically the same as a perfect random bit stream. Strategies for improving and building upon this method are outlined.

Keywords

methods: statisticaltechniques: image processingtechniques: miscellaneous
Type
Research Article
Information
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , 2005 , pp. 1 - 5
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2005

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