MAA Writing Awards
Versatile Coins
Year of Award: 1994
Publication Information: The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 100, 1993, pp. 26-33
Summary: This article discusses the problem of one probability p simulating a second probability q, meaning that with a coin that comes up heads with probability p, we can simulate in a finite number of tosses the behavior of a coin that comes up heads with probability q. The particular question throughout is to characterize the sets of probabilities for which there is a single coin that simulates every element in the set.
About the Author(s): Dan Velleman was at Amherst College at the time of publication, and Istvan Szalkai was at University of Veszprem.
