[SciPy-User] numpy.random generator specifications

[W.T. Bridgman]

> On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 11:16, W.T. Bridgman <cygnusx1 at mac.com> wrote:
>> When I use numpy.random, in numpy v 1.5.1, what type of random number
>> generator am I using? ?There seems to be mixed claims online as to  
>> the
>> actual generator.
>
> The underlying uniform PRNG is the Mersenne Twister, specifically  
> MT19937.
>
> http://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy/reference/generated/numpy.random.mtrand.RandomState.html#numpy.random.mtrand.RandomState

This is great.  My searches for 'random generator' and similar on  
scipy returns loads of hits and there wasn't enough in the summary to  
clearly identify what I was seeking.
>
> I'd be interested to know who is claiming otherwise.

Most of the sources seemed rather old versions of numpy/numarray/NumPy  
and uncertain, found by google searches for "numpy random generator"  
and similar terms.

>
>> Also, what is the period of the generator?
>
> 2**19937 - 1
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersenne_twister
>

Thanks.  I suspected this was the answer from my previous searches but  
wasn't sure where I could get it verified.

Tom
--
W.T. Bridgman, Ph.D.
Physics & Astronomy

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