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Saturday, February 16, 2013

Points on a semi-circle


Suppose you choose N points uniformly randomly on a circle. What is the probability that all the points lie on a semi-circle.

Random walk on a circle



Let x_1, x_2, ..., x_n be n points (in that order) on the circumference of a circle. Dana starts at the point x_1 and walks to one of the two neighboring points with probability 1/2 for each. Dana continues to walk in this way, always moving from the present point to one of the two neighboring points with probability 1/2 for each.  P_i is the probability that the point x_i is the last of the n points to be visited for the first time.


1. Show that P_i is the same for all i.


2. Find  P_i