The Pseudorandom number sequence reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Pseudorandom number sequence

A Pseudorandom number sequence is a sequence of numbers that has been computed by some defined arithmetic process but is effectively a random number sequence for the purpose for which it is required.

Although a pseudorandom number sequence in this sense often appears to lack any definite pattern, any pseudorandom number generator with a finite internal state will repeat after a very long sequence of numbers. This can be proved using the pigeonhole principle.

See also: Pseudorandom number generator.

This is the "Pseudorandom number sequence" reference article from the English Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.