We suddenly got hit with a barrage of π questions today. Turns
out it’s not a coincidence. π is defined, very humbly, as the
ratio of the circumference of any circle to its diameter. From
that definition alone it’s managed to worm its way into damn
near every branch of math and physics. For example, did you know
that ? It even shows up in the mathematical form of the vaunted
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: . But what’s often cited as
the most exciting thing about π is that its decimal expansion,
“3.14159…”, goes on forever without repeating. This isn’t really
special to π. In fact this is the case with (effectively) all
irrational numbers. But π is probably most people’s first
exposure to the weirder realities of math, so it’s near and dear
to a lot of hearts out there. Q: Could the sequence of numbers
making up the infinite expansion of Pi (or any other irrational
number) be considered to make up an even random distribution? If
not, how does it differ? If yes, couldn’t it be used when
randomness is needed?