Numbers with a Gaussian distribution

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Random number generators usually provide numbers having a uniform (flat) distribution. However, sometimes it is desirable to generate numbers with some other distributions. For example, the Gaussian (normal) distribution is of paramount importance.

Fortran 90 implementation[edit]

This Fortran 90 function is adapted from Ref. 1, based on an algorithm from the Numerical Recipes collection (Ref. 2). The function ran() calls a random number generator:

! Returns random numbers distributed following a Gaussian with
! unit variance

function gauss()

  implicit none

  real gauss

  real v1,v2,r

  real ranmar

  do
     v1=2.0*ranmar()-1.0
     v2=2.0*ranmar()-1.0
     r=v1*v1+v2*v2
     if(r.lt.1.0) exit
  enddo

  gauss=v1*sqrt(-2.0*log(r)/r)

  return

end function gauss

References[edit]

  1. Daan Frenkel and Berend Smit "Understanding Molecular Simulation: From Algorithms to Applications" p. 411 Academic Press (1996)
  2. Numerical Recipes (Third Edition) website