Statistical Study of Digits of Some Square Roots of Integers in Various Bases

W. A. Beyer, N. Metropolis, J. R. Neergaard
1970 Mathematics of Computation  
Some statistical tests of randomness are made of the first 88062 binary digits (or equivalent in other bases) of Jn in various bases b, 2 g n g 15 (n square-free) with b = 2,4, 8, 16 and n = 2, 3, 5 with b = 3,5, 6, 7, and 10. The statistical tests are the y2 test for cumulative frequency distribution of the digits, the lead test, and the gap test. The lead test is an examination of the distances over which the cumulative frequency of a digit exceeded its expected value. It is related to the
more » ... sine law. The gap test (applied to the binary digits) consists of an examination of the distribution of runs of ones. The conclusion of the study is that no evidence of the lack of randomness or normality appears for the digits of the above mentioned Jn in the assigned bases b. It seems to be the first statistical study of the digits of any naturally occurring number in bases other than decimal or binary (octal).
doi:10.2307/2004493 fatcat:b6e2w3svrnfmdgsvc4y4gmjtta