A Lewis Carroll Pillow Problem: Probability of an Obtuse Triangle
Portnoy, Stephen
Statist. Sci., Tome 9 (1994) no. 3, p. 279-284 / Harvested from Project Euclid
On the 100th anniversary (1993) of Lewis Carroll's Pillow Problems, Eugene Seneta presented a selection of the problems the author, Charles Dodgson, claims to have solved while in bed. The selection omits the one problem in continuous probability: "Three points are taken at random on an infinite plane. Find the chance of their being the vertices of an obtuse-angled triangle." Charles Dodgson presents a solution that involves a clear error in conditioning. An alternative solution is suggested here. This solution seems rather natural and should be especially appealing to statisticians. The nature of the solution suggests a method for using transformation groups to give meaning to the phrase "at random" in somewhat general situations.
Publié le : 1994-05-14
Classification:  Random triangle,  sampling at random,  invariant measure,  transformation group,  homogeneous space
@article{1177010497,
     author = {Portnoy, Stephen},
     title = {A Lewis Carroll Pillow Problem: Probability of an Obtuse Triangle},
     journal = {Statist. Sci.},
     volume = {9},
     number = {3},
     year = {1994},
     pages = { 279-284},
     language = {en},
     url = {http://dml.mathdoc.fr/item/1177010497}
}
Portnoy, Stephen. A Lewis Carroll Pillow Problem: Probability of an Obtuse Triangle. Statist. Sci., Tome 9 (1994) no. 3, pp.  279-284. http://gdmltest.u-ga.fr/item/1177010497/