[Date Index] [Thread Index] [Author Index]

SeedRandom and $SessionID

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg58603] SeedRandom and $SessionID
• From: Kerry Kim <kjkim at u.washington.edu>
• Date: Sat, 9 Jul 2005 04:08:03 -0400 (EDT)
• Organization: University of Washington
• Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com

Hi Everyone,

I'm doing some Monte-Carlo simulations on a cluster.  Since by default 
the random number seed is based on the system time, I sometimes get the 
same seed being used in multiple Kernels if they're launched 
simultaneously from a shell script (something to avoid).  Is there any 
danger in using $SessionID as the random number seed?  Also, does anyone 
know the bounds on $SessionID (compared to the bounds on the random 
number seed) are and whether the processID is included in the 
calculation of $SessionID?  Alternatively, has anyone worked out a good 
way to seed the random number generator in Mathematica?

Thank you!
-Kerry Kim