Subtractive random number generator from Numerical Recipes based on Knuth’s algorithm. Uses 55-element state array with subtractive method (MA[i] = MA[i-55] - MA[i-31]) and initialization based on golden ratio constant MSEED=161803398. Period approximately 2 × 10^18. Returns uniform deviates in range [0.0, 1.0).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Category | Random Number Generators |
| Sub-category | Subtractive Generator |
| Security status | 🎓 Educational Only |
| Complexity | Intermediate |
| Inventor | Donald Knuth (subtractive method), adapted by William H. Press, Saul A. Teukolsky, William T. Vetterling, Brian P. Flannery |
| Year | 1981 |
| Origin | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Source | algorithms/random/ran3.js |
| Parameter | Supported values |
|---|---|
| Seed sizes | 1 byte (8 bits) to 8 bytes (64 bits) |
| Flag | Value |
|---|---|
IsDeterministic |
Yes |
IsCryptographicallySecure |
No |
Status: 🎓 Educational Only
No vulnerabilities are recorded for this implementation.
4 vectors ship with this algorithm and run in the test suite. Byte values are hexadecimal.
Vector 1 — Seed=-1 (initializes to 1) - First 10 float values
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
seed |
01 |
outputSize |
40 |
input |
null |
expected |
41b1983e0d12373f2441073d42d85f3f f7c0083fa3af213f871a643f4add833e a47f6e3f3cf38d3e |
Vector 2 — Seed=-12345 - First 10 float values
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
seed |
3039 |
outputSize |
40 |
input |
null |
expected |
b8505c3f42eb6c3f280cd63e614b943e 16a9113e8d33e63e78717c3e90125e3e fba5103f3fe0cc3e |
Vector 3 — Seed=-123456789 - First 10 float values
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
seed |
075bcd15 |
outputSize |
40 |
input |
null |
expected |
10b75f3e1c666b3f43147c3d28e1153f 78fe873ec4cea13edb7bdc3d673b2d3f 6cf8563e8c64503f |
Vector 4 — Seed=-1 - First value only (initialization test)
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
seed |
01 |
outputSize |
4 |
input |
null |
expected |
41b1983e |