Re: How do I get random numbers that follow standard distribution?

[Anonymous Monk]

sub norm{
    my $v1,$v2,$r;
    if( defined $v2 ){
        $v1 = $v2;
        undef $v2;
    }else{
        do{
            $v1=rand(2)-1;
            $v2=rand(2)-1;
            $r = $v1*$v1+$v2*$v2;
        }while( $r >= 1 || $r == 0 );
        $r = sqrt(-2*(log $r)/$r);
        $v1 *= $r;
        $v2 *= $r;
   }
   return $v1;
}

[jimbojones]

Just to let others know: this method appears to be from "Numerical Recipes in C", which is now available, full-form, online. See c7-2.pdf.
this also features recipes for other distributions, plus lots of other good stuff ....
- j

[Roy Johnson]

This is a buggy translation from Knuth. $v2 will never be defined; it should have been declared outside the sub.