Estimating $π$ with a Coin

arXiv (Cornell University) 2026 Preprint Open access

Read full text
Authors: James Gary Propp
DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2602.14487
Cited by: 0

Abstract

We describe a simple Monte Carlo method for estimating $π$ by tossing a coin. Although the underlying Catalan-number series identities appear implicitly in the probability theory literature, the interpretation of $\fracπ{4}$ presented here seems to be new.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Probability and Statistical Research Advanced Mathematical Identities Analytic Number Theory Research

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
16 February 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint