Abstract
We demonstrate a physical implementation of Monte Carlo sampling using the Brownian motion of microscopic rods, applied to the classical Buffon's needle experiment. In this way, a problem in geometric probability is mapped onto a Monte Carlo method, with a physical system performing key aspects of the computation. The experiment's parameters are embedded directly: the rods length encodes the probability integral, while their thermal motion supplies the sampling. Although only a toy-model system, this approach illustrates how embedding probabilistic structure into soft matter can provide a low-energy pathway for stochastic computation that exploits freely available thermal noise.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 8897-8903 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Soft Matter |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 46 |
| Early online date | 30 Oct 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 14 Dec 2025 |
Funding
This project is funded in part by the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA). JS acknowledges the DFG-ANR project Rodrolls- 490954343, ANR-21-CE30-0058.
Keywords
- Monte Carlo sampling
- Buffon's needle experiment
- soft matter
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