halton
Generate samples from a Halton sequence
Topics
package_fsudace
Specification
Alias: None
Arguments: None
Description
The quasi-Monte Carlo sequences of Halton are deterministic sequences determined by a set of prime bases. These sequences generate random numbers with the goal of filling a unit hypercube uniformly.
Generally, we recommend that the user leave the default setting for the bases, which are the lowest primes. Thus, if one wants to generate a sample set for 3 random variables, the default bases used are 2, 3, and 5 in the Halton sequence. To give an example of how these sequences look, the Halton sequence in base 2 starts with points 0.5, 0.25, 0.75, 0.125, 0.625, etc. The first few points in a Halton base 3 sequence are 0.33333, 0.66667, 0.11111, 0.44444, 0.77777, etc. Notice that the Halton sequence tends to alternate back and forth, generating a point closer to zero then a point closer to one. An individual sequence is based on a radix inverse function defined on a prime base. The prime base determines how quickly the [0,1] interval is filled in.
Theory
For more information about these sequences, see [Hal60], [HS64], and [KW97].
