Choosing Fairly Between Three Options Using a Coin
Alice wants to pick one of three desserts, each with equal probability, using only a coin. We consider two versions:
- The coin is fair.
- The coin is biased, but the bias is unknown.
Part 1: Using a Fair Coin
A fair coin gives two outcomes: H (heads) or T (tails). Here’s one strategy:
Step 1: Encode the outcomes
- Toss the coin twice:
- HT → choose dessert 1
- TH → choose dessert 2
- HH → choose dessert 3
- TT → discard and retry
Why it works:
- Each of HT, TH, HH, TT has probability \( \frac{1}{4} \).
- By discarding TT and re-tossing, you ensure that each valid outcome has equal probability \( \frac{1}{3} \).
Expected number of tosses:
- Probability of success per trial = \( \frac{3}{4} \)
- Expected tosses per success ≈ \( \frac{2}{3/4} = \frac{8}{3} \)
Part 2: Using a Biased Coin (Bias Unknown)
Now the coin is biased, with unknown \( p = P(H) \), \( 0 < p < 1 \). We need a method that’s unbiased regardless of \( p \).
Von Neumann’s Trick:
- Toss the coin twice:
- HT → output 1
- TH → output 0
- HH or TT → discard and retry
This gives a fair bit.
Step-by-Step:
- Generate fair bits using Von Neumann’s method.
- Use two fair bits to generate numbers 0–3:
- 00 → dessert 1
- 01 → dessert 2
- 10 → dessert 3
- 11 → discard and retry
Now each dessert has probability \( \frac{1}{3} \), using only a biased coin with unknown bias.
Conclusion
- With a fair coin: Use 2 tosses; map 3 outcomes, reject the 4th.
- With a biased coin: Use Von Neumann’s method to extract fair bits, then proceed as above.
Both strategies ensure each dessert has probability:
\[ \boxed{\frac{1}{3}} \]