The mathematical theory of probability arose from attempts to formulate mathematical

descriptions of chance events, originally in the context of gambling, but later in connection with
physics. Statistics is used to infer the underlying probability distribution of a collection of
empirical observations. For the purposes of simulation, it is necessary to have a large supply of
random numbers—or means to generate them on demand.

Algorithmic information theory studies, among other topics, what constitutes a random
sequence. The central idea is that a string of bits is random if and only if it is shorter than any
computer program that can produce that string (Kolmogorov randomness), which means that
random strings are those that cannot be compressed. Pioneers of this field include Andrey
Kolmogorov and his student Per Martin-Löf, Ray Solomonoff, and Gregory Chaitin. For the
notion of infinite sequence, mathematicians generally accept Per Martin-Löf's semi-eponymous
definition: An infinite sequence is random if and only if it withstands all recursively enumerable
null sets.[20] The other notions of random sequences include, among others, recursive
randomness and Schnorr randomness, which are based on recursively computable martingales.
It was shown by Yongge Wang that these randomness notions are generally different.[21]

Randomness occurs in numbers such as log(2) and pi. The decimal digits of pi constitute an
infinite sequence and "never repeat in a cyclical fashion." Numbers like pi are also considered
likely to be normal:

Pi certainly seems to behave this way. In the first six billion decimal places of pi,
each of the digits from 0 through 9 shows up about six hundred million times. Yet
such results, conceivably accidental, do not prove normality even in base 10, much
less normality in other number bases.[22]

In statistics
In statistics, randomness is commonly used to create simple random samples. This allows
surveys of completely random groups of people to provide realistic data that is reflective of the
population. Common methods of doing this include drawing names out of a hat or using a
random digit chart (a large table of random digits).

In information science
In information science, irrelevant or meaningless data is considered noise. Noise consists of
numerous transient disturbances, with a statistically randomized time distribution.

In communication theory, randomness in a signal is called "noise", and is opposed to that

component of its variation that is causally attributable to the source, the signal.

In terms of the development of random networks, for communication randomness rests on the
two simple assumptions of Paul Erdős and Alfréd Rényi, who said that there were a fixed
number of nodes and this number remained fixed for the life of the network, and that all nodes
were equal and linked randomly to each other.[23]

In finance