Two random directions in space
Two directions are chosen independently and uniformly at random in three-dimensional space (two independent uniform points on the unit sphere).
Find the probability that the angle between them is less than .
Fractions, decimals with at least 3 significant digits, and expressions such as sqrt(2)/2, e^-1 or pi/4.
By symmetry you may fix the first direction as the north pole. The question is then about the latitude of a uniform point on the sphere.
Archimedes: the area of the band of a sphere between two horizontal planes depends only on the distance between the planes.
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s Shown after a correct answer. Revealing it first marks the problem as seen, not solved.
Idea. Fix the first direction at the north pole. The angle is less than when the second point lies in the cap above height . For a sphere, the height of a uniform point is uniform on , so the answer is a length ratio.
Step 1: fix the first direction. The distribution of the second point is the same whatever the first one is, so take the first to be . The angle between them satisfies , the height of the second point.
Step 2: the height is uniform. The band of the unit sphere between heights and has area , whatever (the band gets narrower near the poles but also more slanted, and the two effects cancel exactly). So is uniform on .
Step 3.
In other dimensions. The cosine of the angle is uniform only in three dimensions. In dimensions its density is proportional to , so for large random directions are almost always nearly orthogonal: .