"""Plot exact birthday and fixed-target probabilities in an ideal toy model. Run from _media: MPLCONFIGDIR=/tmp/codex-wiki-matplotlib python ../hash-collision-birthday-versus-target.py Writes this script's basename as an opaque white PNG to the current directory. Tested with Python 3.14.4, Matplotlib 3.10.7; no simulation or measured data. """ import math from pathlib import Path import matplotlib matplotlib.use("Agg") import matplotlib.pyplot as plt def collision_probability(m, n): """Exact formula, evaluated stably with log1p and expm1.""" if n > m: return 1.0 return -math.expm1(sum(math.log1p(-j / m) for j in range(n))) def target_probability(m, n): return -math.expm1(n * math.log1p(-1 / m)) if m > 1 else float(n > 0) def main(): m = 256 n = list(range(m + 1)) exact = [collision_probability(m, k) for k in n] target = [target_probability(m, k) for k in n] approximation = [-math.expm1(-k * (k - 1) / (2 * m)) for k in n] collision_half = next(k for k, p in enumerate(exact) if p >= 0.5) target_half = next(k for k, p in enumerate(target) if p >= 0.5) assert (collision_half, target_half) == (20, 178) assert exact[0] == exact[1] == 0.0 assert all(a <= b for a, b in zip(exact, exact[1:])) assert all(a <= b + 1e-15 for a, b in zip(approximation, exact)) teal, orange, purple, gray = "#146a77", "#b85419", "#7458a5", "#586470" plt.rcParams.update({"font.size": 11, "figure.facecolor": "white", "axes.facecolor": "white", "savefig.facecolor": "white"}) fig, axes = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(9, 5.2), dpi=120) fig.subplots_adjust(left=0.095, right=0.97, bottom=0.2, top=0.77, wspace=0.31) fig.suptitle("Many possible pairs versus one fixed target", fontsize=16, y=0.96) fig.text(0.5, 0.89, "M = 256 outputs; distinct queried keys; independent uniform hash values", ha="center", fontsize=12) left, right = axes left.plot(n[:49], exact[:49], color=teal, linewidth=2.5, label="Exact any-pair probability") left.plot(n[:49], approximation[:49], color=orange, linewidth=2, linestyle="--", label="Exponential approximation") left.set(title="The birthday transition", xlim=(0, 48)) left.legend(loc="lower right", fontsize=9, frameon=False) right.plot(n, exact, color=teal, linewidth=2.5, label="Any equal pair") right.plot(n, target, color=purple, linewidth=2.5, label="Hit a fixed target") right.set(title="The two search tasks", xlim=(0, 256)) right.legend(loc="lower right", fontsize=10, frameon=False) for ax in axes: ax.set(ylim=(0, 1.03), xlabel="Number of distinct queries n", ylabel="Probability") ax.axhline(0.5, color=gray, linewidth=1, linestyle=":") ax.set_yticks([0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1], ["0%", "25%", "50%", "75%", "100%"]) ax.grid(alpha=0.15) ax.spines[["top", "right"]].set_visible(False) left.scatter([19, 20], [exact[19], exact[20]], color=teal, s=28, zorder=5) left.annotate("19: 49.6%\n20: 53.3%", (20, exact[20]), xytext=(5, 0.77), arrowprops={"arrowstyle": "->", "color": gray}, fontsize=10, color=gray) for k, values, color, position in [(20, exact, teal, (47, 0.65)), (178, target, purple, (142, 0.3))]: right.scatter([k], [values[k]], color=color, s=34, zorder=5) right.annotate(f"First at least 50%:\nn = {k}", (k, values[k]), xytext=position, arrowprops={"arrowstyle": "->", "color": color}, color=color, fontsize=10) fig.text(0.5, 0.075, "Computed toy-model curves, not measurements or a security claim for a real hash.", ha="center", fontsize=11, color=gray) fig.savefig(Path.cwd() / (Path(__file__).stem + ".png"), facecolor="white", transparent=False) plt.close(fig) if __name__ == "__main__": main()