Generating multidimensional data

Question

Does R have a package for generating random numbers in multi-dimensional space? For example, suppose I want to generate 1000 points inside a cuboid or a sphere.

Answer 1

I have some functions for hypercube and n-sphere selection that generate dataframes with cartesian coordinates and guarantee a uniform distribution through the hypercube or n-sphere for an arbitrary amount of dimensions :

GenerateCubiclePoints <- function(nrPoints,nrDim,center=rep(0,nrDim),l=1){

    x <-  matrix(runif(nrPoints*nrDim,-1,1),ncol=nrDim)
    x <-  as.data.frame(
            t(apply(x*(l/2),1,'+',center))
          )
    names(x) <- make.names(seq_len(nrDim))
    x
}

is in a cube/hypercube of nrDim dimensions with a center and l the length of one side.

For an n-sphere with nrDim dimensions, you can do something similar, where r is the radius :

GenerateSpherePoints <- function(nrPoints,nrDim,center=rep(0,nrDim),r=1){
    #generate the polar coordinates!
    x <-  matrix(runif(nrPoints*nrDim,-pi,pi),ncol=nrDim)
    x[,nrDim] <- x[,nrDim]/2
    #recalculate them to cartesians
    sin.x <- sin(x)
    cos.x <- cos(x)
    cos.x[,nrDim] <- 1  # see the formula for n.spheres

    y <- sapply(1:nrDim, function(i){
        if(i==1){
          cos.x[,1]
        } else {
          cos.x[,i]*apply(sin.x[,1:(i-1),drop=F],1,prod)
        }
    })*sqrt(runif(nrPoints,0,r^2))

    y <-  as.data.frame(
            t(apply(y,1,'+',center))
          )

    names(y) <- make.names(seq_len(nrDim))
    y
}

in 2 dimensions, these give :

From code :

 T1 <- GenerateCubiclePoints(10000,2,c(4,3),5)
 T2 <- GenerateSpherePoints(10000,2,c(-5,3),2)
 op <- par(mfrow=c(1,2))
 plot(T1)
 plot(T2)
 par(op)