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Coupon Collector's Problem

Let $n$ objects be picked repeatedly with probability $p_i$ that object $i$ is picked on a given try, with

\begin{displaymath}
\sum_i p_i=1.
\end{displaymath}

Find the earliest time at which all $n$ objects have been picked at least once.


References

Hildebrand, M. V. ``The Birthday Problem.'' Amer. Math. Monthly 100, 643, 1993.




© 1996-9 Eric W. Weisstein
1999-05-25