If you want to take a closer (and, yes, mathematical) look at this idea, check out the lecture notes [0] from the MIT course Great Ideas in Theoretical Computer

If you want to take a closer (and, yes, mathematical) look at this idea, check out the lecture notes [0] from the MIT course Great Ideas in Theoretical Computer Science. Sections 4 and 5 of the introductory notes [1] give the classic example of using prime factorization to verify bets in a game of "flipping a coin over the telephone". Much of the rest of the course develops the major ideas underlying this example (computational complexity, cryptography) and shows you other things you can do with them (machine learning). 0. http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-080-great-ideas-in-theoretical-computer-science-spring-2008/lecture-notes/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput... 1. http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-080-great-ideas-in-theoretical-computer-science-spring-2008/lecture-notes/lec1.pdf http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput... [PDF]