numpy.random.laplace
-
numpy.random.laplace(loc=0.0, scale=1.0, size=None)
-
Draw samples from the Laplace or double exponential distribution with specified location (or mean) and scale (decay).
The Laplace distribution is similar to the Gaussian/normal distribution, but is sharper at the peak and has fatter tails. It represents the difference between two independent, identically distributed exponential random variables.
Note
New code should use the
laplace
method of adefault_rng()
instance instead; seerandom-quick-start
.- Parameters
-
-
locfloat or array_like of floats, optional
-
The position,
, of the distribution peak. Default is 0.
-
scalefloat or array_like of floats, optional
-
, the exponential decay. Default is 1. Must be non- negative.
-
sizeint or tuple of ints, optional
-
Output shape. If the given shape is, e.g.,
(m, n, k)
, thenm * n * k
samples are drawn. If size isNone
(default), a single value is returned ifloc
andscale
are both scalars. Otherwise,np.broadcast(loc, scale).size
samples are drawn.
-
- Returns
-
-
outndarray or scalar
-
Drawn samples from the parameterized Laplace distribution.
-
See also
-
Generator.laplace
-
which should be used for new code.
Notes
It has the probability density function
The first law of Laplace, from 1774, states that the frequency of an error can be expressed as an exponential function of the absolute magnitude of the error, which leads to the Laplace distribution. For many problems in economics and health sciences, this distribution seems to model the data better than the standard Gaussian distribution.
References
-
1
-
Abramowitz, M. and Stegun, I. A. (Eds.). “Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables, 9th printing,” New York: Dover, 1972.
-
2
-
Kotz, Samuel, et. al. “The Laplace Distribution and Generalizations, ” Birkhauser, 2001.
-
3
-
Weisstein, Eric W. “Laplace Distribution.” From MathWorld–A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/LaplaceDistribution.html
-
4
-
Wikipedia, “Laplace distribution”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplace_distribution
Examples
Draw samples from the distribution
>>> loc, scale = 0., 1. >>> s = np.random.laplace(loc, scale, 1000)
Display the histogram of the samples, along with the probability density function:
>>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt >>> count, bins, ignored = plt.hist(s, 30, density=True) >>> x = np.arange(-8., 8., .01) >>> pdf = np.exp(-abs(x-loc)/scale)/(2.*scale) >>> plt.plot(x, pdf)
Plot Gaussian for comparison:
>>> g = (1/(scale * np.sqrt(2 * np.pi)) * ... np.exp(-(x - loc)**2 / (2 * scale**2))) >>> plt.plot(x,g)
© 2005–2020 NumPy Developers
Licensed under the 3-clause BSD License.
https://numpy.org/doc/1.18/reference/random/generated/numpy.random.laplace.html