CODEWITHSUNDEEP
wolfram-mathematicapoisson
leahcim
leahcim

Reputation: 11

Confusing results from Poisson distribution with Mathematica 11

I used P=PDF[PoissonDistribution[m]] to create a probability density function of the poisson distribution with mean value "m". Thus, Mathematica defines a function P(k)=m^k e^(-m) / (k!) for k larger than or equal to 0.

This function is the same as the standard discrete Poisson distribution. However, using P(0) results in a probability density of 0 at k=0 which differs from the expected probability density of the standard discrete Poisson distribution, which should be e^(-m) at k=0.

I have no idea why this happens. Any helpful comments are appreciated.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 103

Answers (1)

magma
magma

Reputation: 636

The reason that you get a wrong result is simply because you typed P(0) instead of P[0]. In Mathematica, when you want to apply a function to an argument, you must use square brackets.

Upvotes: 3

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