POISSON DISTRIBUTION
Charles François (2004). POISSON DISTRIBUTION, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 2574.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2574 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
A sharply single peaked probabilities distribution function, which is a good description of the results of repeated random experiments of some kind.
Such distribution is observed only if the successive experiences are not correlated or at least not strongly correlated, i.e. cannot notably influence each other.
Very significantly, in complex systems, in I. PRIGOGINE's words: “Only fluctuations of sufficiently small dimensions obey POISSON statistics. This is a very important result because it implies that, conversely, only fluctuations of a sufficient extension can attain enough importance to compromise the stability of the macroscopic state considered” (1976, p.117).