PROB - Probability Density Functions

PROB contains routines for handling various discrete and continuous probability density functions or "PDF"'s. For a discrete variable, PDF(X) is the probability that the value X will occur; for a continuous variable PDF(X) is the probability density of X.

The corresponding cumulative density functions or "CDF"'s are also handled. For a discrete or continuous variable, CDF(X) is the probability that the variable takes on a value less than or equal to X.

For most distributions, the mean or "average value" or "expected value" is also available. For a discrete variable, MEAN is simply the sum of the products X * PDF(X); for a continuous variable, MEAN is the integral of X * PDF(X) over the range. For the distributions covered here, the means are known beforehand, and no summation or integration is required.

For most distributions, the variance is available. For a discrete variable, the variance is the sum of the products ( X - MEAN )**2 * PDF(X); for a continuous variable, the variance is the integral of ( X - MEAN )**2 * PDF(X) over the range. The square root of the variance is known as the standard deviation. For the distributions covered here, the variances are known beforehand, and no summation or integration is required.

Reference 1:
Evans, Hastings and Peacock,
Statistical Distributions
Reference 2:
Johnson, Kotz, and Balakrishnan,
Continuous Univariate Distributions, second edition,
Wiley, 1994.
Reference 3:
Michael McLaughlin
A Compendium of Common Probability Distributions
Reference 4:
Zwillinger and Kokoska
Standard Probability and Statistical Tables
CRC Press, 2000, ISBN 1-58488-059-7.

Files you may copy include:

The list of routines includes:

Return to the FORTRAN software page.


Last revised on 29 June 2001.