DocumentCode :
919996
Title :
Maximum-entropy distributions having prescribed first and second moments (Corresp.)
Author :
Wragg, A.
Volume :
19
Issue :
5
fYear :
1973
fDate :
9/1/1973 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage :
689
Lastpage :
693
Abstract :
The entropy H of an absolutely continuous distribution with probability density function p(x) is defined as H = - \\int p(x) \\log p(x) dx . The formal maximization of H , subject to the moment constraints \\int x^r p(x) dx = \\mu_r, r = 0,1,\\cdots ,m , leads to p(x) = \\exp (- \\sum _{r=0}^m lamnbda_r x^r) , where the \\lambda _r have to be chosen so as to satisfy the moment constraints. Only the case m = 2 is considered. It is shown that when x has finite range, a distribution maximizing the entropy exists and is unique. When the range is [0,\\infty ) , the maximum-entropy distribution exists if, and only if, \\mu_2 \\leq 2 \\mu_1^2 , and a table is given which enables the maximum-entropy distribution to be computed. The case \\mu_2 > 2 \\mu_1^2 is discussed in some detail.
Keywords :
Entropy functions; Probability functions; Density functional theory; Distributed computing; Entropy; Equations; Gaussian distribution; Lagrangian functions; Mathematics; Measurement uncertainty; Probability density function;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Information Theory, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0018-9448
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/TIT.1973.1055060
Filename :
1055060
Link To Document :
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