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Hauptverfasser: Balado, Félix, Silvestre, Guénolé C. M.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.10547
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author Balado, Félix
Silvestre, Guénolé C. M.
author_facet Balado, Félix
Silvestre, Guénolé C. M.
contents We provide general expressions for the joint distributions of the $k$ most significant $b$-ary digits and of the $k$ leading continued fraction coefficients of outcomes of an arbitrary continuous random variable. Our analysis highlights the connections between the two problems. In particular, we give the general convergence law of the distribution of the $j$-th significant digit, which is the counterpart of the general convergence law of the distribution of the $j$-th continued fraction coefficient (Gauss-Kuz'min law). We also particularise our general results for Benford and Pareto random variables. The former particularisation allows us to show the central role played by Benford variables in the asymptotics of the general expressions, among other results. The particularisation for Pareto variables -- which include Benford variables as a special case -- is specially relevant in the context of pervasive scale-invariant phenomena, where Pareto variables occur much more frequently than Benford variables. This suggests that the Pareto expressions that we produce have wider applicability than their Benford counterparts in modelling most significant digits and leading continued fraction coefficients of real data. Our results may find practical application in all areas where Benford's law has been previously used.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2301_10547
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle General Distributions of Number Representation Elements
Balado, Félix
Silvestre, Guénolé C. M.
Probability
60E05, 11A63, 11A55
We provide general expressions for the joint distributions of the $k$ most significant $b$-ary digits and of the $k$ leading continued fraction coefficients of outcomes of an arbitrary continuous random variable. Our analysis highlights the connections between the two problems. In particular, we give the general convergence law of the distribution of the $j$-th significant digit, which is the counterpart of the general convergence law of the distribution of the $j$-th continued fraction coefficient (Gauss-Kuz'min law). We also particularise our general results for Benford and Pareto random variables. The former particularisation allows us to show the central role played by Benford variables in the asymptotics of the general expressions, among other results. The particularisation for Pareto variables -- which include Benford variables as a special case -- is specially relevant in the context of pervasive scale-invariant phenomena, where Pareto variables occur much more frequently than Benford variables. This suggests that the Pareto expressions that we produce have wider applicability than their Benford counterparts in modelling most significant digits and leading continued fraction coefficients of real data. Our results may find practical application in all areas where Benford's law has been previously used.
title General Distributions of Number Representation Elements
topic Probability
60E05, 11A63, 11A55
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.10547