Lévy alpha-stable distribution

E825429

The Lévy alpha-stable distribution is a family of heavy-tailed probability distributions characterized by a stability parameter α, generalizing the normal and Cauchy distributions and often used to model impulsive or anomalous random phenomena.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form Occurrences
Lévy distribution 1
Lévy flights 1

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf probability distribution
alsoKnownAs Lévy stable distribution
stable Paretian distribution
α-stable distribution
appearsIn limit distributions of sums of i.i.d. heavy-tailed variables
field probability theory
statistics
generalizes Cauchy distribution NERFINISHED
Gaussian distribution NERFINISHED
normal distribution
governs Lévy flights NERFINISHED
hasParameter location parameter δ
scale parameter γ
skewness parameter β
stability parameter α
hasProperty characteristic function known in closed form
closed under convolution
heavy tails
no general closed-form density
often lacks finite mean
often lacks finite variance
power-law tails
stable under addition
hasSupport real line
locationParameterRange δ ∈ ℝ GENERATED
meanExistsCondition mean exists only if α > 1
momentProperty moments of order ≥ α are infinite
namedAfter Paul Lévy NERFINISHED
parameterization can be expressed in multiple parameterizations (e.g. Zolotarev forms)
relatedTo generalized central limit theorem
scaleParameterRange γ > 0
simulationMethod can be simulated via Chambers–Mallows–Stuck algorithm
skewnessParameterRange −1 ≤ β ≤ 1
specialCaseAt α = 0.5 and β = 1 gives Lévy distribution
α = 1 and β = 0 gives Cauchy distribution
α = 2 gives normal distribution
stabilityParameterRange 0 < α ≤ 2
tailBehavior P(|X| > x) ~ x^{-α} as x → ∞
usedIn finance
modeling anomalous diffusion
modeling heavy-tailed financial returns
modeling impulsive noise
physics
signal processing
telecommunications
varianceExistsCondition variance exists only if α = 2

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Cauchy distribution isSpecialCaseOf Lévy alpha-stable distribution
Paul Lévy knownFor Lévy alpha-stable distribution
this entity surface form: Lévy distribution
Paul Lévy knownFor Lévy alpha-stable distribution
this entity surface form: Lévy flights