It’s a good resource for learning the basics of neural networks using the PyTorch library in Python. The focus is on writing and running code. You can even play around with GPUs (graphical processing units) by running them on Google’s Colab, though that’s usually not needed.
It’s mostly run by a researcher who is a former colleague of mine and, while I was at Inria, was indirectly the reason I started using PyTorch for my machine learning work.
When researching topics for my work (and for posts), I sometimes stumble upon the same blog more than once for different reasons. One of these is this one:
One of the most important stochastic processes is Poisson stochastic process, often called simply the Poisson process. In a previous post I gave the definition of a stochastic process (also called a random process) alongside some examples of this important random object, including counting processes. The Poisson (stochastic) process is a counting process. This continuous-time stochastic process is a highly studied and used object. It plays a key role in different probability fields, particularly those focused on stochastic processes such as stochastic calculus (with jumps) and the theories of Markov processes, queueing, point processes (on the real line), and Levy processes.
The points in time when a Poisson stochastic process increases form a Poisson point process on the real line. In this setting the stochastic process and the point process can be considered two interpretations of the same random object. The Poisson point process is often just called the Poisson process, but a Poisson point process can be defined on more generals spaces. In some literature, such as the theory of Lévy processes, a Poisson point process is called a Poisson random measure, differentiating the Poisson point process from the Poisson stochastic process. Due to the connection with the Poisson distribution, the two mathematical objects are named after Simeon Poisson, but he never studied these random objects.
The other important stochastic process is the Wiener process or Brownian (motion process), which I cover in another post. The Wiener process is arguably the most important stochastic process. I have written that post and the current one with the same structure and style, reflecting and emphasizing the similarities between these two fundamental stochastic process.
In this post I will give a definition of the homogenous Poisson process. I will also describe some of its key properties and importance. In future posts I will cover the history and generalizations of this stochastic process.
Definition
In the stochastic processes literature there are different definitions of the Poisson process. These depend on the settings such as the level of mathematical rigour. I give a mathematical definition which captures the main characteristics of this stochastic process.
Definition: Homogeneous Poisson (stochastic) process
An integer-valued stochastic process \(\{N_t:t\geq 0 \}\) defined on a probability space \((\Omega,\mathcal{A},\mathbb{P})\) is a homogeneous Poisson (stochastic) process if it has the following properties:
The initial value of the stochastic process \(\{N_t:t\geq 0 \}\) is zero with probability one, meaning \(P(N_0=0)=1\).
The increment \(N_t-N_s\) is independent of the past, that is, \(N_u\), where \(0\leq u\leq s\).
The increment \(N_t-N_s\) is a Poisson variable with mean \(\lambda (t-s)\).
In some literature, the initial value of the stochastic process may not be given. Alternatively, it is simply stated as \(N_0=0\) instead of the more precise (probabilistic) statement given above.
Also, some definitions of this stochastic process include an extra property or two. For example, from the above definition, we can infer that increments of the homogeneous Poisson process are stationary due to the properties of the Poisson distribution. But a definition may include something like the following property, which explicitly states that this stochastic process is stationary.
For \(0\leq u\leq s\), the increment \(N_t-N_s\) is equal in distribution to \(N_{t-s}\).
The definitions may also describe the continuity of the realizations of the stochastic process, known as sample paths, which we will cover in the next section.
It’s interesting to compare these defining properties with the corresponding ones of the standard Wiener stochastic process. Both stochastic processes build upon divisible probability distributions. Using this property, Lévy processes generalize these two stochastic processes.
Properties
The definition of the Poisson (stochastic) process means that it has stationary and independent increments. These are arguably the most important properties as they lead to the great tractability of this stochastic process. The increments are Poisson random variables, implying they can have only positive (integer) values.
The Poisson (stochastic) process exhibits closure properties, meaning you apply certain operations, you get another Poisson (stochastic) process. For example, if we sum two independent Poisson processes \(X= \{X_t:t\geq 0 \}\) and \(Y= \{Y_t:t\geq 0 \}\), then the resulting stochastic process \(Z=Z+Y = \{N_t:t\geq 0 \}\) is also a Poisson (stochastic) process. Such properties are useful for proving mathematical results.
A single realization of a (homogeneous) Poisson stochastic process, where the blue marks show where the process jumps to the next value. In any finite time interval, there are a finite number of jumps.
Properties such as independence and stationarity of the increments are so-called distributional properties. But the sample paths of this stochastic process are also interesting. A sample path of a Poisson stochastic process is almost surely non-decreasing, being constant except for jumps of size one. (The term almost surely comes from measure theory, but it means with probability one.) There are only finitely number of jumps in each finite time interval.
The homogeneous Poisson (stochastic) process has the Markov property, making it an example of a Markov process. The homogenous Poisson process \(N=\{ N_t\}_{t\geq 0}\)s not a martingale. But interestingly, the stochastic process is \(\{ W_t – \lambda t\}_{t\geq 0}\) is a martingale. (Such relations have been used to study such stochastic processes with tools from martingale theory.)
Stochastic or point process?
The Poisson (stochastic) process is a discrete-valued stochastic process in continuous time. The relation these types of stochastic processes and point process is a subtle one. For example, David Cox and Valerie Isham write on page 3 of their monograph:
The borderline between point processes and a number of other kinds of stochastic process is not sharply defined. In particular, any stochastic process in continuous time in which the sample paths are step functions, and therefore any any process with a discrete state space, is associated with a point process, where a point is a time of transition or, more generally, a time of entry into a pre-assigned state or set of states. Whether it is useful to look at a particular process in this way depends on the purpose of the analysis.
For the Poisson case, this association is presented in the diagram below. We can see the Poisson point process (in red) associated with the Poisson (stochastic) process (in blue) by simply looking at the time points where jumps occur.
A single realization of a (homogeneous) Poisson stochastic process (in blue). The jumps of the process form a (homogeneous) Poisson point process (in red) on the real line representing time.
Importance
Playing a prominent role in the theory of probability, the Poisson (stochastic) process is a highly important and studied stochastic process. It has connections to other stochastic processes and is central in queueing theory and random measures.
The Poisson process is a building block for more complex continuous-time Markov processes with discrete state spaces, which are used as mathematical models. It is also essential in the study of jump processes and subordinators.
The Poisson (stochastic) process is a member of some important families of stochastic processes, including Markov processes, Lévy processes, and birth-death processes. This stochastic process also has many applications. For example, it plays a central role in quantitative finance. It is also used in the physical sciences as well as some branches of social sciences, as a mathematical model for various random phenomena.
Generalizations and modifications
For the Poisson (stochastic) process, the index set and state space are respectively the non-negative numbers and counting numbers, that is \(T=[0,\infty)\) and \(S=0, 1, \dots\), so it has a continuous index set but a discrete state space. Consequently, changing the state space, index set, or both offers an ways for generalizing and modifying the Poisson (stochastic) process.
Simulation
The defining properties of the Poisson stochastic process, namely independence and stationarity of increments, results in it being easy to simulate. The Poisson stochastic process can be simulated provided random variables can be simulated or sampled according to a Poisson distributions, which I have covered in this and this post.
Simulating a Poisson stochastic process is similar to simulating a Poisson point process. (Basically, it is the same method in a one-dimensional setting.) But I will leave the details of sampling this stochastic process for another post.
A very quick history of Wiener process and the Poisson (point and stochastic) process is covered in this talk by me.
In terms of books, the Poisson process has not received as much attention as the Wiener process, which is typically just called the Brownian (motion) process. That said, any book covering queueing theory will cover the Poisson (stochastic) process.
More advanced readers can read about the Poisson (stochastic) process, the Wiener (or Brownian (motion)) process, and other Lévy processes:
One of the most important stochastic processes is the Wiener process or Brownian (motion) process. In a previous post I gave the definition of a stochastic process (also called a random process) with some examples of this important random object, including random walks. The Wiener process can be considered a continuous version of the simple random walk. This continuous-time stochastic process is a highly studied and used object. It plays a key role different probability fields, particularly those focused on stochastic processes such as stochastic calculus and the theories of Markov processes, martingales, Gaussian processes, and Levy processes.
The Wiener process is named after Norbert Wiener, but it is called the Brownian motion process or often just Brownian motion due to its historical connection as a model for Brownian movement in liquids, a physical phenomenon observed by Robert Brown. But the physical process is not true a Wiener process, which can be treated as an idealized model. I will use the terms Wiener process or Brownian (motion) process to differentiate the stochastic process from the physical phenomenon known as Brownian movement or Brownian process.
The Wiener process is arguably the most important stochastic process. The other important stochastic process is the Poisson (stochastic) process, which I cover in another post. I have written that and the current post with the same structure and style, reflecting and emphasizing the similarities between these two fundamental stochastic process.
In this post I will give a definition of the standard Wiener process. I will also describe some of its key properties and importance. In future posts I will cover the history and generalizations of this stochastic process.
Definition
In the stochastic processes literature there are different definitions of the Wiener process. These depend on the settings such as the level of mathematical rigour. I give a mathematical definition which captures the main characteristics of this stochastic process.
Definition: Standard Wiener or Brownian (motion) process
A real-valued stochastic process \(\{W_t:t\geq 0 \}\) defined on a probability space \((\Omega,\mathcal{A},\mathbb{P})\) is a standard Wiener (or Brownian motion) process if it has the following properties:
The initial value of the stochastic process \(\{W_t:t\geq 0 \}\) is zero with probability one, meaning \(P(W_0=0)=1\).
The increment \(W_t-W_s\) is independent of the past, that is, \(W_u\), where \(0\leq u\leq s\).
The increment \(W_t-W_s\) is a normal variable with mean \(o\) and variance \(t-s\).
In some literature, the initial value of the stochastic process may not be given. Alternatively, it is simply stated as \(W_0=0\) instead of the more precise (probabilistic) statement given above.
Also, some definitions of this stochastic process include an extra property or two. For example, from the above definition, we can infer that increments of the standard Wiener process are stationary due to the properties of the normal distribution. But a definition may include something like the following property, which explicitly states that this stochastic process is stationary.
For \(0\leq u\leq s\), the increment \(W_t-W_s\) is equal in distribution to \(W_{t-s}\).
The definitions may also describe the continuity of the realizations of the stochastic process, known as sample paths, which we will cover in the next section.
It’s interesting to compare these defining properties with the corresponding ones of the homogeneous Poisson stochastic process. Both stochastic processes build upon divisible probability distributions. Using this property, Lévy processes generalize these two stochastic processes.
Properties
The definition of the Wiener process means that it has stationary and independent increments. These are arguably the most important properties as they lead to the great tractability of this stochastic process. The increments are normal random variables, implying they can have both positive and negative (real) values.
The Wiener process exhibits closure properties, meaning you apply certain operations, you get another Wiener process. For example, if \(W= \{W_t:t\geq 0 \}\) is a Wiener process, then for a scaling constant \(c>0\), the resulting stochastic process \(\{W_{ct}/\sqrt{c}:t \geq 0 \}\)is also a Wiener process. Such properties are useful for proving mathematical results.
Two realizations of a Wiener (or Brownian motion) process. The sample paths are continuous (but non-differentiable) almost everywhere.
Properties such as independence and stationarity of the increments are so-called distributional properties. But the sample paths of this stochastic process are also interesting. A sample path of a Wiener process is continuous almost everywhere. (The term almost everywhere comes from measure theory, but it simply means that the only region where the property does not hold is mathematically negligible.) Despite the continuity of the sample paths, they are nowhere differentiable. (Historically, it was a challenge to find such a function, but a classic example is the Weierstrass function.)
The standard Wiener process has the Markov property, making it an example of a Markov process. The standard Wiener process \(W=\{ W_t\}_{t\geq 0}\) is a martingale. Interestingly, the stochastic process \(W=\{ W_t^2-t\}_{t\geq 0}\) is also a martingale. The Wiener process is a fundamental object in martingale theory.
There are many other properties of the Brownian motion process; see the Further reading section for, well, further reading.
Importance
Playing a main role in the theory of probability, the Wiener process is considered the most important and studied stochastic process. It has connections to other stochastic processes and is central in stochastic calculus and martingales. Its discovery led to the development to a family of Markov processes known as diffusion processes.
The Wiener process also arises as the mathematical limit of other stochastic processes such as random walks, which is the subject of Donsker’s theorem or invariance principle, also known as the functional central limit theorem.
The Wiener process is a member of some important families of stochastic processes, including Markov processes, Lévy processes, and Gaussian processes. This stochastic process also has many applications. For example, it plays a central role in quantitative finance. It is also used in the physical sciences as well as some branches of social sciences, as a mathematical model for various random phenomena.
Generalizations and modifications
For the Brownian motion process, the index set and state space are respectively the non-negative numbers and real numbers, that is \(T=[0,\infty)\) and \(S=[0,\infty)\), so it has both continuous index set and state space. Consequently, changing the state space, index set, or both offers an ways for generalizing or modifying the Wiener (stochastic) process.
A single realization of a two-dimensional Wiener (or Brownian motion) process. Each vector component is an independent standard Wiener process.
Simulating
The defining properties of the Wiener process, namely independence and stationarity of increments, results in it being easy to simulate. The Wiener can be simulated provided random variables can be simulated or sampled according to a normal distribution. The main challenge is that the Wiener process is a continuous-time stochastic process, but computer simulations run in a discrete universe.
I will leave the details of sampling this stochastic process for another post.
Further reading
A very quick history of Wiener process and the Poisson (point) process is covered in this talk by me.
There are books almost entirely dedicated to the subject of the Wiener or Brownian (motion) process, including:
More advanced readers can read about the Wiener process, its descrete-valued cousin, the Poisson (stochastic) process, as well as other Lévy processes:
I have written a few posts about point processes, which are mathematical objects that seek to represent points randomly scattered over some space. Arguably a much more popular random object is something called a stochastic process. This type of mathematical object, also frequently called a random process, is studied in mathematics. But the origins of stochastic processes stem from various phenomena in the real world.
Stochastic processes find applications representing some type of seemingly random change of a system (usually with respect to time). Examples include the growth of some population, the emission of radioactive particles, or the movements of financial markets. There are many types of stochastic processes with applications in various fields outside of mathematics, including the physical sciences, social sciences, finance, and engineering.
In this post I will cover the standard definition of a stochastic process. But first a quick reminder of some probability basics.
Probability basics
Random experiment
The mathematical field of probability arose from trying to understand games of chance. In these games, some random experiment is performed. A coin is flipped. A die is cast. A card is drawn. These random experiments give the initial intuition behind probability. Such experiments can be considered in more general or abstract terms.
A random experiment has the properties:
Sample space: A sample space, denoted here by \(\Omega\), is the set of all (conceptually) possible outcomes of the random experiment;
Outcomes: An outcome, denoted here by \(\omega\), is an element of the sample space \(\Omega\), meaning \(\omega \in \Omega\), and it is called a sample point or realization.
Events: An event is a subset of the sample space \(\Omega\) for which probability is defined.
Examples
One die
Consider the rolling a traditional six-sided die with the sides numbered from \(1\) to \(6\). Its sample space is \(\Omega=\{1, 2, 3,4,5,6\}\). A possible event is an even number, corresponding to the outcomes \(\{2\}\), \(\{4\}\), and \(\{6\}\).
Two coins
Consider the flipping two identical coins, where each coin has a head appearing on one side and a tail on the other. We denote the head and tail respectively by \(H\) and \(T\). Then the sample space \(\Omega\) is all the possible outcomes, meaning \(\Omega=\{HH, TT, HT, TH\}\). A possible event is at least one head appearing, which corresponds to the outcomes \(\{HH\}\), \(\{HT\}\), and \(\{TH\}\).
Conversely, three heads \(\{HHH\}\), the number \(5\), or the queen of diamonds appearing are clearly not possible outcomes of flipping two coins, which means they are not elements of the sample space.
Modern probability approach
For a random experiment, we formalize what events are possible (or not) with a mathematical object called a \(\sigma\)-algebra. (It is also called \(\sigma\)-field.) This object is a mathematical set with certain properties with respect to set operations. It is a fundamental concept in measure theory, which is the standard approach for the theory of integrals. Measure theory serves as the foundation of modern probability theory.
In modern probability theory, if we want to define a random mathematical object, such as a random variable, we start with a random experiment in the context of a probability space or probability triple \((\Omega,\mathcal{A},\mathbb{P})\), where:
\(\Omega\) is a sample space, which is the set of all (conceptually) possible outcomes;
\(\mathcal{A}\) is a \(\sigma\)-algebra or \(\sigma\)-field, which is a family of events (subsets of \(\Omega\));
\(\mathbb{P}\) is a probability measure, which assigns probability to each event in \(\mathcal{A}\).
To give some intuition behind this approach, David Williams says to imagine that Tyche, Goddess of Chance, chooses a point \(\omega\in\Omega\) at random according to the law \(\mathbb{P}\) such that an event \(A\in \mathcal{A}\) has a probability given by \(\mathbb{P}(A)\), where we understand probability with our own intuition. We can also choose \(\omega\in\Omega\) by using some physical experiment, as long as it is random.
With this formalism, mathematicians define random objects by using a certain measurable function or mapping that maps to a suitable space of mathematical objects. For example, a real-valued random variable is a measurable function from \(\Omega\) to the real line. To consider other random mathematical objects, we just need to define a measurable mapping from \(\Omega\) to a suitable mathematical space.
Definition
Stochastic process
Mathematically, a stochastic process is usually defined as a collection of random variables indexed by some set, often representing time. (Other interpretations exists such as a stochastic process being a random function.)
More formally, a stochastic process is defined as a collection of random variables defined on a common probability space \((\Omega,{\cal A}, \mathbb{P} )\), where \(\Omega\) is a sample space, \({\cal A}\) is a \(\sigma\)-algebra, and \(\mathbb{P}\) is a probability measure, and the random variables, indexed by some set \(T\), all take values in the same mathematical space \(S\), which must be measurable with respect to some \(\sigma\)-algebra \(\Sigma\).
Put another way, for a given probability space \(( \mathbb{P}, {\cal A}, \Omega)\) and a measurable space \((S, \Sigma)\), a stochastic process is a collection of \(S\)-valued random variables, which we can write as:
$$\{X(t):t\in T \}.$$
For each \(t\in T\), \(X(t)\) is a random variable. Historically, a point \(t\in T\) was interpreted as time, so \(X(t)\) is random variable representing a value observed at time \(t\).
Often the collection of random variables \(\{X(t):t\in T \}\) is denoted by simply a single letter such as \(X\). There are different notations for stochastic processes. For example, a stochastic process can also be written as \(\{X(t,\omega):t\in T \}\), reflecting that is function of the two variables, \(t\in T\) and \(\omega\in \Omega\).
Index set
The set \(T\) is called the index set or parameter set of the stochastic process. Typically this set is some subset of the real line, such as the natural numbers or an interval. If the set is countable, such as the natural numbers, then it is a discrete-time stochastic process. Conversely, an interval for the index set gives a continuous-time stochastic process.
(If the index set is some two or higher dimensional Euclidean space or manifold, then typically the resulting stochastic or random process is called a random field.)
State space
The mathematical space \(S\) is called the state space of the stochastic process. The precise mathematical space can be any one of many different mathematical sets such as the integers, the real line, \(n\)-dimensional Euclidean space, the complex plane, or more abstract mathematical spaces. The different spaces reflects the different values that the stochastic process can take.
Sample function
A single outcome of a stochastic process is called a sample function, a sample path, or, a realization. It is formed by taking a single value of each random variable of the stochastic process. More precisely, if \(\{X(t,\omega):t\in T \}\) is a stochastic process, then for any point \(\omega\in\Omega\), the mapping
\[
X(\cdot,\omega): T \rightarrow S,
\]
is a sample function of the stochastic process \(\{X(t,\omega):t\in T \}\). Other names exist such as trajectory, and path function.
Examples
The range of stochastic processes is limitless, as stochastic processes can be used to construct new ones. Broadly speaking, stochastic processes can be classified by their index set and their state space. For example, we can consider a discrete-time and continuous-time stochastic processes.
There are some commonly used stochastic processes. I’ll give the details of a couple of very simple ones.
Bernoulli process
A very simple stochastic process is the Bernoulli process, which is a sequence of independent and identically distributed (iid) random variables. The value of each random variable can be one of two values, typically \(0\) and \(1\), but they could be also \(-1\) and \(+1\) or \(H\) and \(T\). To generate this stochastic process, each random variable takes one value, say, \(1\) with probability \(p\) or the other value, say, \(0\) with probability \(1-p\).
We can can liken this stochastic process to flipping a coin, where the probability of a head is \(p\) and its value is \(1\), while the value of a tail is \(0\). In other words, a Bernoulli process is a sequence of iid Bernoulli random variables. The Bernoulli process has the counting numbers (that is, the positive integers) as its index set, meaning \(T=1,\dots\), while in this example the state space is simply \(S=\{0,1\}\).
A single realization of a Bernoulli process, one of the simplest stochastic processes. This discrete-time stochastic process only takes two values such as 0 and 1.
(We can easily generalize the Bernoulli process by having a sequence of iid variables with the same probability space.)
Random walks
A random walk is a type of stochastic process that is usually defined as sum of a sequence of iid random variables or random vectors in Euclidean space. Given random walks are formed from a sum, they are stochastic processes that evolve in discrete time. (But some also use the term to refer to stochastic processes that change in continuous time.)
A classic example of this stochastic process is the simple random walk, which is based on a Bernoulli process, where each iid Bernoulli variable takes either the value positive one or negative one. More specifically, the simple random walk increases by one with probability, say, \(p\), or decreases by one with probability \(1-p\). The index set of this stochastic process is the natural numbers, while its state space is the integers.
A single realization of a simple (symmetric) random walk. This discrete-time stochastic process is a fundamental object in the history of probability theory.
Random walks can be defined in more general settings such as \(n\)- dimensional Euclidean space. There are other types of random walks, defined on different mathematical objects, such as lattices and groups, and in general they are highly studied and have many applications in different disciplines.
Markov processes
One important way for classifying stochastic processes is the stochastic dependence between random variables. For the Bernoulli process, there was no dependence between any random variable, giving a very simple stochastic process. But this is not a very interesting stochastic process.
A more interesting (and typically useful) stochastic process is one in which the random variables depend on each other in some way. For example, the next position of a random walk depends on the current position, which in turn depends on the previous position.
A large family of stochastic processes in which the next value depends on the current value are called Markov processes or Markov chains. (Both names are used. The term Markov chain is largely used when either the state space or index is discrete, but there does not seem to be an agreed upon convention. When I think Markov chain, I think discrete time.) The definition of a Markov process has a property that constrains the dependence between the random variables, as the next random variable only depends on the current random variable, and not all the previous random variables. This constraint on the dependence typically renders Markov processes more tractable than general stochastic processes.
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of Markov processes. Their study and application appear throughout probability, science, and technology.
Counting processes
A counting process is a stochastic process that takes the values of non-negative integers, meaning its state space is the counting numbers, and is non-decreasing. A simple example of a counting process is an asymmetric random walk, which increases by one with some probability \(p\) or remains the same value with probability \(1-p\). In other words, the accumulative sum of a Bernoulli process. This is an example of a discrete-time counting process, but continuous-time ones also exist.
A counting process can be also interpreted as a counting as a random counting measure on the index set.
Two important stochastic processes
The most two important stochastic processes are the Poisson process and the Wiener process (often called Brownian motion process or just Brownian motion). They are important for both applications and theoretical reasons, playing fundamental roles in the theory of stochastic processes. In future posts I’ll cover both the Wiener process and the Poisson process.
Code
The code used to create the plots in this post is found here on my code repository. The code exists in both MATLAB and Python.
Further reading
There are many, many books covering the fundamentals of modern probability theory, including those (in roughly increasing order of difficulty) by Grimmett and Stirzaker, Karr, Rosenthal, Shiryaev, Durrett, and Billingsley. A very quick introduction is given in this web article.
The development of stochastic processes is one of the great achievements in modern mathematics. Researchers and practitioners have both studied them in great depth and found many applications for them. Consequently, there is no shortage of literature on stochastic processes. For example:
The binomial point process is arguably the simplest point process. It consists of a non-random number of points scattered randomly and independently over some bounded region of space. In this post I will describe the binomial point process, how it leads to the Poisson point process, and its historical role as stars in the sky.
The binomial point process is an important stepping stone in the theory of point process. But I stress that for mathematical models, I would always use a Poisson point process instead of a binomial one. The only exception would be if you were developing a model for a small, non-random number of points.
Uniform binomial point process
We start with the simplest binomial point process, which has uniformly located points. (I described simulating this point process in an early post. The code is here.)
Definition
Consider some bounded (or more precisely, compact) region, say, \(W\), of the plane plane \(\mathbb{R}^2\), but the space can be more general. The uniform binomial point process is created by scattering \(n\) points uniformly and independently across the set \(W\).
A single realization of a binomial point process with n=30 points. The points are uniformly and independently scattered across a unit square.
Distribution
Consider a single point uniformly scattered in the region \(W\), giving a binomial point process with \(n=1\). We look at some region \(B\), which is a subset of \(W\), implying \(B\subseteq W\). What is the probability that the single point \(X\) falls in region \(B\)?
First we write \(\nu(W)\) and \(\nu(B)\) to denote the respective areas (or more precisely, Lebesgue measures) of the regions \(W\) and \(B\), hence \(\nu(B)\leq \nu(W)\). Then this probability, say, \(p\), is simply the ratio of the two areas, giving
$$p= P(X\in B)=\frac{\nu(B)}{\nu(W)}.$$
The event of a single point being found in the set \(B\) is a single Bernoulli trial, like flipping a single coin. But if there are \(n\) points, then there are \(n\) Bernoulli trials, which bring us to the binomial distribution.
For a uniform binomial point process \(N_W\), the number of randomly located points being found in a region \(B\) is a binomial random variable, say, \(N_W(B)\), with probability parameter \(p=\nu(B)/ \nu(W)\). The probability mass function of \(N_W(B)\) is
A standard exercise in introductory probability is deriving the Poisson distribution by taking the limit of the binomial distribution. This is done by sending \(n\) (the total number of Bernoulli trials) to infinity while keeping the binomial mean \(\mu:=p n\) fixed, which sends the probability \(p=\mu/n\) to zero.
More precisely, for \(\mu\geq0\), setting \(p_n=\mu/n \) and keeping \(\mu :=p_n n\) fixed, we have the limit result
We can make the same limit argument with the binomial point process.
Homogeneous Poisson point process
We consider the intensity of the uniform binomial point process, which is the average number of points in a unit area. For a binomial point process, this is simply
$$\lambda := \frac{n}{\nu(W)}.$$
For the Poisson limit, we expand the region \(W\) so it covers the whole plane \(\mathbb{R}^2\), while keeping the intensity \(\lambda = n/\nu(W)\) fixed. This means that the area \(\nu(W)\) approaches infinity while the probability \(p=\nu(B)/\nu(W)\) goes to zero. Then in the limit we arrive at the homogeneous Poisson point process \(N\) with intensity \(\lambda\).
The number of points of \(N\) falling in the set \(B\) is a random variable \(N(B)\) with the probability mass function
Typically in point process literature, one first encounters the uniform binomial point process. But we can generalize it so the points are distributed according to some general distribution.
Definition
We write \(\Lambda\) to denote a non-negative Radon measure on \(W\), meaning \(\Lambda(W)< \infty\) and \(\Lambda(B)\geq 0\) for all (measurable) sets \(B\subseteq W\). We can also assume a more general space for the underlying space such as a compact metric space, which is (Borel) measurable. But the intuition still works for compact region of the plane \(\mathbb{R}^2\).
For the \(n\) points, we assume each point is distributed according to the probability measure
$$\bar{\Lambda}= \frac{\Lambda}{\Lambda(W)}.$$
The resulting point process is a general binomial point process. The proofs for this point process remain essentially the same, replacing the Lebesgue measure \(\nu\), such as area or volume, with the non-negative measure \(\Lambda\).
Example
A typical example of the intensity measure \(\Lambda\) has the form
$$\Lambda(B)= \int_B f(x) dx\,,$$
where \(f\) is a non-negative density function on \(W\). Then the probability density of a single point is
$$ p(x) = \frac{1}{c}f(x),$$
where \(c\) is a normalization constant
$$c= \int_W f(x) dx\,.$$
On a set \(W \subseteq \mathbb{R}^2\) using Cartesian coordinates, a specific example of the density \(f\) is
$$ f(x_1,x_2) = \lambda e^{-(x_1^2+x_2^2)}.$$
Distribution
Assuming a general binomial point process \(N_W\) on \(W\), we can use the previous arguments to obtain the binomial distribution
We can easily adapt the Poisson limit arguments for the general binomial Poisson point process, which results in the general Poisson point process \(N\) with intensity measure \(\Lambda\). The number of points of \(N\) falling in the set \(B\) is a random variable \(N(B)\) with the probability mass function
The uniform binomial point process is an example of a spatial point process. With points being scattered uniformly and independently, its sheer simplicity makes it a natural choice for an early spatial model. But which scattered objects?
Perhaps not surprisingly, it is trying to understand star locations where we find the earliest known example of somebody describing something like a random point process. In 1767 in England John Michell wrote:
what it is probable would have been the least apparent distance of any two or more stars, any where in the whole heavens, upon the supposition that they had been scattered by mere chance, as it might happen
As an example, Michelle studied the six brightest stars in the Pleiades star cluster. He concluded the stars were not scattered by mere chance. Of course “scattered by mere chance” is not very precise in today’s probability language, but we can make the reasonable assumption that Michell meant the points were uniformly and independently scattered.
Years later in 1860 Simon Newcomb examined Michell’s problem, motivating him to derive the Poisson distribution as the limit of the binomial distribution. Newcomb also studied star locations. Stephen Stigler considers this as the first example of applying the Poisson distribution to real data, pre-dating the famous work by Ladislaus Bortkiewicz who studied rare events such as deaths from horse kicks. We also owe Bortkiewicz the terms Poisson distribution and stochastic (in the sense of random).
Code
Here, on my repository, are some pieces of code that simulate a uniform binomial point process on a rectangle.
Further reading
For an introduction to spatial statistics, I suggest the lectures notes by Baddeley, which form Chapter 1 of these published lectures, edited by Baddeley, Bárány, Schneider, and Weil. The binomial point process is covered in Section 1.3.
The binomial point process is also covered briefly in the classic text Stochastic Geometry and its Applications by Chiu, Stoyan, Kendall and Mecke; see Section 2.2. Similar material is covered in the book’s previous edition by Stoyan, Kendall and Mecke.
Haenggi also wrote a readable introductory book called Stochastic Geometry for Wireless networks, where he gives the basics of point process theory. The binomial point process is covered in Section 2.4.4.
For some history on point processes and the Poisson distribution, I suggest starting with the respective papers:
Guttorp and Thorarinsdottir, What Happened to Discrete Chaos, the Quenouille Process, and the Sharp Markov Property?;
Stigler, Poisson on the Poisson distribution.
Histories of the Poisson distribution and the Poisson point process are found in the books:
Haight, Handbook of the Poisson Distribution, Chapter 9;
Here’s a lazy summary post where I list all the posts on various Poisson simulations. I’ve also linked to code, which is found on this online repository. The code is typically written in MATLAB and Python.
A colleague just sent me this photo of a colourful building on the Gold Coast. The building is the new Home of the Arts (HOTA) Gallery, as detailed here. It is covered in a Voronoi tessellation. I described this very useful geometrical object in a previous post.
The New HOTA Gallery with a Voronoi tessellation on the outside.
A casual Google reveals that other buildings have Voronoi-inspired architecture. For example, The Fry building at the University of Bristol in Britain, which fittingly houses the mathematics department.
The Fry Building at the University of Bristol (Source)
The building for the Alibaba headquarters in China also evokes Voronoi imagery. But those Voronoi constructions do no feature the colours of the HOTA Gallery, which is reminiscent of diagrams produced by scientific plotting packages.
(Of course I don’t mind the odd Voronoi tesselation. For example, a couple of months ago I set for my website image a Voronoi tesselation, created by the Franco-German artist Plaisance Puisatier. And the cover of a book I co-wrote has a diagram based on the signal-to-interference ratio, which can be considered as a generalization of a Voronoi tessellation.)
Mathematical buildings
Another building that employs an interesting geometrical object is RMIT’s Storey Hall, located in Melbourne. It features Penrose tiling, which is an example of a non-periodic tiling. Loosely speaking, that means if you tile an infinite plane with a given a set of tiles, then no translation of the plane will yield the same pattern again. The Penrose tiling is also inside the building, as you can see on this website.
On topic of non-periodic tiling, the buildings at Federation Square in Melbourne are covered by pinwheel tiling, as shown on this mathematics website, which is also non-periodic. According to Wikipedia, Charles Radin proposed this tiling based on a construction by the late and famous John Conway who died earlier this year, being yet another victim of the pandemic.
Mathematical architects
While writing this post, I noticed that both the HOTA Gallery and Storey Hall were designed by ARM Architecture. Some of their other buildings have a geometrical aspect. Clearly they have a mathematical inclination.
The hint’s in the title. I wrote a simple function in Fortran for simulating (or sampling) Poisson random variables. (More precisely, I should say that the function generates Poisson variates.) I used the simple direct method. This method is based on the exponential inter-arrival times of the Poisson (stochastic) process.
My code should not be used for large Poisson parameter values (larger than, say, 20 or 30), as the code may be too slow. Other methods exist for larger parameter values, which I’ve discussed previously.
I just use the standard Fortran function random_number for generating (pseudo-)random numbers. I am not an expert in Fortran, but my Poisson function seems to work fine. I wrote and ran a simple test that estimates the first and second moments, which should match for Poisson variables.
My Fortran code is very similar to the code that I wrote in C and C#, which is located here. You should be able to run it on this website or similar ones that can compile Fortran (95) code.
Further reading
For various Poisson simulation methods, see the stochastic simulation books by Devroye (Section X.3) or Fishman (Section 8.16). There’s a free online version of Devroye’s book here. The book by Gentle (Section 5.2.8) also briefly covers Poisson variables.
In this post on generating Poisson variates, John D. Cook briefly discusses the direct method (for small Poisson parameter values), as well as a rejection method from a 1979 paper by Atkinson.
I wrote the Poisson code using Fortran 95. There are various books and websites on Fortran. The website tutorialspoint.com gives a good introduction to Fortran. You can also edit, compile and run your Fortran code there with its online Fortran editor. I found this short summary a good start. For alternative Fortran code of a Poisson generator, consult the classic book Numerical Recipes, though I believe the book versions only exist for Fortran 77 and Fortran 90.
Code
On this page I’ve only included the code of the functions for generating uniform and Poisson variates. The rest of the code, including the test, is located here.
!Poisson function -- returns a single Poisson random variable
function funPoissonSingle(lambda) result(randPoisson)
real, intent(in) :: lambda !input
real :: exp_lambda !constant for terminating loop
real :: randUni !uniform variable
real :: prodUni !product of uniform variables
integer :: randPoisson !Poisson variable
exp_lambda= exp(-lambda)
!initialize variables
randPoisson = -1;
prodUni = 1;
do while (prodUni > exp_lambda)
randUni = funUniformSingle() !generate uniform variable
prodUni = prodUni * randUni; !update product
randPoisson = randPoisson + 1 !increase Poisson variable
end do
end function
!Uniform function -- returns a standard uniform random variable
function funUniformSingle() result(randUni)
real randUni;
call random_seed
call random_number(randUni)
end function
My simulation code has been frozen and buried in Norway. Well, some of my code that I keep on a GitHub repository has become part of a code preservation project. Consequently, beneath my profile it reads:
Arctic Code Vault Contributor
This is part of what is called the GitHub Archive Program. The people behind it aim to preserve large amounts of (open source) code for future generations in thousands and thousands of years time. But how do they do that?
Well, basically, the good people at GitHub chose and converted many, many, many lines of code into certain error-resistant formats, such as QR code. They then printed it all out and buried it deep in an abandoned mine shaft in frozen Norway. (The frozen and stable Norway is also home to a famous seed bank.)
My code in this project includes most of the code that has appeared in these posts. Of course my contribution is just a drop in the vast code ocean of this project. In fact, at least two or three of my colleagues have also had their code put into deep freeze.
Still, it’s a nice thought to know that stuff I wrote, including code for these very posts, will be potentially around for a very long time.
