"the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivaria"

[5jj]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

I've spent ages looking for it and, alas, haven't found it yet :-(.

http://www.mathhelpforum.com/math-help/f8/?

 

[birdeen's call]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

Aha! That probably explains why I am so confused with this.

In a way, I presume I could say

"a real number"

right? If this is correct, then I could also say

"My favorite real numbers are pi, e, and ln 2. The numbers have to be represented with infinite number of digits."

Would that be all right to say?

As SD said, it's all fine. I'm sorry about my suspicion. I simply cannot understand where the problem is. "A" means one. 2 is one real number. Therefore 2 is a real number. The same goes for any other single real number. There really is nothing to it.

 

[birdeen's call]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

Fine. I am not into numbers really. What about distributions that are labeled (parametereized) by real numbers.

For example, there is this sentence from wikipedia:

"In probability theory and statistics, the Poisson distribution ... is a discrete probability distribution that expresses the probability of a...."

Why do they use the? Would it be all right to say

"In probability theory and statistics, a Poisson distribution ... is a discrete probability distribution that expresses the probability of a...."

Yes, it would be fine. By using "a", you would stress the fact that there are many Poisson distributions, one for every lambda. I don't think there's a reason to do this in this context though.

 

[5jj]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

Fine. I am not into numbers really.

Really? This from the man who wrote, "A distribution is a function. A function is a procedure for computing something from something else. In this particualr case you feed in intereger values to such function and get out values from zero to one (probabilities). Multivariate function is a product of such functions. The real problem is elswehere. It is about whether to treat a set of functions as countable or uncountable".

Are you really surprised that one or two of us are becoming just a trifle suspicious?

 

[zorank]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

http://www.mathhelpforum.com/math-help/f8/?

Thanks for the link. The problem is that this seems no to be a language forum. My problem is language not math.

 

[zorank]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

Are you really surprised that one or two of us are becoming just a trifle suspicious?

Once more, I am really, really, sorry that you have these problem with double identity folks (I have no clue what is going on, and what they have done) but it made some of you paranoid. I am harmless and trying to imrove my English. That is all.

p.s. The reason why I tried to expliain what a distribution is that somebody asked, not to provoke in any way. I am not into numbers. I am into language about numbers if you wish.

 

[zorank]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

Yes, it would be fine. By using "a", you would stress the fact that there are many Poisson distributions, one for every lambda. I don't think there's a reason to do this in this context though.

Wondeful! This was valuable. Another question, please bear with me, what is that one stresses in the context of the wikipedia sentence when "the" is used?

 

[5jj]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

Thanks for the link. The problem is that this seems no to be a language forum. My problem is language not math.

True, but if you tried asking the question there you might get an answer from people who know. If you don't ask, you won't.

 

[zorank]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

Poisson distribution, like any distribution, as a way of distributing, may be uncountable, but of you have a set of Poisson distributions, then it is coutable....

But this would imply that i could write it without any article. Actually, I just realized you did write it without any article. :-o In such a case it would be like a generic concept, right?

 

[5jj]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

But this would imply that i could write it without any article. Right?

You've read the wikipedia article, which contains the sentence: A classic example of Poisson distribution is the nuclear decay of atoms.

 

[zorank]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

Why do they use "the" in the first sentence? It is first mentioning and it should be without article (if it is uncountable noun) and with a/an if it is countable.

Given that it is uncounbale possibility, would it be OK to write it without "the" completely, such as

"In probability theory and statistics, Poisson distribution ...is a discrete probability distribution that expresses the probability of a"

?

 

[5jj]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

Why do they use "the" in the first sentence? It is first mentioning and it should be without article (if it is uncountable noun) and with a/an if it is countable.
As the Poisson Distribution appears to be an alternative name for the Poisson law of small numbers, the definite article is fine.

[...]would it be OK to write it without "the" completely, such as
"In probability theory and statistics, Poisson distribution ...is a discrete probability distribution that expresses the probability of a"?
If you mean "distribution in the way noted by Poisson", then probably yes.

5

 

[zorank]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

OK so I guess it comes from the fact that the word law is countable, and the term referrs to one such law. There is a one to one correspondence.

Well, I think I start to understand. If a distribution is related to some physical phenomena that is well known, then "the" is used.

Gee, this starts making sense... Thanks!

 

[birdeen's call]

Re: "the uncorrelated multivariate Poisson distribution" or "an uncorrelated multivar

As the Poisson Distribution appears to be an alternative name for the Poisson law of small numbers, the definite article is fine.

My understanding is that when we use "the", we don't want to see many Poisson distributions. We want to see them all as one general notion. It may not be right formally, since a distibution is a concrete measure (or a concrete something else, depending on what your favourite definition is), not a class of measures. Poisson distributions form a class of probability distributions indexed by positive real numbers lambda. We sometimes call this class the Poisson distribution perhaps because "the class of Poisson distributions" is cumbersome and doesn't give us anything other than formal correctness.

This is only a non-native's opinion. I would recommend that you do indeed post on a mathematics-related forum. A native mathematician's opinion will be worth more than anything you can get here, (Unless we do have a native mathematician on these forums -- I do not know that.)