beta distribution

Noun

beta distribution (plural beta distributions)

1. Any of a family of continuous probability distributions defined on the interval [0, 1] whose shape is parametrised by two positive parameters, denoted α and β, which appear as exponents in the associated random variable.
   • In particular, I illustrate how a hierarchical model in which the allele frequency distribution among populations is approximated by a Beta distribution and distribution of mean allele frequencies across loci is also approximated by a Beta distribution, accounts for the time-correlation of allele...2006, Kent E. Holsinger, “Chapter 2: Bayesian hierarchical models in geographical genetics”, in James S. Clark, Alan E. Gelfand, editors, Hierarchical Modelling for the Environmental Sciences...
   • When more than two mutually exclusive events are involved in a frame of reference, the beta distributions form the marginals of a Dirichlet distribution.2014, Stephen F. Bush, Smart Grid: Communication-Enabled Intelligence for the Electric Power Grid, Wiley, 2015, Reprint with corrections, page 366

   Synonyms:

   beta distribution of the first kind