Inverse transform sampling

Inverse transform sampling

Inverse transform sampling (also known as inversion sampling, the inverse probability integral transform, the inverse transformation method, Smirnov transform, or the golden rule) is a basic method for pseudo-random number sampling, i.e., for generating sample numbers at random from any probability distribution given its cumulative distribution function.

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enInverse transform sampling (also known as inversion sampling, the inverse probability integral transform, the inverse transformation method, Smirnov transform, or the golden rule) is a basic method for pseudo-random number sampling, i.e., for generating sample numbers at random from any probability distribution given its cumulative distribution function.
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Generalized inversion method.svg
InverseFunc.png
Inverse transformation method for exponential distribution.jpg
Inverse transform sampling.png
Inverse Transform Sampling Example.gif
Has abstract
enInverse transform sampling (also known as inversion sampling, the inverse probability integral transform, the inverse transformation method, Smirnov transform, or the golden rule) is a basic method for pseudo-random number sampling, i.e., for generating sample numbers at random from any probability distribution given its cumulative distribution function. Inverse transformation sampling takes uniform samples of a number between 0 and 1, interpreted as a probability, and then returns the largest number from the domain of the distribution such that . For example, imagine that is the standard normal distribution with mean zero and standard deviation one. The table below shows samples taken from the uniform distribution and their representation on the standard normal distribution. We are randomly choosing a proportion of the area under the curve and returning the number in the domain such that exactly this proportion of the area occurs to the left of that number. Intuitively, we are unlikely to choose a number in the far end of tails because there is very little area in them which would require choosing a number very close to zero or one. Computationally, this method involves computing the quantile function of the distribution — in other words, computing the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the distribution (which maps a number in the domain to a probability between 0 and 1) and then inverting that function. This is the source of the term "inverse" or "inversion" in most of the names for this method. Note that for a discrete distribution, computing the CDF is not in general too difficult: we simply add up the individual probabilities for the various points of the distribution. For a continuous distribution, however, we need to integrate the probability density function (PDF) of the distribution, which is impossible to do analytically for most distributions (including the normal distribution). As a result, this method may be computationally inefficient for many distributions and other methods are preferred; however, it is a useful method for building more generally applicable samplers such as those based on rejection sampling. For the normal distribution, the lack of an analytical expression for the corresponding quantile function means that other methods (e.g. the Box–Muller transform) may be preferred computationally. It is often the case that, even for simple distributions, the inverse transform sampling method can be improved on: see, for example, the ziggurat algorithm and rejection sampling. On the other hand, it is possible to approximate the quantile function of the normal distribution extremely accurately using moderate-degree polynomials, and in fact the method of doing this is fast enough that inversion sampling is now the default method for sampling from a normal distribution in the statistical package R.
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Inverse transform sampling
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Box–Muller transform
Càdlàg
Category:Monte Carlo methods
Category:Non-uniform random numbers
Continuous distribution
Continuous random variable
Continuous uniform distribution
Copula (statistics)
Cumulative distribution function
Discrete distribution
Exponential distribution
File:Generalized inversion method.svg
File:InverseFunc.png
File:Inverse transformation method for exponential distribution.jpg
File:Inverse transform sampling.png
File:Inverse Transform Sampling Example.gif
Infimum
Inverse function
Nikolai Smirnov (mathematician)
Normal distribution
Polynomial chaos
Probability density function
Probability distribution
Probability integral transform
Pseudorandom number generator
Pseudo-random number sampling
Quantile function
R (programming language)
Random
Random variable
Rejection sampling
Truncated distribution
Uniform distribution (continuous)
Ziggurat algorithm
SameAs
Inverse transform sampling
Inverse transform sampling method
Inversionsmethode
m.0cdhf
Méthode de la transformée inverse
Método de la transformada inversa
Metodo dell'inversione
Nhx3
Q1377019
Метод обратного преобразования
דגימה מהעתקה הופכית
روش تبدیل معکوس
逆变换采样
逆関数法
Subject
Category:Monte Carlo methods
Category:Non-uniform random numbers
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