ABSTRACT
The Poisson distribution represents the probability of exactly x events occurring in a specified interval, based on a rate of occurrence λ. Its probability mass function is given by
f(x) = λxe−λ
x! , x = 0, 1, 2, 3, · · · ; λ > 0 (3.1)
The mean of the Poisson distribution is λ, and the variance is also given by λ. The discrete entropy for various rates λ is given in Figure 3.1. As expected, the value of the entropy increases as the variance λ increases.
