Point process

In <a href="/facts/Statistics/DNPsKGYU">statistics</a> and <a href="/facts/Probability_theory/mFBn51rE">probability theory</a>, a point process or point field is a set of a random number of <a href="/facts/Point_(mathematics)/6YPAvX2a">mathematical points</a> randomly located on a mathematical space such as the <a href="/facts/Real_line/6eq42xX5">real line</a> or <a href="/facts/Euclidean_space/R2UbzmzM">Euclidean space</a>.
Point processes on the real line form an important special case that is particularly amenable to study, because the points are ordered in a natural way, and the whole point process can be described completely by the (random) intervals between the points. These point processes are frequently used as models for random events in time, such as the arrival of customers in a queue (<a href="/facts/Queueing_theory/8NDl56EM">queueing theory</a>), of impulses in a neuron (<a href="/facts/Computational_neuroscience/eclSYyJK">computational neuroscience</a>), particles in a <a href="/facts/Geiger_counter/3xDNYh7I">Geiger counter</a>, location of radio stations in a <a href="/facts/Telecommunication_network/NFCX0STS">telecommunication network</a> or of searches on the <a href="/facts/World-wide_web/wvnTrWFq">world-wide web</a>.
General point processes on a Euclidean space can be used for <a href="/facts/Spatial_data_analysis/R6rlDzRl">spatial data analysis</a>, which is of interest in such diverse disciplines as forestry, plant ecology, epidemiology, geography, seismology, materials science, astronomy, telecommunications, computational neuroscience, economics and others.

Point process open-in-new

Point process