# numpy.random.RandomState.zipf

method

random.RandomState.zipf(a, size=None)

  Draw samples from a Zipf distribution.

  Samples are drawn from a Zipf distribution with specified parameter a > 1.

  The Zipf distribution (also known as the zeta distribution) is a discrete probability distribution that satisfies Zipf’s law: the frequency of an item is inversely proportional to its rank in a frequency table.

  Note

  New code should use the `zipf` method of a `default_rng()` instance instead; please see the Quick Start.

  Parameters
    a float or array_like of floats

      Distribution parameter. Must be greater than 1.

    size int or tuple of ints, optional

      Output shape. If the given shape is, e.g., `(m, n, k)`, then `m * n * k` samples are drawn. If size is `None` (default), a single value is returned if `a` is a scalar. Otherwise, `np.array(a).size` samples are drawn.

  Returns
    out ndarray or scalar

      Drawn samples from the parameterized Zipf distribution.

  See also

  `scipy.stats.zipf`

    probability density function, distribution, or cumulative density function, etc.

  `Generator.zipf`

    which should be used for new code.

  Notes

  The probability density for the Zipf distribution is

  \[p(k) = \frac{k^{-a}}{\zeta(a)},\]

  for integers \(k \geq 1\), where \(\zeta\) is the Riemann Zeta function.

  It is named for the American linguist George Kingsley Zipf, who noted that the frequency of any word in a sample of a language is inversely proportional to its rank in the frequency table.

  References

  1

    Zipf, G. K., “Selected Studies of the Principle of Relative Frequency in Language,” Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1932.

  Examples

  Draw samples from the distribution:

      >>> a = 4.0
      >>> n = 20000
      >>> s = np.random.zipf(a, n)

  Display the histogram of the samples, along with the expected histogram based on the probability density function:

      >>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
      >>> from scipy.special import zeta

  `bincount` provides a fast histogram for small integers.

      >>> count = np.bincount(s)
      >>> k = np.arange(1, s.max() + 1)

      >>> plt.bar(k, count[1:], alpha=0.5, label='sample count')
      >>> plt.plot(k, n*(k**-a)/zeta(a), 'k.-', alpha=0.5,
      ...          label='expected count')
      >>> plt.semilogy()
      >>> plt.grid(alpha=0.4)
      >>> plt.legend()
      >>> plt.title(f'Zipf sample, a={a}, size={n}')
      >>> plt.show()

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