Related papers: Benford Behavior of a Higher-Dimensional Fragmenta…
We develop two complementary generative mechanisms that explain when and why Benford's first-digit law arises. First, a probabilistic Turing machine (PTM) ensemble induces a geometric law for codelength. Maximizing its entropy under a…
Benford's law states that for many random variables X > 0 its leading digit D = D(X) satisfies approximately the equation P(D = d) = log_{10}(1 + 1/d) for d = 1,2,...,9. This phenomenon follows from another, maybe more intuitive fact,…
The first digit (FD) phenomenon i.e., the significant digits of numbers in large data are often distributed according to a logarithmically decreasing function was first reported by S. Newcomb and then many decades later independently by F.…
According to Benford's law, the most significant digit in many datasets is not uniformly distributed, but obeys a well defined power law distribution with smaller digits appearing more often. Among one of the myriad particle physics…
That the logarithmic distribution manifests itself in the random as well as in the deterministic (multiplication processes) has long intrigued researchers in Benford's Law. In this article it is argued that it springs from one common…
We determine the leading digit laws for the matrix components of a linear Lie group $G$. These laws generalize the observations that the normalized Haar measure of the Lie group $\mathbb{R}^+$ is $dx/x$ and that the scale invariance of…
Benford's law describes the distribution of the first digit of numbers appearing in a wide variety of numerical data, including tax records, and election outcomes, and has been used to raise "red flags" about potential anomalies in the data…
The renowned proverb, Numbers do not lie, underscores the reliability and insight that lie beneath numbers, a concept of undisputed importance, especially in economics and finance etc. Despite the prosperity of Benford's Law in the first…
Inspired by the basic stick fragmentation model proposed by Becker et al. in arXiv:1309.5603v4, we consider three new versions of such fragmentation models, namely, continuous with random number of parts, continuous with probabilistic…
In many real life situations, it is observed that the first digits (i.e., $1,2,\ldots,9$) of a numerical data-set, which is expressed using decimal system, do not follow a random distribution. Instead, smaller numbers are favoured by nature…
In the literature, Benford's Law is considered for base-b expansions where b>1 is an integer. In this paper, we investigate the distribution of leading "digits" of a sequence of positive integers under other expansions such as Zeckendorf…
Infrared spectra of various polymers were treated statistically. It was established that for the absorbance spectra the Benford distribution of leading digits takes place, whereas the distribution of leading digits for transmittance spectra…
Kossovsky recently conjectured that the distribution of leading digits of a chain of probability distributions converges to Benford's law as the length of the chain grows. We prove his conjecture in many cases, and provide an interpretation…
A random variable (r.v.) X is said to follow Benford's law if log(X) is uniform mod 1. Many experimental data sets prove to follow an approximate version of it, and so do many mathematical series and continuous random variables. This…
Nonextensive statistics, characterized by a nonextensive parameter $q$, is a promising and practically useful generalization of the Boltzmann statistics to describe power-law behaviors from physical and social observations. We here explore…
The occurrence of digits one through nine as the leftmost nonzero digit of numbers from real world sources is often not uniformly distributed, but instead, is distributed according to a logarithmic law, known as Benford's law. Here, we…
The goal of this note is to show that a widespread claim about Benford's Law, namely, that the range of every Benford distribution spans at least several orders of magnitude, is false. The proof is constructive and concrete examples are…
There are now many theoretical explanations for why Benford's law of digit bias surfaces in so many diverse fields and data sets. After briefly reviewing some of these, we discuss in depth recurrence relations. As these are discrete…
The following work is written in easy language for college level students. It shows how the first digit probabilities of a group of continuous real-valued functions can be calculated. Thus, examples explaining how the probabilities are…
It has long been known that sequences such as the powers of $2$ and the factorials satisfy Benford's Law; that is, leading digits in these sequences occur with frequencies given by $P(d)=\log_{10}(1+1/d)$, $d=1,2,\dots,9$. In this paper, we…