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https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MATH-1056?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:all-tabpanel
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Sean Owen updated MATH-1056:
----------------------------

    Attachment: MATH-1056.patch

> Small error in PoissonDistribution.nextPoisson() algorithm
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
>                 Key: MATH-1056
>                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MATH-1056
>             Project: Commons Math
>          Issue Type: Bug
>    Affects Versions: 3.2
>            Reporter: Sean Owen
>            Priority: Minor
>         Attachments: MATH-1056.patch
>
>
> Here's a tiny bug I noticed via static inspection, since it flagged the 
> integer division. PoissonDistribution.java:325 says:
> {code:java}
> final double a1 = FastMath.sqrt(FastMath.PI * twolpd) * FastMath.exp(1 / 8 * 
> lambda);
> {code}
> The "1 / 8 * lambda)" is evidently incorrect, since this will always evaluate 
> to 0. I rechecked the original algorithm 
> (http://luc.devroye.org/devroye-poisson.pdf) and it should instead be:
> {code:java}
> final double a1 = FastMath.sqrt(FastMath.PI * twolpd) * FastMath.exp(1 / (8 * 
> lambda));
> {code}
> (lambda is a double so there is no int division issue.) This matches a later 
> expression.
> I'm not sure how to evaluate the effect of the bug. Better to be correct of 
> course; it may never have made much practical difference.



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