POISSON_SIMULATION
Simulation of a Poisson Process

POISSON_SIMULATION is a C program which simulates a Poisson process in which events occur uniformly at random, with an average waiting time of Lambda, creating output for graphics by gnuplot.

Note that the Poisson distribution therefore also describes the distribution of distances from one point to the next, assuming the points are distributed uniformly at random along a line, with average density Lambda per unit length.

Licensing:

The computer code and data files described and made available on this web page are distributed under the GNU LGPL license.

Languages:

POISSON_SIMULATION is available in a C version and a C++ version and a FORTRAN90 version and a MATLAB version.

Related Data and Programs:

BROWNIAN_MOTION_SIMULATION, a C library which simulates Brownian motion in an M-dimensional region.

DUEL_SIMULATION, a C program which simulates N repetitions of a duel between two players, each of whom has a known firing accuracy.

FAIR_DICE_SIMULATION, a C program which simulates N tosses of 2 dice, making a histogram of the results.

GNUPLOT, C programs which illustrate the use of the gnuplot graphics program.

HIGH_CARD_SIMULATION, a C program which simulates a situation in which you see the cards in a deck one by one, and must select the one you think is the highest and stop; the program uses GNUPLOT for graphics.

ISING_2D_SIMULATION, a C program which carries out a Monte Carlo simulation of an Ising model, a 2D array of positive and negative charges, each of which is likely to "flip" to be in agreement with neighbors.

LIFE_OPENGL, a C program which uses OpenGL to display the evolution of John Conway's "Game of Life".

REACTOR_SIMULATION, a C program which a simple Monte Carlo simulation of the shielding effect of a slab of a certain thickness in front of a neutron source. This program was provided as an example with the book "Numerical Methods and Software."

STRING_SIMULATION, a C program which simulates the behavior of a vibrating string.

THREE_BODY_SIMULATION, a C program which simulates the behavior of three planets, constrained to lie in a plane, and moving under the influence of gravity, by Walter Gander and Jiri Hrebicek.

Source Code:

• poisson_simulation.c, the source code.
• poisson_simulation.h, the source code.

Examples and Tests:

• poisson_simulation_test.c, a sample calling program.
• poisson_simulation_test.txt, the output file.

The calling program creates data and command files which can be used by GNUPLOT to create images.

• poisson_events_data.txt, data for Poisson events plot.
• poisson_events_commands.txt, commands for Poisson events plot.
• poisson_events.png, the Poisson events plot.
• poisson_timeline_data.txt, data for Poisson timeline plot.
• poisson_timeline_commands.txt, commands for Poisson timeline plot.
• poisson_timeline.png, the Poisson timeline plot.
• poisson_times_data.txt, data for Poisson events plot.
• poisson_times_commands.txt, commands for Poisson events plot.
• poisson_times.png, the Poisson events plot.

List of Routines:

• I4VEC_MEAN returns the mean of an I4VEC.
• I4VEC_PRINT prints an I4VEC.
• I4VEC_VARIANCE returns the variance of an I4VEC.
• POISSON_FIXED_EVENTS waits for a given number of Poisson events.
• POISSON_FIXED_TIME counts the Poisson events in a fied time.
• R8_UNIFORM_01 returns a unit pseudorandom R8.
• R8VEC_CUM computes the cumulutive sums of an R8VEC.
• R8VEC_MEAN returns the mean of an R8VEC.
• R8VEC_MIDSPACE_NEW creates a vector of linearly spaced values.
• R8VEC_UNIFORM_01_NEW returns a new unit pseudorandom R8VEC.
• R8VEC_VARIANCE returns the variance of an R8VEC.
• TIMESTAMP prints the current YMDHMS date as a time stamp.

You can go up one level to the C source codes.