stats (version 3.4.1)

Beta: The Beta Distribution

Description

Density, distribution function, quantile function and random generation for the Beta distribution with parameters shape1 and shape2 (and optional non-centrality parameter ncp).

Usage

dbeta(x, shape1, shape2, ncp = 0, log = FALSE)
pbeta(q, shape1, shape2, ncp = 0, lower.tail = TRUE, log.p = FALSE)
qbeta(p, shape1, shape2, ncp = 0, lower.tail = TRUE, log.p = FALSE)
rbeta(n, shape1, shape2, ncp = 0)

Arguments

x, q

vector of quantiles.

p

vector of probabilities.

n

number of observations. If length(n) > 1, the length is taken to be the number required.

shape1, shape2

non-negative parameters of the Beta distribution.

ncp

non-centrality parameter.

log, log.p

logical; if TRUE, probabilities p are given as log(p).

lower.tail

logical; if TRUE (default), probabilities are \(P[X \le x]\), otherwise, \(P[X > x]\).

Value

dbeta gives the density, pbeta the distribution function, qbeta the quantile function, and rbeta generates random deviates.

Invalid arguments will result in return value NaN, with a warning.

The length of the result is determined by n for rbeta, and is the maximum of the lengths of the numerical arguments for the other functions.

The numerical arguments other than n are recycled to the length of the result. Only the first elements of the logical arguments are used.

Details

The Beta distribution with parameters shape1 \(= a\) and shape2 \(= b\) has density $$f(x)=\frac{\Gamma(a+b)}{\Gamma(a)\Gamma(b)}{x}^{a-1} {(1-x)}^{b-1}% $$ for \(a > 0\), \(b > 0\) and \(0 \le x \le 1\) where the boundary values at \(x=0\) or \(x=1\) are defined as by continuity (as limits).

The mean is \(a/(a+b)\) and the variance is \(ab/((a+b)^2 (a+b+1))\). These moments and all distributional properties can be defined as limits (leading to point masses at 0, 1/2, or 1) when \(a\) or \(b\) are zero or infinite, and the corresponding [dpqr]beta() functions are defined correspondingly.

pbeta is closely related to the incomplete beta function. As defined by Abramowitz and Stegun 6.6.1 $$B_x(a,b) = \int_0^x t^{a-1} (1-t)^{b-1} dt,$$ and 6.6.2 \(I_x(a,b) = B_x(a,b) / B(a,b)\) where \(B(a,b) = B_1(a,b)\) is the Beta function (beta).

\(I_x(a,b)\) is pbeta(x, a, b).

The noncentral Beta distribution (with ncp \( = \lambda\)) is defined (Johnson et al, 1995, pp.502) as the distribution of \(X/(X+Y)\) where \(X \sim \chi^2_{2a}(\lambda)\) and \(Y \sim \chi^2_{2b}\).

References

Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988) The New S Language. Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole.

Abramowitz, M. and Stegun, I. A. (1972) Handbook of Mathematical Functions. New York: Dover. Chapter 6: Gamma and Related Functions.

Johnson, N. L., Kotz, S. and Balakrishnan, N. (1995) Continuous Univariate Distributions, volume 2, especially chapter 25. Wiley, New York.

See Also

Distributions for other standard distributions.

beta for the Beta function.

Examples

x <- seq(0, 1, length = 21)
dbeta(x, 1, 1)
pbeta(x, 1, 1)

## Visualization, including limit cases:
pl.beta <- function(a,b, asp = if(isLim) 1, ylim = if(isLim) c(0,1.1)) {
  if(isLim <- a == 0 || b == 0 || a == Inf || b == Inf) {
    eps <- 1e-10
    x <- c(0, eps, (1:7)/16, 1/2+c(-eps,0,eps), (9:15)/16, 1-eps, 1)
  } else {
    x <- seq(0, 1, length = 1025)
  }
  fx <- cbind(dbeta(x, a,b), pbeta(x, a,b), qbeta(x, a,b))
  f <- fx; f[fx == Inf] <- 1e100
  matplot(x, f, ylab="", type="l", ylim=ylim, asp=asp,
          main = sprintf("[dpq]beta(x, a=%g, b=%g)", a,b))
  abline(0,1,     col="gray", lty=3)
  abline(h = 0:1, col="gray", lty=3)
  legend("top", paste0(c("d","p","q"), "beta(x, a,b)"),
         col=1:3, lty=1:3, bty = "n")
  invisible(cbind(x, fx))
}
pl.beta(3,1)

pl.beta(2, 4)
pl.beta(3, 7)
pl.beta(3, 7, asp=1)

pl.beta(0, 0)   ## point masses at  {0, 1}

pl.beta(0, 2)   ## point mass at 0 ; the same as
pl.beta(1, Inf)

pl.beta(Inf, 2) ## point mass at 1 ; the same as
pl.beta(3, 0)

pl.beta(Inf, Inf)# point mass at 1/2