power-law distribution

[/ˈpaʊər lɔː dɪstrɪˈbjuːʃən/]
nounpl: power-law distributions
distribuição de lei de potência
1. A probability distribution where the probability of an event varies as a power of some attribute of that event; characterized by a relationship of the form P(x) ∝ x^(-α), where α is a positive constant
The distribution of city populations follows a power-law distribution, where a few large cities contain most of the population.
A distribuição do tamanho das cidades segue uma distribuição de lei de potência, onde poucas cidades grandes concentram a maior parte da população.
2. A statistical distribution used to model phenomena where small occurrences are extremely common while large occurrences are rare
Internet traffic exhibits a power-law distribution, with most websites receiving few visitors and a small number receiving millions.
O tráfego da Internet exibe uma distribuição de lei de potência, com a maioria dos websites recebendo poucos visitantes e um pequeno número recebendo milhões.
Power-law distributions are fundamental concepts in mathematics, physics, and network science, studied extensively in both Brazilian and American universities. The term is used consistently across both English and Portuguese academic communities without significant variation, reflecting its importance in statistical analysis and complex systems research. The concept gained popular attention through discussions of Internet phenomena and economic inequality.
Synonyms / Sinônimos
Pareto distributionscale-free distributionpower lawheavy-tailed distribution
Antonyms / Antônimos
normal distributionGaussian distributionuniform distribution

Regional Variations

General Brazilian Portuguese
distribuição de lei de potência
Standard academic and technical usage in Brazil
Portugal
distribuição de lei de potência
Standard usage in Portuguese academic contexts
Technical/Academic English
power-law distribution
Also called power law or power-law; widely used in physics, mathematics, and complex systems studies

Related Words

Zipf's lawscale invarianceheavy tailexponentprobability distributionPareto principle

Related Idioms & Phrases

scale-free phenomenon
the rich get richer effect
80/20 rule (Pareto principle)
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