title: Origin of lognormal-like distributions with a common width in a growth and division process.
abstract: Lognormal statistical distributions are observed in a variety of scientific fields. The widths of these distributions in the log scale are often similar, but the underlying mechanism that maintains these widths within a small range has not been well explained. We show that a stochastic process of halving followed by addition can yield a stationary distribution that resembles the universal lognormal distribution with a certain width. The mechanism that we propose here would provide insight into the essence of why lognormal-like distributions in many systems have a common width.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatic Engineering, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, 1-5 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazufumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hosoda
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yomo
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001699:Biometry; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016011:Normal Distribution; D011336:Probability; D016008:Statistical Distributions; D013269:Stochastic Processes