std::exponential_distribution

Defined in header `<random>`
template< class RealType = double > class exponential_distribution;		(since C++11)

Produces random non-negative floating-point values $\small x$ $x$ , distributed according to probability density function:

P(x|λ) = λe -λx

The value obtained is the time/distance until the next random event if random events occur at constant rate $\small\lambda$ $λ$ per unit of time/distance. For example, this distribution describes the time between the clicks of a Geiger counter or the distance between point mutations in a DNA strand.

This is the continuous counterpart of std::geometric_distribution.

std::exponential_distribution satisfies RandomNumberDistribution.

Template parameters

RealType

-

The result type generated by the generator. The effect is undefined if this is not one of float, double, or long double.

Member types

Member type	Definition
`result_type` (C++11)	RealType
`param_type` (C++11)	the type of the parameter set, see RandomNumberDistribution.

Member functions

(constructor) (C++11)	constructs new distribution (public member function)
reset (C++11)	resets the internal state of the distribution (public member function)
Generation
operator() (C++11)	generates the next random number in the distribution (public member function)
Characteristics
lambda (C++11)	returns the lambda distribution parameter (rate of events) (public member function)
param (C++11)	gets or sets the distribution parameter object (public member function)
min (C++11)	returns the minimum potentially generated value (public member function)
max (C++11)	returns the maximum potentially generated value (public member function)

Non-member functions

operator==operator!= (C++11)(C++11)(removed in C++20)	compares two distribution objects (function)
operator<<operator>> (C++11)	performs stream input and output on pseudo-random number distribution (function template)

Notes

Some implementations may occasionally return infinity if RealType is float. This is LWG issue 2524.

Example

Run this code

#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
#include <map>
#include <random>
#include <string>
 
int main()
{
    std::random_device rd;
    std::mt19937 gen(rd());
 
    // if particles decay once per second on average,
    // how much time, in seconds, until the next one?
    std::exponential_distribution<> d(1);
 
    std::map<int, int> hist;
    for (int n = 0; n != 10000; ++n)
        ++hist[2 * d(gen)];
 
    for (auto const& [x, y] : hist)
        std::cout << std::fixed << std::setprecision(1)
                  << x / 2.0 << '-' << (x + 1) / 2.0 << ' '
                  << std::string(y / 200, '*') << '\n';
}

Possible output:

0.0-0.5 *******************
0.5-1.0 ***********
1.0-1.5 *******
1.5-2.0 ****
2.0-2.5 **
2.5-3.0 *
3.0-3.5
3.5-4.0

External links

Weisstein, Eric W. "Exponential Distribution." From MathWorld — A Wolfram Web Resource.

Compiler support
Freestanding and hosted
Language
Standard library
Standard library headers
Named requirements
Feature test macros (C++20)
Language support library
Concepts library (C++20)
Metaprogramming library (C++11)
Diagnostics library
General utilities library
Strings library
Containers library
Iterators library
Ranges library (C++20)
Algorithms library
Numerics library
Localizations library
Input/output library
Filesystem library (C++17)
Regular expressions library (C++11)
Concurrency support library (C++11)
Technical specifications
Symbols index
External libraries

Common mathematical functions
Mathematical special functions (C++17)
Mathematical constants (C++20)
Floating-point environment (C++11)
Complex numbers
Numeric arrays
Pseudo-random number generation
Factor operations
gcd (C++17)
lcm (C++17)
Interpolations
midpoint (C++20)
lerp (C++20)
Generic numeric operations
iota (C++11)
ranges::iota (C++23)
accumulate
inner_product
adjacent_difference
partial_sum
reduce (C++17)
transform_reduce (C++17)
inclusive_scan (C++17)
exclusive_scan (C++17)
transform_inclusive_scan (C++17)
transform_exclusive_scan (C++17)
Bit operations
bit_cast (C++20)
byteswap (C++23)
has_single_bit (C++20)
bit_ceil (C++20)
bit_floor (C++20)
bit_width (C++20)
rotl (C++20)
rotr (C++20)
countl_zero (C++20)
countl_one (C++20)
countr_zero (C++20)
countr_one (C++20)
popcount (C++20)
endian (C++20)

Uniform random bit generators
uniform_random_bit_generator (C++20)
Engines and engine adaptors
linear_congruential_engine (C++11)
mersenne_twister_engine (C++11)
subtract_with_carry_engine (C++11)
discard_block_engine (C++11)
independent_bits_engine (C++11)
shuffle_order_engine (C++11)
Non-deterministic generator
random_device (C++11)
Distributions
Uniform distributions
uniform_int_distribution (C++11)
uniform_real_distribution (C++11)
generate_canonical (C++11)
Bernoulli distributions
bernoulli_distribution (C++11)
binomial_distribution (C++11)
negative_binomial_distribution (C++11)
geometric_distribution (C++11)
Poisson distributions
poisson_distribution (C++11)
exponential_distribution (C++11)
gamma_distribution (C++11)
weibull_distribution (C++11)
extreme_value_distribution (C++11)
Normal distributions
normal_distribution (C++11)
lognormal_distribution (C++11)
chi_squared_distribution (C++11)
cauchy_distribution (C++11)
fisher_f_distribution (C++11)
student_t_distribution (C++11)
Sampling distributions
discrete_distribution (C++11)
piecewise_constant_distribution (C++11)
piecewise_linear_distribution (C++11)
Seed Sequences
seed_seq (C++11)
C library
rand
srand
RAND_MAX

Member functions
exponential_distribution::exponential_distribution (C++11)
exponential_distribution::reset (C++11)
Generation
exponential_distribution::operator() (C++11)
Characteristics
exponential_distribution::lambda (C++11)
exponential_distribution::param (C++11)
exponential_distribution::min (C++11)
exponential_distribution::max (C++11)
Non-member functions
operator==operator!= (C++11)(C++11)(until C++20)
operator<<operator>> (C++11)(C++11)