Statistical Engineering Division
Seminar Series

John Nolan
American University

Stable random variables are the random variables that retain their shape when added together. These distributions generalize the Gaussian distribution and allow skewness and heavy tails - features found in many large data sets. We give an overview of univariate and multivariate stable laws, focusing on statistical applications. These distributions are now computationally accessible and should be added to the toolbox of the working statistician.