AI engineering glossary · Probability
What is exponential distribution?
Exponential distribution: A continuous distribution for the waiting time until the next event in a process where events occur at a constant average rate lambda; density is lambda e^(-lambda x) and the mean is 1 / lambda. It is memoryless.
Exponential distribution: an example
If a server fails on average once every 200 hours, the time to next failure is exponential with mean 200 hours.
Related terms
More Probability terms
- Factorial
- Frequentist probability
- Gambler's fallacy
- Geometric distribution
- Importance sampling
- Independence
- Intersection of events
- Inverse transform sampling
Where you learn it
Exponential distribution is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.