NAG FL Interface
g05snf (dist_​students_​t)

1 Purpose

g05snf generates a vector of pseudorandom numbers taken from a Student's t-distribution with ν degrees of freedom.

2 Specification

Fortran Interface
Subroutine g05snf ( n, df, state, x, ifail)
Integer, Intent (In) :: n, df
Integer, Intent (Inout) :: state(*), ifail
Real (Kind=nag_wp), Intent (Out) :: x(n)
C Header Interface
#include <nag.h>
void  g05snf_ (const Integer *n, const Integer *df, Integer state[], double x[], Integer *ifail)
The routine may be called by the names g05snf or nagf_rand_dist_students_t.

3 Description

The distribution has PDF (probability density function)
fx= ν-12 ! 12ν-1!πν 1+x2ν 12ν+1 .  
g05snf calculates the values
yiνzi,   i= 1,,n  
where the yi are generated by g05skf from a Normal distribution with mean 0 and variance 1.0, and the zi are generated by g05sjf from a gamma distribution with parameters 12ν and 2 (i.e., from a χ2-distribution with ν degrees of freedom).
One of the initialization routines g05kff (for a repeatable sequence if computed sequentially) or g05kgf (for a non-repeatable sequence) must be called prior to the first call to g05snf.

4 References

Knuth D E (1981) The Art of Computer Programming (Volume 2) (2nd Edition) Addison–Wesley

5 Arguments

1: n Integer Input
On entry: n, the number of pseudorandom numbers to be generated.
Constraint: n0.
2: df Integer Input
On entry: ν, the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution.
Constraint: df1 .
3: state* Integer array Communication Array
Note: the actual argument supplied must be the array state supplied to the initialization routines g05kff or g05kgf.
On entry: contains information on the selected base generator and its current state.
On exit: contains updated information on the state of the generator.
4: xn Real (Kind=nag_wp) array Output
On exit: the n pseudorandom numbers from the specified Student's t-distribution.
5: ifail Integer Input/Output
On entry: ifail must be set to 0, -1 or 1. If you are unfamiliar with this argument you should refer to Section 4 in the Introduction to the NAG Library FL Interface for details.
For environments where it might be inappropriate to halt program execution when an error is detected, the value -1 or 1 is recommended. If the output of error messages is undesirable, then the value 1 is recommended. Otherwise, if you are not familiar with this argument, the recommended value is 0. When the value -1 or 1 is used it is essential to test the value of ifail on exit.
On exit: ifail=0 unless the routine detects an error or a warning has been flagged (see Section 6).

6 Error Indicators and Warnings

If on entry ifail=0 or -1, explanatory error messages are output on the current error message unit (as defined by x04aaf).
Errors or warnings detected by the routine:
ifail=1
On entry, n=value.
Constraint: n0.
ifail=2
On entry, df=value.
Constraint: df1.
ifail=3
On entry, state vector has been corrupted or not initialized.
ifail=-99
An unexpected error has been triggered by this routine. Please contact NAG.
See Section 7 in the Introduction to the NAG Library FL Interface for further information.
ifail=-399
Your licence key may have expired or may not have been installed correctly.
See Section 8 in the Introduction to the NAG Library FL Interface for further information.
ifail=-999
Dynamic memory allocation failed.
See Section 9 in the Introduction to the NAG Library FL Interface for further information.

7 Accuracy

Not applicable.

8 Parallelism and Performance

g05snf is threaded by NAG for parallel execution in multithreaded implementations of the NAG Library.
Please consult the X06 Chapter Introduction for information on how to control and interrogate the OpenMP environment used within this routine. Please also consult the Users' Note for your implementation for any additional implementation-specific information.

9 Further Comments

The time taken by g05snf increases with ν.

10 Example

This example prints five pseudorandom numbers from a Student's t-distribution with five degrees of freedom, generated by a single call to g05snf, after initialization by g05kff.

10.1 Program Text

Program Text (g05snfe.f90)

10.2 Program Data

Program Data (g05snfe.d)

10.3 Program Results

Program Results (g05snfe.r)