hypergeometric distribution

[ hahy-per-jee-uh-me-trik, hahy- ]

noun

, Mathematics.

1. a system of probabilities associated with finding a specified number of elements, as 5 white balls, from a given number of elements, as 10 balls, chosen from a set containing 2 kinds of elements of known quantity, as 15 white balls and 20 black balls.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypergeometric distribution¹

First recorded in 1945–50; hyper- + geometric

Example Sentences

People have already derived equations to estimate these probabilities, with names like the hypergeometric distribution, which has applications like election auditing and card counting.

From New York Times

Only significantly enriched cases are shown, based on hypergeometric distribution followed by FDR correction.

From Nature

Here, we used a parameter α that enriches the hypergeometric distribution following .

From Nature

If there were m cells carrying an early somatic mutation out of a total of n, the probability to subselecting k in a draw of l cells is given by the hypergeometric distribution.

From Nature

We restricted ourselves to interpretation of results with an enrichment ratio of at least 2, and multiple hypothesis testing corrected P values <0.01 for both the binomial and the hypergeometric distribution based tests.

From Nature