Quantifying the intermittency of point processes

What is it about?

A simple scaling exponent of a fractal point process is interpreted in terms of a parameter that quantifies how episodic events are. A method of estimating the intermittency parameter is defined and illustrated. The paper also proposes a fractal point process that differs from the fractal renewal process.

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Why is it important?

The proposed method of quantifying the intermittency of a point process is a simple way to measure how much a fractal point process differs from a Poisson process. Due to the simplicity of intermittency as a measure of how punctuated or clustered events are, the range of potential applications goes far beyond the biological examples in the paper.

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