Seminars

G. Gyürky - The Benford’s law of the first significant digits and the half-life of radioactive isotopes

by György Gyürky (Institute for Nuclear Research, Debrecen, Hungary)

Europe/Rome
Pontecorvo room (LNGS)

Pontecorvo room

LNGS

Description

It is not very well known even in the scientific community that in many datasets of science or even everyday life, the distribution of the first significant digits is by far not uniform. This phenomenon is called the Benford’s law. Through the example of the half-lives of radioactive isotopes, in my presentation I will discuss some features of the law and demonstrate that - in spite of some recent recommendation - the law cannot be used for testing e.g. nuclear models.
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György Gyürky
Institute for Nuclear Research
Debrecen, Hungary

Poster