泊松过程泊松过程是指一种累计随机事件发生次数的最基本的独立增量过程。
例如随着时间增长累计某电话交换台收到的呼唤次数，就构成一个泊松过程。
泊松过程是由法国著名数学家泊松（1781—1840）证明的。
1943年C.帕尔姆在电话业务问题的研究中运用了这一过程，后来Α.Я.辛钦于50年代在服务系统的研究中又进一步发展了它。
泊松过程是随机过程的一种，是以事件的发生时间来定义的。
我们说一个 随机过程 N(t)是一个时间齐次的一维泊松过程，如果它满足以下条件：在两个互斥（不重迭）的区间内所发生的事件的数目是互相独立的随机变量。
在区间[t,t + τ]内发生的事件的数目标机率分布为：其中λ是一个正数，是固定的参数，通常称为抵达率（arrival rate）或强度（intensity）。
所以，如果给定在时间区间[t,t + τ]之中事件发生的数目，则随机变量N(t + τ) - N(t)呈现泊松分布，其参数为λτ。
更一般地来说，一个泊松过程是在每个有界的时间区间或在某个空间（例如：一个欧几里得平面或三维的欧几里得空间）中的每一个有界的区域，赋予一个随机的事件数，使得在一个时间区间或空间区域内的事件数，和另一个互斥（不重迭）的时间区间或空间区域内的事件数，这两个随机变量是独立的。
在每一个时间区间或空间区域内的事件数是一个随机变量，遵循泊松分布。
（技术上而言，更精确地来说，每一个具有有限测度的集合，都被赋予一个泊松分布的随机变量。
） 考虑一个泊松过程，我们将第一个事件到达的时间记为T1。
此外，对于n>1，以Tn记在第n-1个事件与第n个事件之间用去的时间。
序列{Tn,n=1,2,...}称为到达间隔时间列。
Tn(n=1,2,...)是独立同分布的指数随机变量，具有均值1/λ。
Definition of the Poisson processWe describe the situation by the counting process N(t), t > 0, which counts the number of events that have occurred between time 0 and time t. Our model has a single parameter, λ > 0, which isthe average arrival rate per unit time. Before defining the model formally, we make some preliminary calculations based on the following three natural assumptions:• The probability of an event occurring in a short interval of time [t,t+h] is λh+o(h) as h → 0.• The probability of two or more events occurring in interval [t, t + h] is o(h) as h → 0.• The numbers of events occurring in disjoint time intervals are independent.Examples:1.Insurance claims. Insurance companies often model customers’ claims using renewalideas. In this case the interarrival distribution is a crucial element of the calculation ofwhat insurance premium to charge.2.Counter processes. Many devices can be described as counters in that they attempt torecord the occurrence of successive signal pulses impinging on some instrument. Forexample Geiger counters for recording ionization events, or scintillation counters forrecording passage of a subatomic particle.3.Traffic flow. The times at which successive cars pass a monitoring station on a longsingle- lane road can be modelled as a renewal process. Much more generally, any sort of “traffic” can fit a similar model, such as data packets arriving at a server across a network connection. Questions of congestion can be answered using renewal theory and therelated theory of queues.4.Inventory systems. A large department store needs to know how much stock of aparticular item to hold, and a schedule for replenishment. The pattern of demands canoften be modelled as a renewal process.In any of these or other similar situations in which events occur randomly in time at some uniform average rate, an assumption of ‘total randomness’ leads to the Poisson process as a model.。
