Fluctuation Diagram
Fluctuation may refer to: Physics and mathematics * Statistical fluctuations, in statistics, statistical mechanics, and thermodynamics ** Thermal fluctuations, statistical fluctuations in a thermodynamic variable * Quantum fluctuation, arising from the uncertainty principle ** Primordial fluctuations, density variations in the early universe ** Universal conductance fluctuations, a quantum physics phenomenon encountered in electrical transport experiments in mesoscopic species Finance and economics * Economic conjuncture, a critical combination of events in economics * Volatility (finance) In finance, volatility (usually denoted by ''σ'') is the degree of variation of a trading price series over time, usually measured by the standard deviation of logarithmic returns. Historic volatility measures a time series of past market pric ...

Statistical Fluctuations
Statistical fluctuations are fluctuations in quantities derived from many identical random processes. They are fundamental and unavoidable. It can be proved that the relative fluctuations reduce as the square root of the number of identical processes. Statistical fluctuations are responsible for many results of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, including phenomena such as shot noise in electronics. Description When a number of random processes occur, it can be shown that the outcomes fluctuate (vary in time) and that the fluctuations are inversely proportional to the square root of the number of processes. Examples As an example that will be familiar to all, if a fair coin is tossed many times and the number of heads and tails counted, the ratio of heads to tails will be very close to 1 (about as many heads as tails); but after only a few throws, outcomes with a significant excess of heads over tails or vice versa are common; if an experiment with a few throws is repe ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]