Skip to main content

Probability Distributions for Commodity Flows

  • Chapter
Spatial Analysis of Interacting Economies
  • 54 Accesses

Abstract

In elementary statistical mechanics, the entropy of a physical system of particles can be determined statistically by counting the number of possible microstates which correspond to a given macrostate. Although all of the early microstate descriptions were based upon Boltzmann statistics, the advance of quantum mechanics focused attention on three other statistical forms, namely Maxwell-Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein distributions. Each of these forms corresponds to a particular assumption about the manner in which microstates are grouped into macrostates.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Notes for Chapter 3

  1. See, for example, Fisk and Brown (1975 a), Dacey and Norcliffe (1976), Lesse et al. (1978), or Roy and Lesse (1981).

    Google Scholar 

  2. In this instance, each macrostate corresponds to an interregional commodity distribution.

    Google Scholar 

  3. These particles are known as bosons or fermions, respectively.

    Google Scholar 

  4. In physical systems, these groups correspond to a set of energy states.

    Google Scholar 

  5. See Equation (2.1).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Achieved for example, by tossing a coin.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Box 1 is a fixed reference point.

    Google Scholar 

  8. See Fisk and Brown (1975 a).

    Google Scholar 

  9. In which there is no specific reference point.

    Google Scholar 

  10. See Jaynes (1957, p 620).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Shannon’s measure is given originally in Equation (2.15). For only two events (say E and not E), it can be expressed as which resembles the familiar Fermi-Dirac statistical form with i = 1. Differentiating U with respect to the probability p1, we get which is the inverse of the logrt function. Theil (1972) concludes that the log it model measures the sensitivity of uncertainty (or entropy) to variations in probabilities.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Spatial entropy is defined by Equation (2.22), which is the form proposed by Batty (1974 a, b; 1978 a). A similar derivation based on Equation (3.5) can be found in Snickars and Weibull (1977), but their interpretation of the ps distribution differs. They describe s as the a priori most probable distribution, which should be of the same order as the a posteriori prs distribution. Equation (3.13) is actually weighted according to the proportion of destinations in each region.

    Google Scholar 

  13. See, for example, Wilson (1973) or Fisk and Brown (1975 b).

    Google Scholar 

  14. See Fisk and Brown (1975 a).

    Google Scholar 

  15. See Equation (2.17).

    Google Scholar 

  16. See Jaynes (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  17. This procedure is currently under investigation at the Technical University of Delft.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1983 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Batten, D.F. (1983). Probability Distributions for Commodity Flows. In: Spatial Analysis of Interacting Economies. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3040-2_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3040-2_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-3042-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-3040-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics