This distribution is generated using a ratio of uniforms method. A similar approach has also been suggested by Ahrens and Dieter (1989). The basic method is combined with quick acceptance and rejection tests given by Maclaren (1990). For values of

λ \geq 87

Stirling's approximation is used in the computation of the Poisson distribution function, otherwise tables of factorials are used as suggested by Maclaren (1990).

One of the initialization functions g05kfc (for a repeatable sequence if computed sequentially) or g05kgc (for a non-repeatable sequence) must be called prior to the first call to g05tkc.

4 References

Ahrens J H and Dieter U (1989) A convenient sampling method with bounded computation times for Poisson distributions Amer. J. Math. Management Sci. 1–13

Dagpunar J (1988) Principles of Random Variate Generation Oxford University Press

Maclaren N M (1990) A Poisson random number generator Personal Communication

5 Arguments

1: $m$ – Integer Input: On entry: $m$ , the number of Poisson distributions for which pseudorandom variates are required.

Constraint: $m \geq 1$ .
2: $vlamda [m]$ – const double Input: On entry: the means, $λ_{j}$ , for $j = 1, 2, \dots, m$ , of the Poisson distributions.

Constraint: $0.0 \leq vlamda [j - 1] \leq nag_max_integer / 2.0$ , for $j = 1, 2, \dots, m$ .
3: $state [\dim]$ – Integer Communication Array: Note: the dimension, $\dim$ , of this array is dictated by the requirements of associated functions that must have been previously called. This array MUST be the same array passed as argument state in the previous call to nag_rand_init_repeatable (g05kfc) or nag_rand_init_nonrepeatable (g05kgc).

On entry: contains information on the selected base generator and its current state.

On exit: contains updated information on the state of the generator.
4: $x [m]$ – Integer Output: On exit: the $m$ pseudorandom numbers from the specified Poisson distributions.
5: $fail$ – NagError * Input/Output: The NAG error argument (see Section 7 in the Introduction to the NAG Library CL Interface).

6 Error Indicators and Warnings

NE_ALLOC_FAIL: Dynamic memory allocation failed.
See Section 3.1.2 in the Introduction to the NAG Library CL Interface for further information.
NE_BAD_PARAM: On entry, argument $⟨ value ⟩$ had an illegal value.
NE_INT: On entry, $m = ⟨ value ⟩$ .
Constraint: $m \geq 1$ .
NE_INTERNAL_ERROR: An internal error has occurred in this function. Check the function call and any array sizes. If the call is correct then please contact NAG for assistance.
See Section 7.5 in the Introduction to the NAG Library CL Interface for further information.
NE_INVALID_STATE: On entry, state vector has been corrupted or not initialized.
NE_NO_LICENCE: Your licence key may have expired or may not have been installed correctly.
See Section 8 in the Introduction to the NAG Library CL Interface for further information.
NE_REAL_ARRAY: On entry, at least one element of vlamda is less than zero.

On entry, at least one element of vlamda is too large.

7 Accuracy

Not applicable.

8 Parallelism and Performance

g05tkc is threaded by NAG for parallel execution in multithreaded implementations of the NAG Library.

Please consult the X06 Chapter Introduction for information on how to control and interrogate the OpenMP environment used within this function. Please also consult the Users' Note for your implementation for any additional implementation-specific information.