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arXiv · 0908.0501

Zipf's law from a Fisher variational-principle

A. Hernando·D. Puigdomenech·D. Villuendas·C. Vesperinas·A. Plastino
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Abstract

Zipf's law is shown to arise as the variational solution of a problem formulated in Fisher's terms. An appropriate minimization process involving Fisher information and scale-invariance yields this universal rank distribution. As an example we show that the number of citations found in the most referenced physics journals follows this law.

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A. Hernando, D. Puigdomenech, D. Villuendas, C. Vesperinas, A. Plastino. 2009-08-04. Zipf's law from a Fisher variational-principle. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physleta.2009.10.027

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