Thermodynamics of Benford's first digit law
Abstract
According to Benford's first digit law, the frequency of appearance of the first digit d taken from various sets of data is log ( 1 + ( 1 / d ) ) where d = 1, 2,…9. I present a thermodynamic derivation of this law that follows from the unbiased partitioning of a conserved quantity whose pieces may fragment and combine.
- Publication:
-
American Journal of Physics
- Pub Date:
- October 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1119/1.5116005
- Bibcode:
- 2019AmJPh..87..787L