Entropy 2008, 10(3), 131-149; doi:10.3390/entropy-e10030131
Article

Generalised Exponential Families and Associated Entropy Functions

Jan Naudtsemail
Department of Physics, University of Antwerpen, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium
Received: 26 February 2008; in revised form: 1 July 2008 / Accepted: 14 July 2008 / Published: 16 July 2008
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Facets of Entropy - Papers presented at the workshop in Copenhagen (24-26 October 2007))
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Abstract: A generalised notion of exponential families is introduced. It is based on the variational principle, borrowed from statistical physics. It is shown that inequivalent generalised entropy functions lead to distinct generalised exponential families. The well-known result that the inequality of Cram´er and Rao becomes an equality in the case of an exponential family can be generalised. However, this requires the introduction of escort probabilities.
Keywords: generalised entropy; maximum entropy principle; variational principle; generalised exponential family; Bregman divergence; generalised Fisher information; escort probability.

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MDPI and ACS Style

Naudts, J. Generalised Exponential Families and Associated Entropy Functions. Entropy 2008, 10, 131-149.

AMA Style

Naudts J. Generalised Exponential Families and Associated Entropy Functions. Entropy. 2008; 10(3):131-149.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Naudts, Jan. 2008. "Generalised Exponential Families and Associated Entropy Functions." Entropy 10, no. 3: 131-149.

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