Noncentral chi-square distribution

In probability theory and statistics, the noncentral chi-square or noncentral $$\chi^2$$ distribution is a generalization of the chi-square distribution. If $$X_i$$ are k independent, normally distributed random variables with means $$\mu_i$$ and variances $$\sigma_i^2$$, then the random variable


 * $$\sum_1^k \left(\frac{X_i}{\sigma_i}\right)^2$$

is distributed according to the noncentral chi-square distribution. The noncentral chi-square distribution has two parameters: $$k$$ which specifies the number of degrees of freedom (i.e. the number of $$X_i$$), and $$\lambda$$ which is related to the mean of the random variables $$X_i$$ by:


 * $$\lambda=\sum_1^k \left(\frac{\mu_i}{\sigma_i}\right)^2.$$

Note that some references define $$\lambda$$ as one half of the above sum.

Properties
The noncentral chi-square distribution is equivalent to a (central) chi-square distribution with $$k + 2P$$ degrees of freedom, where $$P$$ is a Poisson random variable with parameter $$\lambda/2$$. Thus, the probability density function is given by

f_X(x; k,\lambda) = \sum_{i=0}^\infty \frac{e^{-\lambda/2} (\lambda/2)^i}{i!} f_{Y_{k+2i}}(x), $$ where $$Y_q$$ is distributed as chi-square with $$q$$ degrees of freedom.

Alternatively, the pdf can be written as
 * $$f_X(x;k,\lambda)=\frac{1}{2} e^{-(x+\lambda)/2} \left (\frac{x}{\lambda}\right)^{k/4-1/2} I_{k/2-1}(\sqrt{\lambda x})$$

where $$I_\nu(z)$$ is a modified Bessel function of the first kind given by


 * $$ I_a(y) := (y/2)^a \sum_{j=0}^\infty \frac{ (y^2/4)^j}{j! \Gamma(a+j+1)}$$

The moment generating function is given by


 * $$M(t;k,\lambda)=\frac{\exp\left(\frac{ \lambda t}{1-2t }\right)}{(1-2 t)^{k/2}}.$$

The first few raw moments are:


 * $$\mu^'_1=k+\lambda$$
 * $$\mu^'_2=(k+\lambda)^2 + 2(k + 2\lambda) $$
 * $$\mu^'_3=(k+\lambda)^3 + 6(k+\lambda)(k+2\lambda)+8(k+3\lambda)$$
 * $$\mu^'_4=(k+\lambda)^4+12(k+\lambda)^2(k+2\lambda)+4(11k^2+44k\lambda+36\lambda^2)+48(k+4\lambda)$$

The first few central moments are:


 * $$\mu_2=2(k+2\lambda)\,$$
 * $$\mu_3=8(k+3\lambda)\,$$
 * $$\mu_4=12(k+2\lambda)^2+48(k+4\lambda)\,$$

The nth cumulant is


 * $$K_n=2^{n-1}(n-1)!(k+n\lambda).\,$$

Hence
 * $$\mu^'_n = 2^{n-1}(n-1)!(k+n\lambda)+\sum_{j=1}^{n-1} \frac{(n-1)!2^{j-1}}{(n-j)!}(k+j\lambda )\mu^'_{n-j} $$

Again using the relation between the central and noncentral chi-square distributions, the cumulative distribution function (cdf) can be written as


 * $$P(x; k, \lambda ) = \sum_{j=0}^\infty e^{-\lambda/2} \frac{(\lambda/2)^j}{j!} Q(x; k+2j)$$

where $$Q(x; k)$$ is the cumulative density of the central chi-squared distribution which is given by


 * $$Q(x;k)=\frac{\gamma(k/2,x/2)}{\Gamma(k/2)}\,$$

where $$\gamma(k,z)$$ is the lower incomplete Gamma function.

Derivation of the pdf
The derivation of the probability density function is most easily done by performing the following steps:


 * 1) Start with the joint PDF of two independent non-zero mean Gaussian distributions, $$X$$ and $$Y$$.
 * 2) Convert the joint density $$f(X, Y)$$ to polar: $$f(R, A)$$ where $$R^2 = (X^2+Y^2)$$, $$tan(A) = Y/X$$.
 * 3) Integrate over the angular variable $$A$$.
 * 4) Convert from R to r where $$r^2 = R$$. This will yield a series expansion in r one factor of which matches the modified Bessel function $$I_0$$.
 * 5) Take the Laplace (Fourier) transform term-by-term and the special case K = 2 and the MGF will result.
 * 6) For the general case, take the K = 2 MGF and raise it to the $$K/2$$ power.
 * 7) The final trick to hide the K-dependence in the numerator of the MGF is to note that $$\lambda$$ is a function of K; that is,
 * $$\lambda_2=\sum_1^2 \left(\frac{\mu_i}{\sigma_i}\right)^2$$
 * $$\lambda_K=\sum_1^k \left(\frac{\mu_i}{\sigma_i}\right)^2 = \lambda$$
 * and therefore, $$\lambda$$ is not explicitly a function of K in the above table.

Related distributions

 * If $$Z$$ is chi-square distributed $$Z \sim \chi_k^2$$ then $$Z$$ is also non-central chi-square distributed: $$Z \sim {\chi'}^2_k(0)$$


 * If $$J \sim Poisson(\lambda/2)$$, then $${\chi'}_k^2(\lambda) \sim \chi_{k+2J}^2$$

Related Links
This distribution (and many others) is available in the free interactive statistical tables program, STATTAB. The cumulative distribution function, its inverse, and parameters of the distribution can be calculated with these packages. A free Fortran library for these distributions is in CDFLIB. The URL for download is

Variabile casuale chi quadrato non centrale 非心カイ二乗分布