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Awful mispelling
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B--rian
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I have to admit that power-laws (in general) used to be my stick,shtick so I am happy to shed some light on their general importance in physics which obviously also hold for astronomy.

The main idea of a power law is nicely written in Wikipedia, but the essential part is the I highlighted in the following quote:

[A Powerlaw is] a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities

The (mathematically) nice part is exactly this, that over a really large range of the x-values, the y-values follow the same dependency. Usually, "really large range" means values spreading over 3 to even 10 powers of ten.

When fitting power laws in practice, there are effects on the sides of the scale, meaning for small and large $x$-values, where usually attributed to "finite size effects".

Further reading

I have to admit that power-laws (in general) used to be my stick, so I am happy to shed some light on their general importance in physics which obviously also hold for astronomy.

The main idea of a power law is nicely written in Wikipedia, but the essential part is the I highlighted in the following quote:

[A Powerlaw is] a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities

The (mathematically) nice part is exactly this, that over a really large range of the x-values, the y-values follow the same dependency. Usually, "really large range" means values spreading over 3 to even 10 powers of ten.

When fitting power laws in practice, there are effects on the sides of the scale, meaning for small and large $x$-values, where usually attributed to "finite size effects".

Further reading

I have to admit that power-laws (in general) used to be my shtick so I am happy to shed some light on their general importance in physics which obviously also hold for astronomy.

The main idea of a power law is nicely written in Wikipedia, but the essential part is the I highlighted in the following quote:

[A Powerlaw is] a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities

The (mathematically) nice part is exactly this, that over a really large range of the x-values, the y-values follow the same dependency. Usually, "really large range" means values spreading over 3 to even 10 powers of ten.

When fitting power laws in practice, there are effects on the sides of the scale, meaning for small and large $x$-values, where usually attributed to "finite size effects".

Further reading

Shortening.
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B--rian
  • 5.7k
  • 2
  • 19
  • 66

I have to admit that power-laws (in general) used to be my stick, so I am happy to shed some light on their general importance in physics which obviously also hold for astronomy.

The main idea of a power law is nicely written in Wikipedia, but the essential part is the I highlighted in the following quote:

[A Powerlaw is] a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities

The (mathematically) nice part is exactly this, that over a really large range of the x-values, the y-values follow the same dependency. Usually, "really large range" means values spreading over 3 to even 10 powers of ten.

When fitting power laws in practice, there are effects on the sides of the scale, meaning for small and large $x$-values, where usually attributed to "finite size effects", but I spare you the details (for now). Looking forward to your comments...

Further reading

I have to admit that power-laws (in general) used to be my stick, so I am happy to shed some light on their general importance in physics which obviously also hold for astronomy.

The main idea of a power law is nicely written in Wikipedia, but the essential part is the I highlighted in the following quote:

[A Powerlaw is] a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities

The (mathematically) nice part is exactly this, that over a really large range of the x-values, the y-values follow the same dependency. Usually, "really large range" means values spreading over 3 to even 10 powers of ten.

When fitting power laws in practice, there are effects on the sides of the scale, meaning for small and large $x$-values, where usually attributed to "finite size effects", but I spare you the details (for now). Looking forward to your comments...

Further reading

I have to admit that power-laws (in general) used to be my stick, so I am happy to shed some light on their general importance in physics which obviously also hold for astronomy.

The main idea of a power law is nicely written in Wikipedia, but the essential part is the I highlighted in the following quote:

[A Powerlaw is] a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities

The (mathematically) nice part is exactly this, that over a really large range of the x-values, the y-values follow the same dependency. Usually, "really large range" means values spreading over 3 to even 10 powers of ten.

When fitting power laws in practice, there are effects on the sides of the scale, meaning for small and large $x$-values, where usually attributed to "finite size effects".

Further reading

Small changes
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B--rian
  • 5.7k
  • 2
  • 19
  • 66

I have to admit that power-laws (in general) used to be my stick, so I am happy to shed some light on their general importance in physics which obviously also hold for astronomy.

The main idea of a power law is nicely written in Wikipedia, but the importantessential part is the oneI highlighted in the following quote:

[A Powerlaw is] a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities

The (mathematically) nice part is exactly this, that over a really large range of the x-values, the y-values follow the same dependency. Usually, "really large range" means values spreading over 3 to even 10 powers of ten.

When fitting power laws in practice, there are effects on the sides of the scale, meaning for small and large $x$-values, where usually attributed to "finite size effects", but I spare you the details (interestingfor now) details. Looking forward to your comments...

Further reading

I have to admit that power-laws (in general) used to be my stick, so I am happy to shed some light on their general importance which obviously also hold for astronomy.

The main idea of a power law is nicely written in Wikipedia, but the important part is the one highlighted in the following quote:

a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities

The (mathematically) nice part is exactly this, that over a really large range of the x-values, the y-values follow the same dependency. Usually, "really large range" means values spreading over 3 to even 10 powers of ten.

When fitting power laws in practice, there are effects on the sides of the scale, meaning for small and large $x$-values, where usually attributed to "finite size effects", but I spare you the (interesting) details.

Further reading

I have to admit that power-laws (in general) used to be my stick, so I am happy to shed some light on their general importance in physics which obviously also hold for astronomy.

The main idea of a power law is nicely written in Wikipedia, but the essential part is the I highlighted in the following quote:

[A Powerlaw is] a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities

The (mathematically) nice part is exactly this, that over a really large range of the x-values, the y-values follow the same dependency. Usually, "really large range" means values spreading over 3 to even 10 powers of ten.

When fitting power laws in practice, there are effects on the sides of the scale, meaning for small and large $x$-values, where usually attributed to "finite size effects", but I spare you the details (for now). Looking forward to your comments...

Further reading

Typo
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B--rian
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B--rian
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