We'd like to use analytics cookies to understand which symbols people look up, so we know what to research next. They are not used for advertising and we set none of them unless you say yes. What we store.
A capital N with a mean and variance in brackets, naming a bell-shaped distribution.
Also known as: Gaussian notation, Bell curve notation
N(μ, σ²) says a variable follows a normal distribution with that mean and that variance. The second argument is the variance, not the standard deviation — a source of quiet error, because some texts write the standard deviation instead.
States that a random variable is normally distributed with the given mean and variance.
Contexts: Mathematics
The second parameter is conventionally the variance, but a minority of texts and software use the standard deviation instead. The notation does not say which, so it must be checked.
A capital letter N followed by round brackets containing two terms separated by a comma.
The distribution is specified by a mean and a spread, and the second parameter here is that spread squared.