Pathway model, superstatistics, Tsallis statistics, and a generalized measure of entropy

Abstract

The pathway model of Mathai [A pathway to matrix-variate gamma and normal densities, Linear Algebra Appl. 396 (2005) 317–328] is shown to be inferable from the maximization of a certain generalized entropy measure. This entropy is a variant of the generalized entropy of order α , considered in Mathai and Rathie [Basic Concepts in Information Theory and Statistics: Axiomatic Foundations and Applications, Wiley Halsted, New York and Wiley Eastern, New Delhi, 1975], and it is also associated with Shannon, Boltzmann–Gibbs, Rényi, Tsallis, and Havrda–Charvát entropies. The generalized entropy measure introduced here is also shown to have interesting statistical properties and it can be given probabilistic interpretations in terms of inaccuracy measure, expected value, and information content in a scheme. Particular cases of the pathway model are shown to be Tsallis statistics [C. Tsallis, Possible generalization of Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics, J. Stat. Phys. 52 (1988) 479–487] and superstatistics introduced by Beck and Cohen [Superstatistics, Physica A 322 (2003) 267–275]. The pathway model's connection to fractional calculus is illustrated by considering a fractional reaction equation.