Alternative combinatorial sum for the probability mass function of the Poisson distribution of order $k$

S. R. Mane

Published 2023-10-12Version 1

Kostadinova and Minkova published an expression for the probability mass function (pmf) of the Poisson distribution of order $k$, as a combinatorial sum ($\mathit{Pliska~Stud.~Math.~Bulgar.}\ {\bf 22},\ 117-128\ (2013)$). Inspired by their elegant solution, this note presents an alternative combinatorial sum for the pmf of the Poisson distribution of order $k$. The terms are partitioned into blocks of length $k$ (as opposed to $k+1$ by Kostadinova and Minkova). The new sum offers an advantage in the following sense. For $n\in[rk+1,(r+1)k]$, the lowest power of $\lambda$ in the pmf is $\lambda^{r+1}$. Hence the lower limit of summation can be increased, to avoid needlessly calculating terms which cancel to identically zero.