plot-distribution.md

The plot_distribution executable

Synopsis

Synopsis: plot_distribution <distribution> { <distribution> }

Plots a distribution. Note that the distribution resolution is automatically scaled down temporarily when plotting.

The plot is output to file in Latex format. It will be given an appropriate name and written to the plots directory. If this directory does not exist, it will be created. If the plot already exists, an error will be reported.

Mandatory command line arguments

Arguments <distribution> where

• <distribution> is the path to the distribution

Compiling the plot

To compile the source for the plot, you may use pdflatex as exemplified below:

$ ./plot_distribution distributions/distribution-det-dim-heuristic-sigma-optimal-m-2048-s-30.txt
Importing the distribution from "distributions/distribution-det-dim-heuristic-sigma-optimal-m-2048-s-30.txt"...
Writing the plot to "plots/plot-distribution-m-2048-s-30.tex"...
Done.
$ cd plots
$ pdflatex plot-distribution-m-2048-s-30.tex

(..)

You may of course also use other versions of Latex such as xelatex. Note that the Latex source requires Tikz. Note furthermore that the source file is typically quite large for two-dimensional plots even though the resolution is scaled down automatically when plotting. You may therefore need to increase the amount of memory available to Latex. Another option is to use Lualatex which typically manages memory better. Note that if you use Lualatex, you may need to uncomment a line in the header of the Latex source file, see the comment in the source file for further details.

Interpreting the plot

Executing the above procedure produces plots similar to the below plot:

The two-dimensional distribution is plotted in the signed logarithms of the arguments $(\alpha_d, \alpha_r)$. Collapsed marginal distributions in the signed logarithms of the arguments $\alpha_d$ and $\alpha_r$ are automatically plotted along the sides of the plotted two-dimensional distribution.