Powerlaw: a Python package for analysis of heavy-tailed distributions

TL;DR

The paper introduces the Powerlaw Python package, simplifying the process of fitting and analyzing heavy-tailed power law distributions in empirical data for researchers.

Contribution

It provides an easy-to-use, extensible Python tool that implements advanced statistical methods for power law analysis, reducing technical barriers.

Findings

Facilitates statistical analysis of power laws

Offers comprehensive options for users

Open-source and easily extensible

Abstract

Power laws are theoretically interesting probability distributions that are also frequently used to describe empirical data. In recent years effective statistical methods for fitting power laws have been developed, but appropriate use of these techniques requires significant programming and statistical insight. In order to greatly decrease the barriers to using good statistical methods for fitting power law distributions, we developed the powerlaw Python package. This software package provides easy commands for basic fitting and statistical analysis of distributions. Notably, it also seeks to support a variety of user needs by being exhaustive in the options available to the user. The source code is publicly available and easily extensible.