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CDF and CCDF
The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of a random variable X is given by the probability of the variable being less or equal to the threshold x: P[Xx]=xp(ξ)dξ=CDF(x) Likewise, the probability of the variable X being greater than the threshold x is given by the complementary CDF (CCDF): P[X>x]=xp(ξ)dξ=CCDF(x)=1CDF(x) For a standard normal distribution (i.e. σ=1) the CDF and CCDF are called the Φ-function and Q-function, respectively. By the normalization x=xσ, we find the CDF and CCDF for any normal distribution with standard deviation σ by CDF(x)=P[Xx]=Φ(xσ) and CCDF(x)=P[X>x]=Q(xσ). Furthermore, we have P[x1<Xx2]=Q(x1σ)Q(x2σ). Using symmetry, we have the following properties of Φ and Q: Q(x)=Φ(x)=1Φ(x) Q(x)=1Q(x) There are no closed form expressions for Φ and Q. Many numerical software libraries however provide implementations (using series expansion with high accuracy) of the complement error function (erfc), which is directly related to Q via Q(x)=12πxe12ξ2=12erfc(x2)