n probability theory, the inverse Gaussian distribution (also known as the Wald distribution) is a two-parameter family of continuous probability distributions with support on (0,∞).
Its probability density function is given by
f(x;mu,lambda)
= left[frac{lambda}{2 pi x^3}
ight]^{1/2} exp{frac{-lambda (x-mu)^2}{2 mu^2 x}}
for x > 0, where mu > 0 is the mean and lambda > 0 is the shape parameter.
As λ tends to infinity, the inverse Gaussian distribution becomes more like a normal (Gaussian) distribution. The inverse Gaussian distribution has several properties analogous to a Gaussian distribution. The name can be misleading: it is an "inverse" only in that, while the Gaussian describes a Brownian Motion's level at a fixed time, the inverse Gaussian describes the distribution of the time a Brownian Motion with positive drift takes to reach a fixed positive level.
Its cumulant generating function (logarithm of the characteristic function) is the inverse of the cumulant generating function of a Gaussian random variable.
To indicate that a random variable X is inverse Gaussian-distributed with mean μ and shape parameter λ we write
X sim IG(mu, lambda).,!