numpy.random:RandomState.multivariate_normal

Notes

The mean is a coordinate in N-dimensional space, which represents the location where samples are most likely to be generated. This is analogous to the peak of the bell curve for the one-dimensional or univariate normal distribution.

Covariance indicates the level to which two variables vary together. From the multivariate normal distribution, we draw N-dimensional samples, $X=[x_1,x_2,...x_N]$. The covariance matrix element $C_{ij}$ is the covariance of $x_i$ and $x_j$. The element $C_{ii}$ is the variance of $x_i$ (i.e. its "spread").

Instead of specifying the full covariance matrix, popular approximations include:

• Spherical covariance (cov is a multiple of the identity matrix)

• Diagonal covariance (cov has non-negative elements, and only on the diagonal)

This geometrical property can be seen in two dimensions by plotting generated data-points:

>>> mean = [0, 0]
>>> cov = [[1, 0], [0, 100]]  # diagonal covariance

Diagonal covariance means that the variables are independent, and the probability density contours have their axes aligned with the coordinate axes:

>>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
>>> x, y = np.random.multivariate_normal(mean, cov, 5000).T
>>> plt.plot(x, y, 'x')
>>> plt.axis('equal')
>>> plt.show()

Note that the covariance matrix must be positive semidefinite (a.k.a. nonnegative-definite). Otherwise, the behavior of this method is undefined and backwards compatibility is not guaranteed.