alternative parametrization of the negative binomial in scipy

Question

In scipy the negative binomial distribution is defined as:

nbinom.pmf(k) = choose(k+n-1, n-1) * p**n * (1-p)**k

This is the common definition,

Answer 1

The Wikipedia page you linked given a precise formula for p and r in terms of mu and sigma, see the very last bullet item in the Alternative parametrization section,https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_binomial_distribution#Alternative_formulations

Answer 2

from scipy.stats import nbinom


def convert_params(mu, theta):
    """
    Convert mean/dispersion parameterization of a negative binomial to the ones scipy supports

    See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_binomial_distribution#Alternative_formulations
    """
    r = theta
    var = mu + 1 / r * mu ** 2
    p = (var - mu) / var
    return r, 1 - p


def pmf(counts, mu, theta):
    """
    >>> import numpy as np
    >>> from scipy.stats import poisson
    >>> np.isclose(pmf(10, 10, 10000), poisson.pmf(10, 10), atol=1e-3)
    True
    """
    return nbinom.pmf(counts, *convert_params(mu, theta))


def logpmf(counts, mu, theta):
    return nbinom.logpmf(counts, *convert_params(mu, theta))


def cdf(counts, mu, theta):
    return nbinom.cdf(counts, *convert_params(mu, theta))


def sf(counts, mu, theta):
    return nbinom.sf(counts, *convert_params(mu, theta))