The individual success of musicians, like that of physicists, follows a stretched exponential distribution by J.A. Davies

Comment on Eur. Phys. J. B 27, 445 (2002)

We analyze the distribution of success of musicians, comparing a stretched exponential (found by J.A. Davies [Eur. Phys. J. B 27, 445 (2002)]) with a distribution of the family of the q-exponential (presenting an intermediate power-law regime with a crossover to an exponential tail). We find that both assumptions yield comparable results, within the available range of data, hence a definite conclusion cannot yet be taken. But this example joins many others that has been found to be fairly described by q-exponentials (or variations of it), which may be indicative that there is a (significantly large) class of systems described by nonextensive statistical mechanics, from where q-exponentials naturally appear.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Escola Politécnica, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua Aristides Novis, 2, Federaç ao, 40210-630 Salvador - BA, Brazil[4mm], , , , , , BR

   E.P. Borges

Received 17 October 2002 Published online 31 December 2002

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