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Autocorrelation, sometimes known as serial correlation in the discrete time case, is the correlation of a signal with a delayed copy of itself as a function of delay. Informally, it is the similarity between observations of a random variable as a function of the time lag between them.
Visual comparison of convolution, cross-correlation and autocorrelation. A correlation function is a function that gives the statistical correlation between random variables, contingent on the spatial or temporal distance between those variables. [1]
Correlation functions between the same random variable are autocorrelation functions. However, in statistical mechanics, not all correlation functions are autocorrelation functions. For example, in multicomponent condensed phases, the pair correlation function between different elements is often of interest.
Notably, correlation is dimensionless while covariance is in units obtained by multiplying the units of the two variables. If Y always takes on the same values as X , we have the covariance of a variable with itself (i.e. σ X X {\displaystyle \sigma _{XX}} ), which is called the variance and is more commonly denoted as σ X 2 , {\displaystyle ...
The correlation coefficient is +1 in the case of a perfect direct (increasing) linear relationship (correlation), −1 in the case of a perfect inverse (decreasing) linear relationship (anti-correlation), [5] and some value in the open interval (,) in all other cases, indicating the degree of linear dependence between the variables. As it ...
[12] [13] [clarification needed] After calculating the cross-correlation between the two signals, the maximum (or minimum if the signals are negatively correlated) of the cross-correlation function indicates the point in time where the signals are best aligned; i.e., the time delay between the two signals is determined by the argument of the ...
For example, in time series analysis, a plot of the sample autocorrelations versus (the time lags) is an autocorrelogram. If cross-correlation is plotted, the result is called a cross-correlogram . The correlogram is a commonly used tool for checking randomness in a data set .
It is common practice in some disciplines (e.g. statistics and time series analysis) to normalize the autocovariance function to get a time-dependent Pearson correlation coefficient. However in other disciplines (e.g. engineering) the normalization is usually dropped and the terms "autocorrelation" and "autocovariance" are used interchangeably.