In probability theory, the factorial moment is a mathematical quantity defined as the expectation or average of the falling factorial of a random variable. Factorial moments are useful for studying non-negative integer-valued random variables, and arise in the use of probability-generating functions to derive the moments of discrete random variables. Factorial moments serve as analytic tools in the mathematical field of combinatorics, which is the study of discrete mathematical structures. Definition For a natural number , the -th factorial moment of a probability distribution on the real or complex numbers, or, in other words, a random variable with that probability distribution, is where the is the expectation (operator) and is the falling factorial, which gives rise to the name, although the notation varies depending on the mathematical field. Of course, the definition requires that the expectation is meaningful, which is the case if or . If is the number of successes in trials, and is the probability that any of the trials are all successes, then Examples Poisson distribution If a random variable has a Poisson distribution with parameter λ, then the factorial moments of are which are simple in form compared to its moments, which involve Stirling numbers of the second kind. Binomial distribution If a random variable has a binomial distribution with success probability and number of trials , then the factorial moments of are where by convention, and are understood to be zero if r > n. Hypergeometric distribution If a random variable has a hypergeometric distribution with population size , number of success states } in the population, and draws }, then the factorial moments of are Beta-binomial distribution If a random variable has a beta-binomial distribution with parameters , , and number of trials , then the factorial moments of are Calculation of moments The rth raw moment of a random variable X can be expressed in terms of its factorial moments by the formula where the curly braces denote Stirling numbers of the second kind. See also Factorial moment measure Moment (mathematics) Cumulant Factorial moment generating function Notes References Moment (mathematics) Factorial and binomial topics