8/18/23, 3:35 AM Modeling Data and Curve Fitting — Non-Linear Least-Squares Minimization and Curve-Fitting for Python

Contents Examples Installation FAQ Support Develop

Modeling Data and Curve Fitting

A common use of least-squares minimization is curve fitting, where one has a parametrized model function
meant to explain some phenomena and wants to adjust the numerical values for the model so that it most
closely matches some data. With scipy, such problems are typically solved with scipy.optimize.curve_fit, which is
a wrapper around scipy.optimize.leastsq. Since lmfit’s minimize() is also a high-level wrapper around
scipy.optimize.leastsq it can be used for curve-fitting problems. While it offers many benefits over
scipy.optimize.leastsq, using minimize() for many curve-fitting problems still requires more effort than using
scipy.optimize.curve_fit.
The Model class in lmfit provides a simple and flexible approach to curve-fitting problems. Like
scipy.optimize.curve_fit, a Model uses a model function – a function that is meant to calculate a model for some
phenomenon – and then uses that to best match an array of supplied data. Beyond that similarity, its interface is
rather different from scipy.optimize.curve_fit, for example in that it uses Parameters, but also offers several other
important advantages.
In addition to allowing you to turn any model function into a curve-fitting method, lmfit also provides canonical
definitions for many known lineshapes such as Gaussian or Lorentzian peaks and Exponential decays that are
widely used in many scientific domains. These are available in the models module that will be discussed in more
detail in the next chapter (Built-in Fitting Models in the models module). We mention it here as you may want to
consult that list before writing your own model. For now, we focus on turning Python functions into high-level fit-
ting models with the Model class, and using these to fit data.

Motivation and simple example: Fit data to Gaussian profile

Let’s start with a simple and common example of fitting data to a Gaussian peak. As we will see, there is a built-in
GaussianModel class that can help do this, but here we’ll build our own. We start with a simple definition of the
model function:

from numpy import exp, linspace, random

def gaussian(x, amp, cen, wid):

return amp * exp(-(x-cen)**2 / wid)

We want to use this function to fit to data y(x) represented by the arrays y and x. With scipy.optimize.curve_fit,
this would be:

from scipy.optimize import curve_fit

x = linspace(-10, 10, 101)

y = gaussian(x, 2.33, 0.21, 1.51) + random.normal(0, 0.2, x.size)

init_vals = [1, 0, 1] # for [amp, cen, wid]

best_vals, covar = curve_fit(gaussian, x, y, p0=init_vals)

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That is, we create data, make an initial guess of the model values, and run scipy.optimize.curve_fit with the model
function, data arrays, and initial guesses. The results returned are the optimal values for the parameters and the
covariance matrix. It’s simple and useful, but it misses the benefits of lmfit.
With lmfit, we create a Model that wraps the gaussian model function, which automatically generates the appro-
priate residual function, and determines the corresponding parameter names from the function signature itself:

from lmfit import Model

gmodel = Model(gaussian)
print(f'parameter names: {gmodel.param_names}')
print(f'independent variables: {gmodel.independent_vars}')

parameter names: ['amp', 'cen', 'wid']

independent variables: ['x']

As you can see, the Model gmodel determined the names of the parameters and the independent variables. By
default, the first argument of the function is taken as the independent variable, held in independent_vars, and
the rest of the functions positional arguments (and, in certain cases, keyword arguments – see below) are used
for Parameter names. Thus, for the gaussian function above, the independent variable is x, and the parameters
are named amp, cen, and wid, and – all taken directly from the signature of the model function. As we will see be-
low, you can modify the default assignment of independent variable / arguments and specify yourself what the
independent variable is and which function arguments should be identified as parameter names.
Parameters are not created when the model is created. The model knows what the parameters should be named,
but nothing about the scale and range of your data. To help you create Parameters for a Model, each model has a
make_params() method that will generate parameters with the expected names. You will have to do this, or make
Parameters some other way (say, with create_params()), and assign initial values for all Parameters. You can also
assign other attributes when doing this:

params = gmodel.make_params()

This creates the Parameters but does not automatically give them initial values since it has no idea what the scale
should be. If left unspecified, the initial values will be -Inf, which will generally fail to give useful results. You can
set initial values for parameters with keyword arguments to make_params():

params = gmodel.make_params(cen=0.3, amp=3, wid=1.25)

or assign them (and other parameter properties) after the Parameters class has been created.
A Model has several methods associated with it. For example, one can use the eval() method to evaluate the
model or the fit() method to fit data to this model with a Parameter object. Both of these methods can take ex-
plicit keyword arguments for the parameter values. For example, one could use eval() to calculate the predicted
function:

x_eval = linspace(0, 10, 201)

y_eval = gmodel.eval(params, x=x_eval)

or with:

y_eval = gmodel.eval(x=x_eval, cen=6.5, amp=100, wid=2.0)

Admittedly, this a slightly long-winded way to calculate a Gaussian function, given that you could have called your
gaussian function directly. But now that the model is set up, we can use its fit() method to fit this model to
data, as with:
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result = gmodel.fit(y, params, x=x)

or with:

result = gmodel.fit(y, x=x, cen=0.5, amp=10, wid=2.0)

Putting everything together, included in the examples folder with the source code, is:

# <examples/doc_model_gaussian.py>
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from numpy import exp, loadtxt, pi, sqrt

from lmfit import Model

data = loadtxt('model1d_gauss.dat')
x = data[:, 0]
y = data[:, 1]

def gaussian(x, amp, cen, wid):

"""1-d gaussian: gaussian(x, amp, cen, wid)"""
return (amp / (sqrt(2*pi) * wid)) * exp(-(x-cen)**2 / (2*wid**2))

gmodel = Model(gaussian)
result = gmodel.fit(y, x=x, amp=5, cen=5, wid=1)

print(result.fit_report())

plt.plot(x, y, 'o')
plt.plot(x, result.init_fit, '--', label='initial fit')
plt.plot(x, result.best_fit, '-', label='best fit')
plt.legend()
plt.show()
# <end examples/doc_model_gaussian.py>

which is pretty compact and to the point. The returned result will be a ModelResult object. As we will see below,
this has many components, including a fit_report() method, which will show:

[[Model]]
Model(gaussian)
[[Fit Statistics]]
# fitting method = leastsq
# function evals = 33
# data points = 101
# variables = 3
chi-square = 3.40883599
reduced chi-square = 0.03478404
Akaike info crit = -336.263713
Bayesian info crit = -328.418352
R-squared = 0.98533348
[[Variables]]
amp: 8.88021893 +/- 0.11359522 (1.28%) (init = 5)
cen: 5.65866102 +/- 0.01030495 (0.18%) (init = 5)
wid: 0.69765478 +/- 0.01030505 (1.48%) (init = 1)
[[Correlations]] (unreported correlations are < 0.100)
C(amp, wid) = +0.5774

As the script shows, the result will also have init_fit for the fit with the initial parameter values and a best_fit
for the fit with the best fit parameter values. These can be used to generate the following plot:

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which shows the data in blue dots, the best fit as a solid green line, and the initial fit as a dashed orange line.
Note that the model fitting was really performed with:

gmodel = Model(gaussian)
result = gmodel.fit(y, params, x=x, amp=5, cen=5, wid=1)

These lines clearly express that we want to turn the gaussian function into a fitting model, and then fit the y(x)
data to this model, starting with values of 5 for amp, 5 for cen and 1 for wid. In addition, all the other features of
lmfit are included: Parameters can have bounds and constraints and the result is a rich object that can be reused
to explore the model fit in detail.

The Model class

The Model class provides a general way to wrap a pre-defined function as a fitting model.
class Model(func, independent_vars=None, param_names=None, nan_policy='raise', prefix='',
name=None, **kws)
Create a model from a user-supplied model function.
The model function will normally take an independent variable (generally, the first argument) and a series of
arguments that are meant to be parameters for the model. It will return an array of data to model some data
as for a curve-fitting problem.
Parameters: func (callable) – Function to be wrapped.
independent_vars (list of str, optional) – Arguments to func that are independent vari-
ables (default is None).
param_names (list of str, optional) – Names of arguments to func that are to be made
into parameters (default is None).
nan_policy ({'raise', 'propagate', 'omit'}, optional) – How to handle NaN and missing values
in data. See Notes below.
prefix (str, optional) – Prefix used for the model.

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name (str, optional) – Name for the model. When None (default) the name is the same as
the model function (func).
**kws (dict, optional) – Additional keyword arguments to pass to model function.

Notes
1. Parameter names are inferred from the function arguments, and a residual function is automatically
constructed.
2. The model function must return an array that will be the same size as the data being modeled.
3. nan_policy sets what to do when a NaN or missing value is seen in the data. Should be one of:
‘raise’ : raise a ValueError (default)
‘propagate’ : do nothing
‘omit’ : drop missing data

Examples
The model function will normally take an independent variable (generally, the first argument) and a series of
arguments that are meant to be parameters for the model. Thus, a simple peak using a Gaussian defined as:

>>> import numpy as np

>>> def gaussian(x, amp, cen, wid):
... return amp * np.exp(-(x-cen)**2 / wid)

can be turned into a Model with:

>>> gmodel = Model(gaussian)

this will automatically discover the names of the independent variables and parameters:

>>> print(gmodel.param_names, gmodel.independent_vars)

['amp', 'cen', 'wid'], ['x']

Model class Methods

Model.eval(params=None, **kwargs)
Evaluate the model with supplied parameters and keyword arguments.
Parameters: params (Parameters, optional) – Parameters to use in Model.
**kwargs (optional) – Additional keyword arguments to pass to model function.
Returns: Value of model given the parameters and other arguments.
Return type: numpy.ndarray, float, int or complex

Notes
1. if params is None, the values for all parameters are expected to be provided as keyword arguments.
2. If params is given, and a keyword argument for a parameter value is also given, the keyword argument will
be used in place of the value in the value in params.
3. all non-parameter arguments for the model function, including all the independent variables will need
to be passed in using keyword arguments.

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4. The return types are generally numpy.ndarray, but may depends on the model function and input indepen-
dent variables. That is, return values may be Python float, int, or complex values.

Model.fit(data, params=None, weights=None, method='leastsq', iter_cb=None, scale_covar=True,

verbose=False, fit_kws=None, nan_policy=None, calc_covar=True, max_nfev=None,
coerce_farray=True, **kwargs)
Fit the model to the data using the supplied Parameters.
Parameters: data (array_like) – Array of data to be fit.
params (Parameters, optional) – Parameters to use in fit (default is None).
weights (array_like, optional) – Weights to use for the calculation of the fit residual [i.e.,
weights*(data-fit)]. Default is None; must have the same size as data.
method (str, optional) – Name of fitting method to use (default is ‘leastsq’).
iter_cb (callable, optional) – Callback function to call at each iteration (default is None).
scale_covar (bool, optional) – Whether to automatically scale the covariance matrix when
calculating uncertainties (default is True).
verbose (bool, optional) – Whether to print a message when a new parameter is added
because of a hint (default is True).
fit_kws (dict, optional) – Options to pass to the minimizer being used.
nan_policy ({'raise', 'propagate', 'omit'}, optional) – What to do when encountering NaNs
when fitting Model.
calc_covar (bool, optional) – Whether to calculate the covariance matrix (default is True)
for solvers other than ‘leastsq’ and ‘least_squares’. Requires the numdifftools pack-
age to be installed.
max_nfev (int or None, optional) – Maximum number of function evaluations (default is
None). The default value depends on the fitting method.
coerce_farray (bool, optional) – Whether to coerce data and independent data to be ndar-
rays with dtype of float64 (or complex128). If set to False, data and independent data are
not coerced at all, but the output of the model function will be. (default is True)
**kwargs (optional) – Arguments to pass to the model function, possibly overriding
parameters.
Return type: ModelResult

Notes
1. if params is None, the values for all parameters are expected to be provided as keyword arguments. Mixing
params and keyword arguments is deprecated (see Model.eval).

2. all non-parameter arguments for the model function, including all the independent variables will need
to be passed in using keyword arguments.
3. Parameters are copied on input, so that the original Parameter objects are unchanged, and the updated
values are in the returned ModelResult.

Examples
Take t to be the independent variable and data to be the curve we will fit. Use keyword arguments to set ini-
tial guesses:

>>> result = my_model.fit(data, tau=5, N=3, t=t)

Or, for more control, pass a Parameters object.

>>> result = my_model.fit(data, params, t=t)

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Model.guess(data, x, **kws)
Guess starting values for the parameters of a Model.
This is not implemented for all models, but is available for many of the built-in models.
Parameters: data (array_like) – Array of data (i.e., y-values) to use to guess parameter values.
x (array_like) – Array of values for the independent variable (i.e., x-values).
**kws (optional) – Additional keyword arguments, passed to model function.
Returns: Initial, guessed values for the parameters of a Model.
Return type: Parameters
Raises: NotImplementedError – If the guess method is not implemented for a Model.

Notes
Should be implemented for each model subclass to run self.make_params(), update starting values and re-
turn a Parameters object.
Changed in version 1.0.3: Argument x is now explicitly required to estimate starting values.
Model.make_params(verbose=False, **kwargs)
Create a Parameters object for a Model.
Parameters: verbose (bool, optional) – Whether to print out messages (default is False).
**kwargs (optional) –
Parameter names and initial values or dictionaries of
values and attributes.

Returns: params – Parameters object for the Model.

Return type: Parameters

Notes
1. Parameter values can be numbers (floats or ints) to set the parameter value, or dictionaries with any of
the following keywords: value, vary, min, max, expr, brute_step, is_init_value to set those parameter
attributes.
2. This method will also apply any default values or parameter hints that may have been defined for the
model.

Example

>>> gmodel = GaussianModel(prefix='peak_') + LinearModel(prefix='bkg_')

>>> gmodel.make_params(peak_center=3200, bkg_offset=0, bkg_slope=0,
... peak_amplitdue=dict(value=100, min=2),
... peak_sigma=dict(value=25, min=0, max=1000))

Model.set_param_hint(name, **kwargs)
Set hints to use when creating parameters with make_params().
The given hint can include optional bounds and constraints (value, vary, min, max, expr), which will be
used by Model.make_params() when building default parameters.
While this can be used to set initial values, Model.make_params or the function create_params should be pre-
ferred for creating parameters with initial values.

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The intended use here is to control how a Model should create parameters, such as setting bounds that are
required by the mathematics of the model (for example, that a peak width cannot be negative), or to define
common constrained parameters.
Parameters: name (str) – Parameter name, can include the models prefix or not.
**kwargs (optional) –
Arbitrary keyword arguments, needs to be a Parameter attribute. Can be any of the
following:
value : float, optional
Numerical Parameter value.

vary : bool, optional

Whether the Parameter is varied during a fit (default is True).

min : float, optional

Lower bound for value (default is -numpy.inf, no lower bound).

max : float, optional

Upper bound for value (default is numpy.inf, no upper bound).

expr : str, optional

Mathematical expression used to constrain the value during the fit.

Example

>>> model = GaussianModel()

>>> model.set_param_hint('sigma', min=0)

See Using parameter hints.

Model.print_param_hints(colwidth=8)
Print a nicely aligned text-table of parameter hints.
Parameters: colwidth (int, optional) – Width of each column, except for first and last columns.

See Using parameter hints.

Model.post_fit(fitresult)
function that is called just after fit, can be overloaded by subclasses to add non-fitting ‘calculated
parameters’
See Using uncertainties in the fitted parameters for post-fit calculations.

Model class Attributes

func
The model function used to calculate the model.
independent_vars
List of strings for names of the independent variables.
nan_policy
Describes what to do for NaNs that indicate missing values in the data. The choices are:

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'raise': Raise a ValueError (default)

'propagate': Do not check for NaNs or missing values. The fit will try to ignore them.
'omit': Remove NaNs or missing observations in data. If pandas is installed,
pandas.isnull() is used, otherwise numpy.isnan() is used.

name
Name of the model, used only in the string representation of the model. By default this will be taken from
the model function.
opts
Extra keyword arguments to pass to model function. Normally this will be determined internally and should
not be changed.
param_hints
Dictionary of parameter hints. See Using parameter hints.
param_names
List of strings of parameter names.
prefix
Prefix used for name-mangling of parameter names. The default is ''. If a particular Model has arguments
amplitude, center, and sigma, these would become the parameter names. Using a prefix of 'g1_' would con-
vert these parameter names to g1_amplitude, g1_center, and g1_sigma. This can be essential to avoid name
collision in composite models.

Determining parameter names and independent variables for a function

The Model created from the supplied function func will create a Parameters object, and names are inferred from
the function` arguments, and a residual function is automatically constructed.
By default, the independent variable is taken as the first argument to the function. You can, of course, explicitly
set this, and will need to do so if the independent variable is not first in the list, or if there is actually more than
one independent variable.
If not specified, Parameters are constructed from all positional arguments and all keyword arguments that have a
default value that is numerical, except the independent variable, of course. Importantly, the Parameters can be
modified after creation. In fact, you will have to do this because none of the parameters have valid initial values.
In addition, one can place bounds and constraints on Parameters, or fix their values.

Explicitly specifying independent_vars

As we saw for the Gaussian example above, creating a Model from a function is fairly easy. Let’s try another one:

import numpy as np
from lmfit import Model

def decay(t, tau, N):

return N*np.exp(-t/tau)

decay_model = Model(decay)
print(f'independent variables: {decay_model.independent_vars}')

params = decay_model.make_params()
print('\nParameters:')
for pname, par in params.items():
print(pname, par)

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independent variables: ['t']

Parameters:
tau <Parameter 'tau', value=-inf, bounds=[-inf:inf]>
N <Parameter 'N', value=-inf, bounds=[-inf:inf]>

Here, t is assumed to be the independent variable because it is the first argument to the function. The other
function arguments are used to create parameters for the model.
If you want tau to be the independent variable in the above example, you can say so:

decay_model = Model(decay, independent_vars=['tau'])

print(f'independent variables: {decay_model.independent_vars}')

params = decay_model.make_params()
print('\nParameters:')
for pname, par in params.items():
print(pname, par)

independent variables: ['tau']

Parameters:
t <Parameter 't', value=-inf, bounds=[-inf:inf]>
N <Parameter 'N', value=-inf, bounds=[-inf:inf]>

You can also supply multiple values for multi-dimensional functions with multiple independent variables. In fact,
the meaning of independent variable here is simple, and based on how it treats arguments of the function you
are modeling:
independent variable
A function argument that is not a parameter or otherwise part of the model, and that will be required to be
explicitly provided as a keyword argument for each fit with Model.fit() or evaluation with Model.eval().

Note that independent variables are not required to be arrays, or even floating point numbers.

Functions with keyword arguments

If the model function had keyword parameters, these would be turned into Parameters if the supplied default
value was a valid number (but not None, True, or False).

def decay2(t, tau, N=10, check_positive=False):

if check_positive:
arg = abs(t)/max(1.e-9, abs(tau))
else:
arg = t/tau
return N*np.exp(arg)

mod = Model(decay2)
params = mod.make_params()
print('Parameters:')
for pname, par in params.items():
print(pname, par)

Parameters:
tau <Parameter 'tau', value=-inf, bounds=[-inf:inf]>
N <Parameter 'N', value=10, bounds=[-inf:inf]>

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Here, even though N is a keyword argument to the function, it is turned into a parameter, with the default numer-
ical value as its initial value. By default, it is permitted to be varied in the fit – the 10 is taken as an initial value, not
a fixed value. On the other hand, the check_positive keyword argument, was not converted to a parameter be-
cause it has a boolean default value. In some sense, check_positive becomes like an independent variable to the
model. However, because it has a default value it is not required to be given for each model evaluation or fit, as
independent variables are.

Defining a prefix for the Parameters

As we will see in the next chapter when combining models, it is sometimes necessary to decorate the parameter
names in the model, but still have them be correctly used in the underlying model function. This would be neces-
sary, for example, if two parameters in a composite model (see Composite Models : adding (or multiplying)
Models or examples in the next chapter) would have the same name. To avoid this, we can add a prefix to the
Model which will automatically do this mapping for us.

def myfunc(x, amplitude=1, center=0, sigma=1):

# function definition, for now just ``pass``
pass

mod = Model(myfunc, prefix='f1_')

params = mod.make_params()
print('Parameters:')
for pname, par in params.items():
print(pname, par)

Parameters:
f1_amplitude <Parameter 'f1_amplitude', value=1, bounds=[-inf:inf]>
f1_center <Parameter 'f1_center', value=0, bounds=[-inf:inf]>
f1_sigma <Parameter 'f1_sigma', value=1, bounds=[-inf:inf]>

You would refer to these parameters as f1_amplitude and so forth, and the model will know to map these to the
amplitude argument of myfunc.

Initializing model parameter values

As mentioned above, creating a model does not automatically create the corresponding Parameters. These can
be created with either the create_params() function, or the Model.make_params() method of the corresponding
instance of Model.
When creating Parameters, each parameter is created with invalid initial value of -Inf if it is not set explicitly.
That is to say, parameter values must be initialized in order for the model to evaluate a finite result or used in a
fit. There are a few different ways to do this:
1. You can supply initial values in the definition of the model function.
2. You can initialize the parameters when creating parameters with Model.make_params().
3. You can create a Parameters object with Parameters or create_params().
4. You can supply initial values for the parameters when calling Model.eval() or Model.fit()
methods.
Generally, using the Model.make_params() method is recommended. The methods described above can be
mixed, allowing you to overwrite initial values at any point in the process of defining and using the model.

Initializing values in the function definition

To supply initial values for parameters in the definition of the model function, you can simply supply a default
value:
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def myfunc(x, a=1, b=0):

return a*x + 10*a - b

instead of using:

def myfunc(x, a, b):

return a*x + 10*a - b

This has the advantage of working at the function level – all parameters with keywords can be treated as options.
It also means that some default initial value will always be available for the parameter.

Initializing values with Model.make_params()

When creating parameters with Model.make_params() you can specify initial values. To do this, use keyword argu-
ments for the parameter names. You can either set initial values as numbers (floats or ints) or as dictionaries with
keywords of (value, vary, min, max, expr, brute_step, and is_init_value) to specify these parameter attributes.

mod = Model(myfunc)

# simply supply initial values

pars = mod.make_params(a=3, b=0.5)

# supply initial values, attributes for bounds, etcetera:

pars_bounded = mod.make_params(a=dict(value=3, min=0),
b=dict(value=0.5, vary=False))

Creating a Parameters object directly

You can also create your own Parameters directly using create_params(). This is independent of using the Model
class, but is essentially equivalent to Model.make_params() except with less checking of errors for model prefixes
and so on.

from lmfit import create_params

mod = Model(myfunc)

# simply supply initial values

pars = create_params(a=3, b=0.5)

# supply initial values and attributes for bounds, etc:

pars_bounded = create_params(a=dict(value=3, min=0),
b=dict(value=0.5, vary=False))

Because less error checking is done, Model.make_params() should probably be preferred when using Models.

Initializing parameter values for a model with keyword arguments

Finally, you can explicitly supply initial values when using a model. That is, as with Model.make_params(), you can
include values as keyword arguments to either the Model.eval() or Model.fit() methods:

x = linspace(0, 10, 100)

y_eval = mod.eval(x=x, a=7.0, b=-2.0)
y_sim = y_eval + random.normal(0, 0.2, x.size)
out = mod.fit(y_sim, pars, x=x, a=3.0, b=0.0)

These approaches to initialization provide many opportunities for setting initial values for parameters. The meth-
ods can be combined, so that you can set parameter hints but then change the initial value explicitly with
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Model.fit().

Using parameter hints

After a model has been created, but prior to creating parameters with Model.make_params(), you can define pa-
rameter hints for that model. This allows you to set other parameter attributes for bounds, whether it is varied in
the fit, or set a default constraint expression for a parameter. You can also set the initial value, but that is not re-
ally the intention of the method, which is to really to let you say that about the idealized Model, for example that
some values may not make sense for some parameters, or that some parameters might be a small change from
another parameter and so be fixed or constrained by default.
To set a parameter hint, you can use Model.set_param_hint(), as with:

mod = Model(myfunc)
mod.set_param_hint('bounded_parameter', min=0, max=1.0)
pars = mod.make_params()

Parameter hints are discussed in more detail in section Using parameter hints.
Parameter hints are stored in a model’s param_hints attribute, which is simply a nested dictionary:

print('Parameter hints:')
for pname, par in mod.param_hints.items():
print(pname, par)

Parameter hints:
bounded_parameter {'min': 0, 'max': 1.0}

You can change this dictionary directly or use the Model.set_param_hint() method. Either way, these parameter
hints are used by Model.make_params() when making parameters.
Parameter hints also allow you to create new parameters. This can be useful to make derived parameters with
constraint expressions. For example to get the full-width at half maximum of a Gaussian model, one could use a
parameter hint of:

mod = Model(gaussian)
mod.set_param_hint('wid', min=0)
mod.set_param_hint('fwhm', expr='2.3548*wid')
params = mod.make_params(amp={'value': 10, 'min':0.1, 'max':2000},
cen=5.5, wid=1.25)
params.pretty_print()

Name Value Min Max Stderr Vary Expr Brute_Step

amp 10 0.1 2000 None True None None
cen 5.5 -inf inf None True None None
fwhm 2.944 -inf inf None False 2.3548*wid None
wid 1.25 0 inf None True None None

With that definition, the value (and uncertainty) of the fwhm parameter will be reported in the output of any fit
done with that model.

Data Types for data and independent data with Model

The model as defined by your model function will use the independent variable(s) you specify to best match the
data you provide. The model is meant to be an abstract representation for data, but when you do a fit with

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Model.fit(), you really need to pass in values for the data to be modeled and the independent data used to cal-
culate that data.
As discussed in Types of Data to Use for Fitting, the mathematical solvers used by lmfit all work exclusively with
1-dimensional numpy arrays of datatype (dtype) “float64”. The value of the calculation (model-data)*weights us-
ing the calculation of your model function, and the data and weights you pass in will always be coerced to an 1-
dimensional ndarray with dtype “float64” when it is passed to the solver. If it cannot be coerced, an error will oc-
cur and the fit will be aborted.
That coercion will usually work for “array like” data that is not already a float64 ndarray. But, depending on the
model function, the calculations within the model function may not always work well for some “array like” data
types - especially independent data that are in list of numbers and ndarrays of type “float32” or “int16” or less
precision.
To be clear, independent data for models using Model are meant to be truly independent, and not not required to
be strictly numerical or objects that are easily converted to arrays of numbers. The could, for example, be a dic-
tionary, an instance of a user-defined class, or other type of structured data. You can use independent data any
way you want in your model function. But, as with almost all the examples given here, independent data is often
also a 1-dimensional array of values, say x, and a simple view of the fit would be to plot the data as y as a function
of x. Again, this is not required, but it is very common, especially for novice users.
By default, all data and independent data passed to Model.fit() that is “array like” - a list or tuple of numbers, a
pandas.Series, and h5py.Dataset, or any object that has an __array__() method – will be converted to a
“float64” ndarray before the fit begins. If the array-like data is complex, it will be converted to a “complex128”
ndarray, which will always work too. This conversion before the fit begins ensures that the model function sees
only “float64 ndarrays”, and nearly guarantees that data type conversion will not cause problems for the fit. But it
also means that if you have passed a pandas.Series as data or independent data, not all of the methods or at-
tributes of that Series will be available by default within the model function.
New in version 1.2.2.
This coercion can be turned of with the coerce_farray option to Model.fit(). When set to False, neither the
data nor the independent data will be coerced from their original data type, and the user will be responsible to
arrange for the calculation and return value from the model function to be allow a proper and accurate conver-
sion to a “float64” ndarray.
See also Types of Data to Use for Fitting for general advise and recommendations on types of data to use when
fitting data.

Saving and Loading Models

It is sometimes desirable to save a Model for later use outside of the code used to define the model. Lmfit pro-
vides a save_model() function that will save a Model to a file. There is also a companion load_model() function
that can read this file and reconstruct a Model from it.
Saving a model turns out to be somewhat challenging. The main issue is that Python is not normally able to serial-
ize a function (such as the model function making up the heart of the Model) in a way that can be reconstructed
into a callable Python object. The dill package can sometimes serialize functions, but with the limitation that it
can be used only in the same version of Python. In addition, class methods used as model functions will not re-
tain the rest of the class attributes and methods, and so may not be usable. With all those warnings, it should be
emphasized that if you are willing to save or reuse the definition of the model function as Python code, then sav-
ing the Parameters and rest of the components that make up a model presents no problem.
If the dill package is installed, the model function will also be saved using it. But because saving the model func-
tion is not always reliable, saving a model will always save the name of the model function. The load_model()
takes an optional funcdefs argument that can contain a dictionary of function definitions with the function
names as keys and function objects as values. If one of the dictionary keys matches the saved name, the corre-
sponding function object will be used as the model function. If it is not found by name, and if dill was used to
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save the model, and if dill is available at run-time, the dill-encoded function will try to be used. Note that this
approach will generally allow you to save a model that can be used by another installation of the same version of
Python, but may not work across Python versions. For preserving fits for extended periods of time (say, archiving
for documentation of scientific results), we strongly encourage you to save the full Python code used for the
model function and fit process.
save_model(model, fname)
Save a Model to a file.
Parameters: model (Model) – Model to be saved.
fname (str) – Name of file for saved Model.

load_model(fname, funcdefs=None)
Load a saved Model from a file.
Parameters: fname (str) – Name of file containing saved Model.
funcdefs (dict, optional) – Dictionary of custom function names and definitions.
Returns: Model object loaded from file.
Return type: Model

As a simple example, one can save a model as:

# <examples/doc_model_savemodel.py>
import numpy as np

from lmfit.model import Model, save_model

def mysine(x, amp, freq, shift):

return amp * np.sin(x*freq + shift)

sinemodel = Model(mysine)
pars = sinemodel.make_params(amp=1, freq=0.25, shift=0)

save_model(sinemodel, 'sinemodel.sav')
# <end examples/doc_model_savemodel.py>

To load that later, one might do:

# <examples/doc_model_loadmodel.py>
import os
import sys

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

from lmfit.model import load_model

if not os.path.exists('sinemodel.sav'):
os.system(f"{sys.executable} doc_model_savemodel.py")

def mysine(x, amp, freq, shift):

return amp * np.sin(x*freq + shift)

data = np.loadtxt('sinedata.dat')
x = data[:, 0]
y = data[:, 1]

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model = load_model('sinemodel.sav', funcdefs={'mysine': mysine})
params = model.make_params(amp=dict(value=3, min=0),
freq=0.52,
shift=dict(value=0, min=-1, max=1))

result = model.fit(y, params, x=x)

print(result.fit_report())

plt.plot(x, y, 'o')
plt.plot(x, result.best_fit, '-')
plt.show()
# <end examples/doc_model_loadmodel.py>

See also Saving and Loading ModelResults.

The ModelResult class

A ModelResult (which had been called ModelFit prior to version 0.9) is the object returned by Model.fit(). It is a
subclass of Minimizer, and so contains many of the fit results. Of course, it knows the Model and the set of
Parameters used in the fit, and it has methods to evaluate the model, to fit the data (or re-fit the data with
changes to the parameters, or fit with different or modified data) and to print out a report for that fit.
While a Model encapsulates your model function, it is fairly abstract and does not contain the parameters or data
used in a particular fit. A ModelResult does contain parameters and data as well as methods to alter and re-do
fits. Thus the Model is the idealized model while the ModelResult is the messier, more complex (but perhaps more
useful) object that represents a fit with a set of parameters to data with a model.
A ModelResult has several attributes holding values for fit results, and several methods for working with fits.
These include statistics inherited from Minimizer useful for comparing different models, including chisqr,
redchi, aic, and bic.

class ModelResult(model, params, data=None, weights=None, method='leastsq', fcn_args=None,

fcn_kws=None, iter_cb=None, scale_covar=True, nan_policy='raise', calc_covar=True,
max_nfev=None, **fit_kws)
Result from the Model fit.
This has many attributes and methods for viewing and working with the results of a fit using Model. It inher-
its from Minimizer, so that it can be used to modify and re-run the fit for the Model.
Parameters: model (Model) – Model to use.
params (Parameters) – Parameters with initial values for model.
data (array_like, optional) – Data to be modeled.
weights (array_like, optional) – Weights to multiply (data-model) for fit residual.
method (str, optional) – Name of minimization method to use (default is ‘leastsq’).
fcn_args (sequence, optional) – Positional arguments to send to model function.
fcn_dict (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments to send to model function.
iter_cb (callable, optional) – Function to call on each iteration of fit.
scale_covar (bool, optional) – Whether to scale covariance matrix for uncertainty
evaluation.
nan_policy ({'raise', 'propagate', 'omit'}, optional) – What to do when encountering NaNs
when fitting Model.
calc_covar (bool, optional) – Whether to calculate the covariance matrix (default is True)
for solvers other than ‘leastsq’ and ‘least_squares’. Requires the numdifftools pack-
age to be installed.
max_nfev (int or None, optional) – Maximum number of function evaluations (default is
None). The default value depends on the fitting method.
**fit_kws (optional) – Keyword arguments to send to minimization routine.

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ModelResult methods
ModelResult.eval(params=None, **kwargs)
Evaluate model function.
Parameters: params (Parameters, optional) – Parameters to use.
**kwargs (optional) – Options to send to Model.eval().
Returns: Array or value for the evaluated model.
Return type: numpy.ndarray, float, int, or complex

ModelResult.eval_components(params=None, **kwargs)
Evaluate each component of a composite model function.
Parameters: params (Parameters, optional) – Parameters, defaults to ModelResult.params.
**kwargs (optional) – Keyword arguments to pass to model function.
Returns: Keys are prefixes of component models, and values are the estimated model value for each
component of the model.
Return type: dict

ModelResult.fit(data=None, params=None, weights=None, method=None, nan_policy=None, **kwargs)

Re-perform fit for a Model, given data and params.
Parameters: data (array_like, optional) – Data to be modeled.
params (Parameters, optional) – Parameters with initial values for model.
weights (array_like, optional) – Weights to multiply (data-model) for fit residual.
method (str, optional) – Name of minimization method to use (default is ‘leastsq’).
nan_policy ({'raise', 'propagate', 'omit'}, optional) – What to do when encountering NaNs
when fitting Model.
**kwargs (optional) – Keyword arguments to send to minimization routine.

ModelResult.fit_report(modelpars=None, show_correl=True, min_correl=0.1, sort_pars=False,

correl_mode='list')
Return a printable fit report.
The report contains fit statistics and best-fit values with uncertainties and correlations.
Parameters: modelpars (Parameters, optional) – Known Model Parameters.
show_correl (bool, optional) – Whether to show list of sorted correlations (default is True).
min_correl (float, optional) – Smallest correlation in absolute value to show (default is 0.1).
sort_pars (callable, optional) – Whether to show parameter names sorted in alphanumeri-
cal order (default is False). If False, then the parameters will be listed in the order as they
were added to the Parameters dictionary. If callable, then this (one argument) function is
used to extract a comparison key from each list element.
correl_mode ({'list', table'} str, optional) – Mode for how to show correlations. Can be ei-
ther ‘list’ (default) to show a sorted (if sort_pars is True) list of correlation values, or ‘table’
to show a complete, formatted table of correlations.
Returns: Multi-line text of fit report.
Return type: str

ModelResult.summary()
Return a dictionary with statistics and attributes of a ModelResult.
Returns: Dictionary of statistics and many attributes from a ModelResult.
Return type: dict

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Notes
1. values for data arrays are not included.
2. The result summary dictionary will include the following entries:
model, method, ndata, nvarys, nfree, chisqr, redchi, aic, bic, rsquared, nfev, max_nfev, aborted,
errorbars, success, message, lmdif_message, ier, nan_policy, scale_covar, calc_covar, ci_out,
col_deriv, flatchain, call_kws, var_names, user_options, kws, init_values, best_values, and
params.

where ‘params’ is a list of parameter “states”: tuples with entries of (name, value, vary, expr, min, max,
brute_step, stderr, correl, init_value, user_data).

3. The result will include only plain Python objects, and so should be easily serializable with JSON or similar
tools.

ModelResult.conf_interval(**kwargs)
Calculate the confidence intervals for the variable parameters.
Confidence intervals are calculated using the confidence.conf_interval() function and keyword arguments
(**kwargs) are passed to that function. The result is stored in the ci_out attribute so that it can be accessed
without recalculating them.

ModelResult.ci_report(with_offset=True, ndigits=5, **kwargs)

Return a formatted text report of the confidence intervals.
Parameters: with_offset (bool, optional) – Whether to subtract best value from all other values (default
is True).
ndigits (int, optional) – Number of significant digits to show (default is 5).
**kwargs (optional) – Keyword arguments that are passed to the conf_interval function.
Returns: Text of formatted report on confidence intervals.
Return type: str

ModelResult.eval_uncertainty(params=None, sigma=1, **kwargs)

Evaluate the uncertainty of the model function.
This can be used to give confidence bands for the model from the uncertainties in the best-fit parameters.
Parameters: params (Parameters, optional) – Parameters, defaults to ModelResult.params.
sigma (float, optional) – Confidence level, i.e. how many sigma (default is 1).
**kwargs (optional) – Values of options, independent variables, etcetera.
Returns: Uncertainty at each value of the model.
Return type: numpy.ndarray

Notes
1. This is based on the excellent and clear example from
https://www.astro.rug.nl/software/kapteyn/kmpfittutorial.html#confidence-and-prediction-intervals,
which references the original work of: J. Wolberg, Data Analysis Using the Method of Least Squares,
2006, Springer
2. The value of sigma is number of sigma values, and is converted to a probability. Values of 1, 2, or 3 give
probabilities of 0.6827, 0.9545, and 0.9973, respectively. If the sigma value is < 1, it is interpreted as the
probability itself. That is, sigma=1 and sigma=0.6827 will give the same results, within precision errors.
3. Also sets attributes of dely for the uncertainty of the model (which will be the same as the array re-
turned by this method) and dely_comps, a dictionary of dely for each component.

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Examples

>>> out = model.fit(data, params, x=x)

>>> dely = out.eval_uncertainty(x=x)
>>> plt.plot(x, data)
>>> plt.plot(x, out.best_fit)
>>> plt.fill_between(x, out.best_fit-dely,
... out.best_fit+dely, color='#888888')

ModelResult.plot(datafmt='o', fitfmt='-', initfmt='--', xlabel=None, ylabel=None, yerr=None,

numpoints=None, fig=None, data_kws=None, fit_kws=None, init_kws=None, ax_res_kws=None,
ax_fit_kws=None, fig_kws=None, show_init=False, parse_complex='abs', title=None)
Plot the fit results and residuals using matplotlib.
The method will produce a matplotlib figure (if package available) with both results of the fit and the residu-
als plotted. If the fit model included weights, errorbars will also be plotted. To show the initial conditions for
the fit, pass the argument show_init=True.
Parameters: datafmt (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for data points.
fitfmt (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for fitted curve.
initfmt (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for initial conditions for the fit.
xlabel (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for labeling the x-axis.
ylabel (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for labeling the y-axis.
yerr (numpy.ndarray, optional) – Array of uncertainties for data array.
numpoints (int, optional) – If provided, the final and initial fit curves are evaluated not
only at data points, but refined to contain numpoints points in total.
fig (matplotlib.figure.Figure, optional) – The figure to plot on. The default is None, which
means use the current pyplot figure or create one if there is none.
data_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments passed to the plot function for data points.
fit_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments passed to the plot function for fitted curve.
init_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments passed to the plot function for the initial
conditions of the fit.
ax_res_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments for the axes for the residuals plot.
ax_fit_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments for the axes for the fit plot.
fig_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments for a new figure, if a new one is created.
show_init (bool, optional) – Whether to show the initial conditions for the fit (default is
False).
parse_complex ({'abs', 'real', 'imag', 'angle'}, optional) – How to reduce complex data for
plotting. Options are one of: ‘abs’ (default), ‘real’, ‘imag’, or ‘angle’, which correspond
to the NumPy functions with the same name.
title (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for figure title.
Return type: matplotlib.figure.Figure

See also
ModelResult.plot_fit
Plot the fit results using matplotlib.
ModelResult.plot_residuals
Plot the fit residuals using matplotlib.

Notes
The method combines ModelResult.plot_fit and ModelResult.plot_residuals.

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If yerr is specified or if the fit model included weights, then matplotlib.axes.Axes.errorbar is used to plot
the data. If yerr is not specified and the fit includes weights, yerr set to 1/self.weights.
If model returns complex data, yerr is treated the same way that weights are in this case.
If fig is None then matplotlib.pyplot.figure(**fig_kws) is called, otherwise fig_kws is ignored.

ModelResult.plot_fit(ax=None, datafmt='o', fitfmt='-', initfmt='--', xlabel=None, ylabel=None,

yerr=None, numpoints=None, data_kws=None, fit_kws=None, init_kws=None, ax_kws=None,
show_init=False, parse_complex='abs', title=None)
Plot the fit results using matplotlib, if available.
The plot will include the data points, the initial fit curve (optional, with show_init=True), and the best-fit
curve. If the fit model included weights or if yerr is specified, errorbars will also be plotted.
Parameters: ax (matplotlib.axes.Axes, optional) – The axes to plot on. The default in None, which
means use the current pyplot axis or create one if there is none.
datafmt (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for data points.
fitfmt (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for fitted curve.
initfmt (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for initial conditions for the fit.
xlabel (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for labeling the x-axis.
ylabel (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for labeling the y-axis.
yerr (numpy.ndarray, optional) – Array of uncertainties for data array.
numpoints (int, optional) – If provided, the final and initial fit curves are evaluated not
only at data points, but refined to contain numpoints points in total.
data_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments passed to the plot function for data points.
fit_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments passed to the plot function for fitted curve.
init_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments passed to the plot function for the initial
conditions of the fit.
ax_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments for a new axis, if a new one is created.
show_init (bool, optional) – Whether to show the initial conditions for the fit (default is
False).
parse_complex ({'abs', 'real', 'imag', 'angle'}, optional) – How to reduce complex data for
plotting. Options are one of: ‘abs’ (default), ‘real’, ‘imag’, or ‘angle’, which correspond
to the NumPy functions with the same name.
title (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for figure title.
Return type: matplotlib.axes.Axes

See also
ModelResult.plot_residuals
Plot the fit residuals using matplotlib.
ModelResult.plot
Plot the fit results and residuals using matplotlib.

Notes
For details about plot format strings and keyword arguments see documentation of
matplotlib.axes.Axes.plot.

If yerr is specified or if the fit model included weights, then matplotlib.axes.Axes.errorbar is used to plot
the data. If yerr is not specified and the fit includes weights, yerr set to 1/self.weights.
If model returns complex data, yerr is treated the same way that weights are in this case.
If ax is None then matplotlib.pyplot.gca(**ax_kws) is called.

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ModelResult.plot_residuals(ax=None, datafmt='o', yerr=None, data_kws=None, fit_kws=None,

ax_kws=None, parse_complex='abs', title=None)
Plot the fit residuals using matplotlib, if available.
If yerr is supplied or if the model included weights, errorbars will also be plotted.
Parameters: ax (matplotlib.axes.Axes, optional) – The axes to plot on. The default in None, which
means use the current pyplot axis or create one if there is none.
datafmt (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for data points.
yerr (numpy.ndarray, optional) – Array of uncertainties for data array.
data_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments passed to the plot function for data points.
fit_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments passed to the plot function for fitted curve.
ax_kws (dict, optional) – Keyword arguments for a new axis, if a new one is created.
parse_complex ({'abs', 'real', 'imag', 'angle'}, optional) – How to reduce complex data for
plotting. Options are one of: ‘abs’ (default), ‘real’, ‘imag’, or ‘angle’, which correspond
to the NumPy functions with the same name.
title (str, optional) – Matplotlib format string for figure title.
Return type: matplotlib.axes.Axes

See also
ModelResult.plot_fit
Plot the fit results using matplotlib.
ModelResult.plot
Plot the fit results and residuals using matplotlib.

Notes
For details about plot format strings and keyword arguments see documentation of
matplotlib.axes.Axes.plot.

If yerr is specified or if the fit model included weights, then matplotlib.axes.Axes.errorbar is used to plot
the data. If yerr is not specified and the fit includes weights, yerr set to 1/self.weights.
If model returns complex data, yerr is treated the same way that weights are in this case.
If ax is None then matplotlib.pyplot.gca(**ax_kws) is called.

ModelResult.iter_cb()
Optional callable function, to be called at each fit iteration. This must take take arguments of (params,
iter, resid, *args, **kws), where params will have the current parameter values, iter the iteration, resid
the current residual array, and *args and **kws as passed to the objective function. See Using a Iteration
Callback Function.

ModelResult.jacfcn()
Optional callable function, to be called to calculate Jacobian array.

ModelResult attributes
A ModelResult will take all of the attributes of MinimizerResult, and several more. Here, we arrange them into
categories.

Parameters and Variables

best_values
Dictionary with parameter names as keys, and best-fit values as values.
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init_params
Initial parameters, as passed to Model.fit().
init_values
Dictionary with parameter names as keys, and initial values as values.
init_vals
list of values for the variable parameters.
params
Parameters used in fit; will contain the best-fit values.
uvars
Dictionary of uncertainties ufloats from Parameters.
var_names
List of variable Parameter names used in optimization in the same order as the values in init_vals and
covar.

Fit Arrays and Model

best_fit
numpy.ndarray result of model function, evaluated at provided independent variables and with best-fit
parameters.
covar
numpy.ndarray (square) covariance matrix returned from fit.
data
numpy.ndarray of data to compare to model.
dely
numpy.ndarray of estimated uncertainties in the y values of the model from
ModelResult.eval_uncertainty() (see Calculating uncertainties in the model function).

dely_comps
a dictionary of estimated uncertainties in the y values of the model components, from
ModelResult.eval_uncertainty() (see Calculating uncertainties in the model function).

init_fit
numpy.ndarray result of model function, evaluated at provided independent variables and with initial
parameters.
residual
numpy.ndarray for residual.
weights
numpy.ndarray (or None) of weighting values to be used in fit. If not None, it will be used as a multiplicative
factor of the residual array, so that weights*(data - fit) is minimized in the least-squares sense.
components
List of components of the Model.

Fit Status

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aborted
Whether the fit was aborted.
errorbars
Boolean for whether error bars were estimated by fit.
flatchain
A pandas.DataFrame view of the sampling chain if the emcee method is uses.
ier
Integer returned code from scipy.optimize.leastsq.
lmdif_message
String message returned from scipy.optimize.leastsq.
message
String message returned from minimize().
method
String naming fitting method for minimize().
call_kws
Dict of keyword arguments actually send to underlying solver with minimize().
model
Instance of Model used for model.
scale_covar
Boolean flag for whether to automatically scale covariance matrix.
userargs
positional arguments passed to Model.fit(), a tuple of (y, weights)
userkws
keyword arguments passed to Model.fit(), a dict, which will have independent data arrays such as x.

Fit Statistics

aic
Floating point best-fit Akaike Information Criterion statistic (see MinimizerResult – the optimization result).
bic
Floating point best-fit Bayesian Information Criterion statistic (see MinimizerResult – the optimization result).
chisqr
Floating point best-fit chi-square statistic (see MinimizerResult – the optimization result).
ci_out
Confidence interval data (see Calculation of confidence intervals) or None if the confidence intervals have not
been calculated.
ndata
Integer number of data points.
nfev

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Integer number of function evaluations used for fit.

nfree
Integer number of free parameters in fit.
nvarys
Integer number of independent, freely varying variables in fit.
redchi
Floating point reduced chi-square statistic (see MinimizerResult – the optimization result).
rsquared
Floating point R statistic, defined for data y and best-fit model f as
2

2
∑ (yi − fi)
2 i
R = 1 −
2
∑ (yi − ȳ)
i

success
Boolean value of whether fit succeeded. This is an optimistic view of success, meaning that the method fin-
ished without error.

Calculating uncertainties in the model function

We return to the first example above and ask not only for the uncertainties in the fitted parameters but for the
range of values that those uncertainties mean for the model function itself. We can use the
ModelResult.eval_uncertainty() method of the model result object to evaluate the uncertainty in the model
with a specified level for σ.
That is, adding:

dely = result.eval_uncertainty(sigma=3)
plt.fill_between(x, result.best_fit-dely, result.best_fit+dely, color="#ABABAB",
label='3-$\sigma$ uncertainty band')

to the example fit to the Gaussian at the beginning of this chapter will give 3-σ bands for the best-fit Gaussian,
and produce the figure below.

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New in version 1.0.4.

If the model is a composite built from multiple components, the ModelResult.eval_uncertainty() method will
evaluate the uncertainty of both the full model (often the sum of multiple components) as well as the uncertainty
in each component. The uncertainty of the full model will be held in result.dely, and the uncertainties for each
component will be held in the dictionary result.dely_comps, with keys that are the component prefixes.
An example script shows how the uncertainties in components of a composite model can be calculated and used:

# <examples/doc_model_uncertainty2.py>
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

from lmfit.models import ExponentialModel, GaussianModel

dat = np.loadtxt('NIST_Gauss2.dat')
x = dat[:, 1]
y = dat[:, 0]

model = (GaussianModel(prefix='g1_') +
GaussianModel(prefix='g2_') +
ExponentialModel(prefix='bkg_'))

params = model.make_params(bkg_amplitude=100, bkg_decay=80,

g1_amplitude=3000,
g1_center=100,
g1_sigma=10,
g2_amplitude=3000,
g2_center=150,
g2_sigma=10)

result = model.fit(y, params, x=x)

print(result.fit_report(min_correl=0.5))

comps = result.eval_components(x=x)
dely = result.eval_uncertainty(sigma=3)

fig, axes = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=(12.8, 9.6))

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axes[0][0].plot(x, y, 'o', color='#99002299', markersize=3, label='data')
axes[0][0].plot(x, result.best_fit, '-', label='best fit')
axes[0][0].plot(x, result.init_fit, '--', label='initial fit')
axes[0][0].set_title('data, initial fit, and best-fit')
axes[0][0].legend()

axes[0][1].plot(x, y, 'o', color='#99002299', markersize=3, label='data')

axes[0][1].plot(x, result.best_fit, '-', label='best fit')
axes[0][1].fill_between(x, result.best_fit-dely, result.best_fit+dely,
color="#8A8A8A", label=r'3-$\sigma$ band')
axes[0][1].set_title('data, best-fit, and uncertainty band')
axes[0][1].legend()

axes[1][0].plot(x, result.best_fit, '-', label=r'best fit, 3-$\sigma$ band')

axes[1][0].fill_between(x,
result.best_fit-result.dely,
result.best_fit+result.dely,
color="#8A8A8A")

axes[1][0].plot(x, comps['bkg_'], label=r'background, 3-$\sigma$ band')

axes[1][0].fill_between(x,
comps['bkg_']-result.dely_comps['bkg_'],
comps['bkg_']+result.dely_comps['bkg_'],
color="#8A8A8A")

axes[1][0].plot(x, comps['g1_'], label=r'Gaussian #1, 3-$\sigma$ band')

axes[1][0].fill_between(x,
comps['g1_']-result.dely_comps['g1_'],
comps['g1_']+result.dely_comps['g1_'],
color="#8A8A8A")

axes[1][0].plot(x, comps['g2_'], label=r'Gaussian #2, 3-$\sigma$ band')

axes[1][0].fill_between(x,
comps['g2_']-result.dely_comps['g2_'],
comps['g2_']+result.dely_comps['g2_'],
color="#8A8A8A")
axes[1][0].set_title('model components with uncertainty bands')
axes[1][0].legend()

axes[1][1].plot(x, result.best_fit, '-', label='best fit')

axes[1][1].plot(x, 10*result.dely, label=r'3-$\sigma$ total (x10)')
axes[1][1].plot(x, 10*result.dely_comps['bkg_'], label=r'3-$\sigma$ background (x10)')
axes[1][1].plot(x, 10*result.dely_comps['g1_'], label=r'3-$\sigma$ Gaussian #1 (x10)')
axes[1][1].plot(x, 10*result.dely_comps['g2_'], label=r'3-$\sigma$ Gaussian #2 (x10)')
axes[1][1].set_title('uncertainties for model components')
axes[1][1].legend()

plt.show()
# <end examples/doc_model_uncertainty2.py>

[[Model]]
((Model(gaussian, prefix='g1_') + Model(gaussian, prefix='g2_')) + Model(exponential, prefix='b
[[Fit Statistics]]
# fitting method = leastsq
# function evals = 55
# data points = 250
# variables = 8
chi-square = 1247.52821
reduced chi-square = 5.15507524
Akaike info crit = 417.864631
Bayesian info crit = 446.036318
R-squared = 0.99648654
[[Variables]]
g1_amplitude: 4257.77399 +/- 42.3838008 (1.00%) (init = 3000)
g1_center: 107.030957 +/- 0.15006868 (0.14%) (init = 100)
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g1_sigma: 16.6725789 +/- 0.16048222 (0.96%) (init = 10)
g2_amplitude: 2493.41715 +/- 36.1696228 (1.45%) (init = 3000)
g2_center: 153.270104 +/- 0.19466723 (0.13%) (init = 150)
g2_sigma: 13.8069453 +/- 0.18680099 (1.35%) (init = 10)
bkg_amplitude: 99.0183280 +/- 0.53748639 (0.54%) (init = 100)
bkg_decay: 90.9508824 +/- 1.10310769 (1.21%) (init = 80)
g1_fwhm: 39.2609222 +/- 0.37790675 (0.96%) == '2.3548200*g1_sigma'
g1_height: 101.880228 +/- 0.59217122 (0.58%) == '0.3989423*g1_amplitude/max(1e-15, g1_sigma
g2_fwhm: 32.5128710 +/- 0.43988270 (1.35%) == '2.3548200*g2_sigma'
g2_height: 72.0455936 +/- 0.61721901 (0.86%) == '0.3989423*g2_amplitude/max(1e-15, g2_sigma
[[Correlations]] (unreported correlations are < 0.500)
C(g1_amplitude, g1_sigma) = +0.8243
C(g2_amplitude, g2_sigma) = +0.8154
C(bkg_amplitude, bkg_decay) = -0.6946
C(g1_sigma, g2_center) = +0.6842
C(g1_center, g2_amplitude) = -0.6689
C(g1_center, g2_sigma) = -0.6520
C(g1_amplitude, g2_center) = +0.6477
C(g1_center, g2_center) = +0.6205
C(g1_center, g1_sigma) = +0.5075
C(g1_amplitude, bkg_decay) = -0.5074

Using uncertainties in the fitted parameters for post-fit calculations

New in version 1.2.2.

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As with the previous section, after a fit is complete, you may want to do some further calculations with the result-
ing Parameter values. Since these Parameters will have not only best-fit values but also usually have uncertain-
ties, it is desirable for subsequent calculations to be able to propagate those uncertainties to any resulting calcu-
lated value. In addition, it is common for Parameters to have finite - and sometimes large - correlations which
should be taken into account in such calculations.
The ModelResult.uvars will be a dictionary with keys for all variable Parameters and values that are uvalues from
the uncertainties package. When used in mathematical calculations with basic Python operators or numpy func-
tions, these uvalues will automatically propagate their uncertainties to the resulting calculation, and taking into
account the full covariance matrix describing the correlation between values.
This readily allows “derived Parameters” to be evaluated just after the fit. In fact, it might be useful to have a
Model always do such a calculation just after the fit. The Model.post_fit() method allows exactly that: you can
overwrite this otherwise empty method for any Model. It takes one argument: the ModelResult instance just after
the actual fit has run (and before Model.fit() returns) and can be used to add Parameters or do other post-fit
processing.
The following example script shows two different methods for calculating a centroid value for two peaks, either
by doing the calculation directly after the fit with the result.uvars or by capturing this in a Model.post_fit()
method that would be run for all instances of that model. It also demonstrates that taking correlations between
Parameters into account when performing calculations can have a noticeable influence on the resulting
uncertainties.

# <examples/doc_uvars_params.py>
import numpy as np

from lmfit.models import ExponentialModel, GaussianModel

dat = np.loadtxt('NIST_Gauss2.dat')
x = dat[:, 1]
y = dat[:, 0]

bkg = ExponentialModel(prefix='exp_')
gauss1 = GaussianModel(prefix='g1_')
gauss2 = GaussianModel(prefix='g2_')

mod = gauss1 + gauss2 + bkg

pars = mod.make_params(g1_center=105, g1_amplitude=4000, g1_sigma={'value': 15, 'min': 0},

g2_center=155, g2_amplitude=2000, g2_sigma={'value': 15, 'min': 0},
exp_amplitude=100, exp_decay=100)

out = mod.fit(y, pars, x=x)

print(out.fit_report(min_correl=0.5))

# Area and Centroid of the combined peaks

# option 1: from output uncertainties values

uvar_g1amp = out.uvars['g1_amplitude']
uvar_g2amp = out.uvars['g2_amplitude']
uvar_g1cen = out.uvars['g1_center']
uvar_g2cen = out.uvars['g2_center']

print("### Peak Area: ")

print(f"Peak1: {out.params['g1_amplitude'].value:.5f}+/-{out.params['g1_amplitude'].stderr:.5f}")
print(f"Peak2: {out.params['g2_amplitude'].value:.5f}+/-{out.params['g2_amplitude'].stderr:.5f}")
print(f"Sum : {(uvar_g1amp + uvar_g2amp):.5f}")

area_quadrature = np.sqrt(out.params['g1_amplitude'].stderr**2 + out.params['g2_amplitude'].stderr

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print(f"Correlation of peak1 and peak2 areas: {out.params['g1_amplitude'].correl['g2_am
print(f"Stderr Quadrature sum for peak1 and peak2 area2: {area_quadrature:.5f}")
print(f"Stderr of peak1 + peak2 area, with correlation: {(uvar_g1amp+uvar_g2amp).std_dev:.5f}")

print("### Peak Centroid: ")

centroid = (uvar_g1amp * uvar_g1cen + uvar_g2amp * uvar_g2cen) / (uvar_g1amp + uvar_g2amp)

print(f"Peak Centroid: {centroid:.5f}")

# option 2: define corresponding variables after fit

def post_fit(result):
"example post fit function"
result.params.add('post_area', expr='g1_amplitude + g2_amplitude')
result.params.add('post_centroid', expr='(g1_amplitude*g1_center+ g2_amplitude*g2_center)/(g1_

mod.post_fit = post_fit

out = mod.fit(y, pars, x=x)

print(out.fit_report(min_correl=0.5))

# option 3: define corresponding variables before fit

pars.add('area', expr='g1_amplitude + g2_amplitude')
pars.add('centroid', expr='(g1_amplitude*g1_center+ g2_amplitude*g2_center)/(g1_amplitude + g2_amp

out = mod.fit(y, pars, x=x)

print(out.fit_report(min_correl=0.5))
# <end examples/doc_uvars_params.py>

[[Model]]
((Model(gaussian, prefix='g1_') + Model(gaussian, prefix='g2_')) + Model(exponential, prefix='ex
[[Fit Statistics]]
# fitting method = leastsq
# function evals = 46
# data points = 250
# variables = 8
chi-square = 1247.52821
reduced chi-square = 5.15507524
Akaike info crit = 417.864631
Bayesian info crit = 446.036318
R-squared = 0.99648654
[[Variables]]
g1_amplitude: 4257.77390 +/- 42.3837959 (1.00%) (init = 4000)
g1_center: 107.030957 +/- 0.15006877 (0.14%) (init = 105)
g1_sigma: 16.6725785 +/- 0.16048211 (0.96%) (init = 15)
g2_amplitude: 2493.41716 +/- 36.1697062 (1.45%) (init = 2000)
g2_center: 153.270104 +/- 0.19466774 (0.13%) (init = 155)
g2_sigma: 13.8069453 +/- 0.18680153 (1.35%) (init = 15)
exp_amplitude: 99.0183277 +/- 0.53748650 (0.54%) (init = 100)
exp_decay: 90.9508838 +/- 1.10310767 (1.21%) (init = 100)
g1_fwhm: 39.2609214 +/- 0.37790648 (0.96%) == '2.3548200*g1_sigma'
g1_height: 101.880229 +/- 0.59217051 (0.58%) == '0.3989423*g1_amplitude/max(1e-15, g1_sigma
g2_fwhm: 32.5128709 +/- 0.43988398 (1.35%) == '2.3548200*g2_sigma'
g2_height: 72.0455939 +/- 0.61721985 (0.86%) == '0.3989423*g2_amplitude/max(1e-15, g2_sigma
[[Correlations]] (unreported correlations are < 0.500)
C(g1_amplitude, g1_sigma) = +0.8243
C(g2_amplitude, g2_sigma) = +0.8154
C(exp_amplitude, exp_decay) = -0.6946
C(g1_sigma, g2_center) = +0.6842
C(g1_center, g2_amplitude) = -0.6689
C(g1_center, g2_sigma) = -0.6520
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C(g1_amplitude, g2_center) = +0.6477
C(g1_center, g2_center) = +0.6205
C(g1_center, g1_sigma) = +0.5075
C(g1_amplitude, exp_decay) = -0.5074
### Peak Area:
Peak1: 4257.77390+/-42.38380
Peak2: 2493.41716+/-36.16971
Sum : 6751.19106+/-46.50802
Correlation of peak1 and peak2 areas: -0.30712
Stderr Quadrature sum for peak1 and peak2 area2: 55.71924
Stderr of peak1 + peak2 area, with correlation: 46.50802
### Peak Centroid:
Peak Centroid: 124.10846+/-0.14074
[[Model]]
((Model(gaussian, prefix='g1_') + Model(gaussian, prefix='g2_')) + Model(exponential, prefix='ex
[[Fit Statistics]]
# fitting method = leastsq
# function evals = 46
# data points = 250
# variables = 8
chi-square = 1247.52821
reduced chi-square = 5.15507524
Akaike info crit = 417.864631
Bayesian info crit = 446.036318
R-squared = 0.99648654
[[Variables]]
g1_amplitude: 4257.77390 +/- 42.3837959 (1.00%) (init = 4000)
g1_center: 107.030957 +/- 0.15006877 (0.14%) (init = 105)
g1_sigma: 16.6725785 +/- 0.16048211 (0.96%) (init = 15)
g2_amplitude: 2493.41716 +/- 36.1697062 (1.45%) (init = 2000)
g2_center: 153.270104 +/- 0.19466774 (0.13%) (init = 155)
g2_sigma: 13.8069453 +/- 0.18680153 (1.35%) (init = 15)
exp_amplitude: 99.0183277 +/- 0.53748650 (0.54%) (init = 100)
exp_decay: 90.9508838 +/- 1.10310767 (1.21%) (init = 100)
g1_fwhm: 39.2609214 +/- 0.37790648 (0.96%) == '2.3548200*g1_sigma'
g1_height: 101.880229 +/- 0.59217051 (0.58%) == '0.3989423*g1_amplitude/max(1e-15, g1_sigma
g2_fwhm: 32.5128709 +/- 0.43988398 (1.35%) == '2.3548200*g2_sigma'
g2_height: 72.0455939 +/- 0.61721985 (0.86%) == '0.3989423*g2_amplitude/max(1e-15, g2_sigma
post_area: 6751.19106 +/- 46.5080249 (0.69%) == 'g1_amplitude + g2_amplitude'
post_centroid: 124.108459 +/- 0.14074482 (0.11%) == '(g1_amplitude*g1_center+ g2_amplitude*g2_c
[[Correlations]] (unreported correlations are < 0.500)
C(g1_amplitude, g1_sigma) = +0.8243
C(g2_amplitude, g2_sigma) = +0.8154
C(exp_amplitude, exp_decay) = -0.6946
C(g1_sigma, g2_center) = +0.6842
C(g1_center, g2_amplitude) = -0.6689
C(g1_center, g2_sigma) = -0.6520
C(g1_amplitude, g2_center) = +0.6477
C(g1_center, g2_center) = +0.6205
C(g1_center, g1_sigma) = +0.5075
C(g1_amplitude, exp_decay) = -0.5074
[[Model]]
((Model(gaussian, prefix='g1_') + Model(gaussian, prefix='g2_')) + Model(exponential, prefix='ex
[[Fit Statistics]]
# fitting method = leastsq
# function evals = 46
# data points = 250
# variables = 8
chi-square = 1247.52821
reduced chi-square = 5.15507524
Akaike info crit = 417.864631
Bayesian info crit = 446.036318
R-squared = 0.99648654
[[Variables]]
g1_amplitude: 4257.77390 +/- 42.3837959 (1.00%) (init = 4000)
g1_center: 107.030957 +/- 0.15006877 (0.14%) (init = 105)
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g1_sigma: 16.6725785 +/- 0.16048211 (0.96%) (init = 15)
g2_amplitude: 2493.41716 +/- 36.1697062 (1.45%) (init = 2000)
g2_center: 153.270104 +/- 0.19466774 (0.13%) (init = 155)
g2_sigma: 13.8069453 +/- 0.18680153 (1.35%) (init = 15)
exp_amplitude: 99.0183277 +/- 0.53748650 (0.54%) (init = 100)
exp_decay: 90.9508838 +/- 1.10310767 (1.21%) (init = 100)
g1_fwhm: 39.2609214 +/- 0.37790648 (0.96%) == '2.3548200*g1_sigma'
g1_height: 101.880229 +/- 0.59217051 (0.58%) == '0.3989423*g1_amplitude/max(1e-15, g1_sigma
g2_fwhm: 32.5128709 +/- 0.43988398 (1.35%) == '2.3548200*g2_sigma'
g2_height: 72.0455939 +/- 0.61721985 (0.86%) == '0.3989423*g2_amplitude/max(1e-15, g2_sigma
area: 6751.19106 +/- 46.5080249 (0.69%) == 'g1_amplitude + g2_amplitude'
centroid: 124.108459 +/- 0.14074482 (0.11%) == '(g1_amplitude*g1_center+ g2_amplitude*g2_c
post_area: 6751.19106 +/- 46.5080249 (0.69%) == 'g1_amplitude + g2_amplitude'
post_centroid: 124.108459 +/- 0.14074482 (0.11%) == '(g1_amplitude*g1_center+ g2_amplitude*g2_c
[[Correlations]] (unreported correlations are < 0.500)
C(g1_amplitude, g1_sigma) = +0.8243
C(g2_amplitude, g2_sigma) = +0.8154
C(exp_amplitude, exp_decay) = -0.6946
C(g1_sigma, g2_center) = +0.6842
C(g1_center, g2_amplitude) = -0.6689
C(g1_center, g2_sigma) = -0.6520
C(g1_amplitude, g2_center) = +0.6477
C(g1_center, g2_center) = +0.6205
C(g1_center, g1_sigma) = +0.5075
C(g1_amplitude, exp_decay) = -0.5074

Note that the Model.post_fit() does not need to be limited to this use case of adding derived Parameters.

Saving and Loading ModelResults

As with saving models (see section Saving and Loading Models), it is sometimes desirable to save a ModelResult,
either for later use or to organize and compare different fit results. Lmfit provides a save_modelresult() function
that will save a ModelResult to a file. There is also a companion load_modelresult() function that can read this
file and reconstruct a ModelResult from it.
As discussed in section Saving and Loading Models, there are challenges to saving model functions that may
make it difficult to restore a saved a ModelResult in a way that can be used to perform a fit. Use of the optional
funcdefs argument is generally the most reliable way to ensure that a loaded ModelResult can be used to evalu-
ate the model function or redo the fit.
save_modelresult(modelresult, fname)
Save a ModelResult to a file.
Parameters: modelresult (ModelResult) – ModelResult to be saved.
fname (str) – Name of file for saved ModelResult.

load_modelresult(fname, funcdefs=None)
Load a saved ModelResult from a file.
Parameters: fname (str) – Name of file containing saved ModelResult.
funcdefs (dict, optional) – Dictionary of custom function names and definitions.
Returns: ModelResult object loaded from file.
Return type: ModelResult

An example of saving a ModelResult is:

# <examples/doc_model_savemodelresult.py>
import numpy as np

from lmfit.model import save_modelresult

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from lmfit.models import GaussianModel

data = np.loadtxt('model1d_gauss.dat')
x = data[:, 0]
y = data[:, 1]

gmodel = GaussianModel()
result = gmodel.fit(y, x=x, amplitude=5, center=5, sigma=1)

save_modelresult(result, 'gauss_modelresult.sav')

print(result.fit_report())
# <end examples/doc_model_savemodelresult.py>

To load that later, one might do:

# <examples/doc_model_loadmodelresult.py>
import os
import sys

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

from lmfit.model import load_modelresult

if not os.path.exists('gauss_modelresult.sav'):
os.system(f"{sys.executable} doc_model_savemodelresult.py")

data = np.loadtxt('model1d_gauss.dat')
x = data[:, 0]
y = data[:, 1]

result = load_modelresult('gauss_modelresult.sav')
print(result.fit_report())

plt.plot(x, y, 'o')
plt.plot(x, result.best_fit, '-')
plt.show()
# <end examples/doc_model_loadmodelresult.py>

Composite Models : adding (or multiplying) Models

One of the more interesting features of the Model class is that Models can be added together or combined with
basic algebraic operations (add, subtract, multiply, and divide) to give a composite model. The composite model
will have parameters from each of the component models, with all parameters being available to influence the
whole model. This ability to combine models will become even more useful in the next chapter, when pre-built
subclasses of Model are discussed. For now, we’ll consider a simple example, and build a model of a Gaussian
plus a line, as to model a peak with a background. For such a simple problem, we could just build a model that in-
cluded both components:

def gaussian_plus_line(x, amp, cen, wid, slope, intercept):

"""line + 1-d gaussian"""

gauss = (amp / (sqrt(2*pi) * wid)) * exp(-(x-cen)**2 / (2*wid**2))

line = slope*x + intercept
return gauss + line

and use that with:

mod = Model(gaussian_plus_line)

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But we already had a function for a gaussian function, and maybe we’ll discover that a linear background isn’t suf-
ficient which would mean the model function would have to be changed.
Instead, lmfit allows models to be combined into a CompositeModel. As an alternative to including a linear back-
ground in our model function, we could define a linear function:

def line(x, slope, intercept):

"""a line"""
return slope*x + intercept

and build a composite model with just:

mod = Model(gaussian) + Model(line)

This model has parameters for both component models, and can be used as:

# <examples/doc_model_two_components.py>
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from numpy import exp, loadtxt, pi, sqrt

from lmfit import Model

data = loadtxt('model1d_gauss.dat')
x = data[:, 0]
y = data[:, 1] + 0.25*x - 1.0

def gaussian(x, amp, cen, wid):

"""1-d gaussian: gaussian(x, amp, cen, wid)"""
return (amp / (sqrt(2*pi) * wid)) * exp(-(x-cen)**2 / (2*wid**2))

def line(x, slope, intercept):

"""a line"""
return slope*x + intercept

mod = Model(gaussian) + Model(line)

pars = mod.make_params(amp=5, cen=5, wid={'value': 1, 'min': 0},
slope=0, intercept=1)

result = mod.fit(y, pars, x=x)

print(result.fit_report())

plt.plot(x, y, 'o')
plt.plot(x, result.init_fit, '--', label='initial fit')
plt.plot(x, result.best_fit, '-', label='best fit')
plt.legend()
plt.show()
# <end examples/doc_model_two_components.py>

which prints out the results:

[[Model]]
(Model(gaussian) + Model(line))
[[Fit Statistics]]
# fitting method = leastsq
# function evals = 55
# data points = 101
# variables = 5
chi-square = 2.57855517
reduced chi-square = 0.02685995

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Akaike info crit = -360.457020
Bayesian info crit = -347.381417
R-squared = 0.99194643
[[Variables]]
amp: 8.45930976 +/- 0.12414531 (1.47%) (init = 5)
cen: 5.65547889 +/- 0.00917673 (0.16%) (init = 5)
wid: 0.67545513 +/- 0.00991697 (1.47%) (init = 1)
slope: 0.26484403 +/- 0.00574892 (2.17%) (init = 0)
intercept: -0.96860189 +/- 0.03352202 (3.46%) (init = 1)
[[Correlations]] (unreported correlations are < 0.100)
C(slope, intercept) = -0.7954
C(amp, wid) = +0.6664
C(amp, intercept) = -0.2216
C(amp, slope) = -0.1692
C(cen, slope) = -0.1618
C(wid, intercept) = -0.1477
C(cen, intercept) = +0.1287
C(wid, slope) = -0.1127

and shows the plot on the left.

On the left, data is shown in blue dots, the total fit is shown in solid green line, and the initial fit is shown as a or-
ange dashed line. The figure on the right shows again the data in blue dots, the Gaussian component as a orange
dashed line and the linear component as a green dashed line. It is created using the following code:

comps = result.eval_components()
plt.plot(x, y, 'o')
plt.plot(x, comps['gaussian'], '--', label='Gaussian component')
plt.plot(x, comps['line'], '--', label='Line component')

The components were generated after the fit using the ModelResult.eval_components() method of the result,
which returns a dictionary of the components, using keys of the model name (or prefix if that is set). This will use
the parameter values in result.params and the independent variables (x) used during the fit. Note that while the
ModelResult held in result does store the best parameters and the best estimate of the model in
result.best_fit, the original model and parameters in pars are left unaltered.

You can apply this composite model to other data sets, or evaluate the model at other values of x. You may want
to do this to give a finer or coarser spacing of data point, or to extrapolate the model outside the fitting range.
This can be done with:

xwide = linspace(-5, 25, 3001)

predicted = mod.eval(result.params, x=xwide)

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In this example, the argument names for the model functions do not overlap. If they had, the prefix argument to
Model would have allowed us to identify which parameter went with which component model. As we will see in
the next chapter, using composite models with the built-in models provides a simple way to build up complex
models.

class CompositeModel(left, right, op[, **kws])

Combine two models (left and right) with binary operator (op).
Normally, one does not have to explicitly create a CompositeModel, but can use normal Python operators +, -,
*, and / to combine components as in:

>>> mod = Model(fcn1) + Model(fcn2) * Model(fcn3)

Parameters: left (Model) – Left-hand model.

right (Model) – Right-hand model.
op (callable binary operator) – Operator to combine left and right models.
**kws (optional) – Additional keywords are passed to Model when creating this new model.

Notes
The two models can use different independent variables.

Note that when using built-in Python binary operators, a CompositeModel will automatically be constructed for
you. That is, doing:

mod = Model(fcn1) + Model(fcn2) * Model(fcn3)

will create a CompositeModel. Here, left will be Model(fcn1), op will be operator.add(), and right will be another
CompositeModel that has a left attribute of Model(fcn2), an op of operator.mul(), and a right of Model(fcn3).
To use a binary operator other than +, -, *, or / you can explicitly create a CompositeModel with the appropriate
binary operator. For example, to convolve two models, you could define a simple convolution function, perhaps
as:

import numpy as np

def convolve(dat, kernel):

"""simple convolution of two arrays"""
npts = min(len(dat), len(kernel))
pad = np.ones(npts)
tmp = np.concatenate((pad*dat[0], dat, pad*dat[-1]))
out = np.convolve(tmp, kernel, mode='valid')
noff = int((len(out) - npts) / 2)
return (out[noff:])[:npts]

which extends the data in both directions so that the convolving kernel function gives a valid result over the data
range. Because this function takes two array arguments and returns an array, it can be used as the binary opera-
tor. A full script using this technique is here:

# <examples/doc_model_composite.py>
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

from lmfit import CompositeModel, Model

from lmfit.lineshapes import gaussian, step

# create data from broadened step

x = np.linspace(0, 10, 201)

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y = step(x, amplitude=12.5, center=4.5, sigma=0.88, form='erf')
np.random.seed(0)
y = y + np.random.normal(scale=0.35, size=x.size)

def jump(x, mid):

"""Heaviside step function."""
o = np.zeros(x.size)
imid = max(np.where(x <= mid)[0])
o[imid:] = 1.0
return o

def convolve(arr, kernel):

"""Simple convolution of two arrays."""
npts = min(arr.size, kernel.size)
pad = np.ones(npts)
tmp = np.concatenate((pad*arr[0], arr, pad*arr[-1]))
out = np.convolve(tmp, kernel, mode='valid')
noff = int((len(out) - npts) / 2)
return out[noff:noff+npts]

# create Composite Model using the custom convolution operator

mod = CompositeModel(Model(jump), Model(gaussian), convolve)

# create parameters for model. Note that 'mid' and 'center' will be highly
# correlated. Since 'mid' is used as an integer index, it will be very
# hard to fit, so we fix its value
pars = mod.make_params(amplitude=dict(value=1, min=0),
center=3.5,
sigma=dict(value=1.5, min=0),
mid=dict(value=4, vary=False))

# fit this model to data array y

result = mod.fit(y, params=pars, x=x)

print(result.fit_report())

# generate components
comps = result.eval_components(x=x)

# plot results
fig, axes = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(12.8, 4.8))

axes[0].plot(x, y, 'bo')
axes[0].plot(x, result.init_fit, 'k--', label='initial fit')
axes[0].plot(x, result.best_fit, 'r-', label='best fit')
axes[0].legend()

axes[1].plot(x, y, 'bo')
axes[1].plot(x, 10*comps['jump'], 'k--', label='Jump component')
axes[1].plot(x, 10*comps['gaussian'], 'r-', label='Gaussian component')
axes[1].legend()

plt.show()
# <end examples/doc_model_composite.py>

which prints out the results:

[[Model]]
(Model(jump) <function convolve at 0x15d0c93f0> Model(gaussian))
[[Fit Statistics]]
# fitting method = leastsq
# function evals = 33
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# data points = 201
# variables = 3
chi-square = 24.7562335
reduced chi-square = 0.12503148
Akaike info crit = -414.939746
Bayesian info crit = -405.029832
R-squared = 0.99632577
[[Variables]]
mid: 4 (fixed)
amplitude: 0.62508458 +/- 0.00189732 (0.30%) (init = 1)
center: 5.50853669 +/- 0.00973231 (0.18%) (init = 3.5)
sigma: 0.59576097 +/- 0.01348579 (2.26%) (init = 1.5)
[[Correlations]] (unreported correlations are < 0.100)
C(amplitude, center) = +0.3292
C(amplitude, sigma) = +0.2680

and shows the plots:

Using composite models with built-in or custom operators allows you to build complex models from testable sub-
components.

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