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This function returns a random variate from the exponential power distribution with scale parameter a and exponent b. The distribution is,
p(x) dx = {1 \over 2 a \Gamma(1+1/b)} \exp(-|x/a|^b) dxfor x >= 0. For b = 1 this reduces to the Laplace distribution. For b = 2 it has the same form as a gaussian distribution, but with a = \sqrt{2} \sigma.
This function computes the probability density p(x) at x for an exponential power distribution with scale parameter a and exponent b, using the formula given above.