• East Asian mathematical journal
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.537-547
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• 2023

In this paper, we introduce the optimal approximation by a Gaussian function for a probability density function. We show that the approximation can be obtained by solving a non-linear system of parameters of Gaussian function. Then, to understand the non-normality of the empirical distributions observed in financial markets, we consider the nearly Gaussian function that consists of an optimally approximated Gaussian function and a small periodically oscillating density function. We show that, depending on the parameters of the oscillation, the nearly Gaussian functions can have fairly thick heavy tails.