Develop Reference

Curve fitting of complex data

I want to fit complex data set with a two functions which shared the same parameters. For this I used
def funcReal(x,a,b,c,d):
return np.real((a + 1j*b)*(np.exp(1j*k*x - kappa1*x) - np.exp(kappa2*x)) + (c + 1j*d)*(np.exp(-1j*k*x - kappa1*x) - np.exp(-kappa2*x)))
def funcImag(x,a,b,c,d):
return np.imag((a + 1j*b)*(np.exp(1j*k*x - kappa1*x) - np.exp(kappa2*x)) + (c + 1j*d)*(np.exp(-1j*k*x - kappa1*x) - np.exp(-kappa2*x)))`
poptReal, pcovReal = curve_fit(funcReal, x, yReal)
poptImag, pcovImag = curve_fit(funcImag, x, yImag)
Here funcReal is the real part of my model, funcImag the imaginary part, yReal the real part of the data and yImag the imaginary part of the data.
However, both fits does not give me the same parameters for the real and imaginary part.
My question is there a package or a method such that I can realized multi fits for multiple data sets and multiple functions with shared parameters?

To fit both the complex function given above, we can treat the real and imaginary components as a coordinate point, or as a vector. Since curve_fit doesn't care about the order at which data points are inserted in the vectors x (independent data) and y (dependent data), we can simply split the complex data and stack the real and imaginary components using hstack. See the example below.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from scipy.optimize import curve_fit
kappa1 = np.pi
kappa2 = -0.01
def long_function(x, a, b, c, d):
return (a + 1j*b)*(np.exp(1j*k*x - kappa1*x) - np.exp(kappa2*x)) + (c + 1j*d)*(np.exp(-1j*k*x - kappa1*x) - np.exp(-kappa2*x))
def funcBoth(x, a, b, c, d):
N = len(x)
x_real = x[:N//2]
x_imag = x[N//2:]
y_real = np.real(long_function(x_real, a, b, c, d))
y_imag = np.imag(long_function(x_imag, a, b, c, d))
return np.hstack([y_real, y_imag])
# Create an independent variable with 100 measurements
N = 100
x = np.linspace(0, 10, N)
# True values of the dependent variable
y = long_function(x, a=1.1, b=0.3, c=-0.2, d=0.23)
# Add uniform complex noise (real + imaginary)
noise = (np.random.rand(N) + 1j * np.random.rand(N) - 0.5 - 0.5j) * 0.1
yNoisy = y + noise
# Split the measurements into a real and imaginary part
yReal = np.real(yNoisy)
yImag = np.imag(yNoisy)
yBoth = np.hstack([yReal, yImag])
# Find the best-fit solution
poptBoth, pcovBoth = curve_fit(funcBoth, np.hstack([x, x]), yBoth)
# Compute the best-fit solution
yFit = long_function(x, *poptBoth)
print(poptBoth)
# Plot the results
plt.figure(figsize=(9, 4))
plt.subplot(121)
plt.plot(x, np.real(yNoisy), "k.", label="Noisy y")
plt.plot(x, np.real(y), "r--", label="True y")
plt.plot(x, np.real(yFit), label="Best fit")
plt.ylabel("Real part of y")
plt.xlabel("x")
plt.legend()
plt.subplot(122)
plt.plot(x, np.imag(yNoisy), "k.")
plt.plot(x, np.imag(y), "r--")
plt.plot(x, np.imag(yFit))
plt.ylabel("Imaginary part of y")
plt.xlabel("x")
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()
Result:
The best-fit parameters that were found in this example were a = 1.14, b = 0.375, c = -0.236, and d = 0.163, which are close enough to the true parameter values given the amplitude of the noise that I inserted here.

Fit bipolar sigmoid python

I'm stuck trying to fit a bipolar sigmoid curve - I'd like to have the following curve:
but I need it shifted and stretched. I have the following inputs:
x[0] = 8, x[48] = 2
So over 48 periods I need to drop from 8 to 2 using a bipolar sigmoid function to approximate a nice smooth dropoff. Any ideas how I could derive the curve that would fit those parameters?
Here's what I have so far, but I need to change the sigmoid function:
import math
def sigmoid(x):
return 1 / (1 + math.exp(-x))
plt.plot([sigmoid(float(z)) for z in range(1,48)])

You could redefine the sigmoid function like so
def sigmoid(x, a, b, c, d):
""" General sigmoid function
a adjusts amplitude
b adjusts y offset
c adjusts x offset
d adjusts slope """
y = ((a-b) / (1 + np.exp(x-(c/2))**d)) + b
return y
x = np.arange(49)
y = sigmoid(x, 8, 2, 48, 0.3)
plt.plot(x, y)
Severin's answer is likely more robust, but this should be fine if all you want is a quick and dirty solution.
In [2]: y[0]
Out[2]: 7.9955238269969806
In [3]: y[48]
Out[3]: 2.0044761730030203

From generic bipolar sigmoid function:
f(x,m,b)= 2/(1+exp(-b*(x-m))) - 1
there are two parameters and two unknowns - shift m and scale b
You have two condition:f(0) = 8, f(48) = 2
take first condition, express b vs m, together with second condition write non-linear function to solve, and then use fsolve from SciPy to solve it numerically, and recover back b and m.
Here related by similar method question and answer: How to random sample lognormal data in Python using the inverse CDF and specify target percentiles?

Alternatively, you could also use curve_fit which might come in handy if you have more than just two datapoints. The output looks like this:
As you can see, the graph contains the desired data points. I used #lanery's function for the fit; you can of course choose any function you like. This is the code with some inline comments:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from scipy.optimize import curve_fit
def sigmoid(x, a, b, c, d):
return ((a - b) / (1. + np.exp(x - (c / 2)) ** d)) + b
# one needs at least as many data points as parameters, so I just duplicate the data
xdata = [0., 48.] * 2
ydata = [8., 2.] * 2
# plot data
plt.plot(xdata, ydata, 'bo', label='data')
# fit the data
popt, pcov = curve_fit(sigmoid, xdata, ydata, p0=[1., 1., 50., 0.5])
# plot the result
xdata_new = np.linspace(0, 50, 100)
plt.plot(xdata_new, sigmoid(xdata_new, *popt), 'r-', label='fit')
plt.legend(loc='best')
plt.show()

How does one implement a subsampled RBF (Radial Basis Function) in Numpy?

I was trying to implement a Radial Basis Function in Python and Numpy as describe by CalTech lecture here. The mathematics seems clear to me so I find it strange that its not working (or it seems to not work). The idea is simple, one chooses a subsampled number of centers for each Gaussian form a kernal matrix and tries to find the best coefficients. i.e. solve Kc = y where K is the guassian kernel (gramm) matrix with least squares. For that I did:
beta = 0.5*np.power(1.0/stddev,2)
Kern = np.exp(-beta*euclidean_distances(X=X,Y=subsampled_data_points,squared=True))
#(C,_,_,_) = np.linalg.lstsq(K,Y_train)
C = np.dot( np.linalg.pinv(Kern), Y )
but when I try to plot my interpolation with the original data they don't look at all alike:
with 100 random centers (from the data set). I also tried 10 centers which produces essentially the same graph as so does using every data point in the training set. I assumed that using every data point in the data set should more or less perfectly copy the curve but it didn't (overfit). It produces:
which doesn't seem correct. I will provide the full code (that runs without error):
import numpy as np
from sklearn.metrics.pairwise import euclidean_distances
from scipy.interpolate import Rbf
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
## Data sets
def get_labels_improved(X,f):
N_train = X.shape[0]
Y = np.zeros( (N_train,1) )
for i in range(N_train):
Y[i] = f(X[i])
return Y
def get_kernel_matrix(x,W,S):
beta = get_beta_np(S)
#beta = 0.5*tf.pow(tf.div( tf.constant(1.0,dtype=tf.float64),S), 2)
Z = -beta*euclidean_distances(X=x,Y=W,squared=True)
K = np.exp(Z)
return K
N = 5000
low_x =-2*np.pi
high_x=2*np.pi
X = low_x + (high_x - low_x) * np.random.rand(N,1)
# f(x) = 2*(2(cos(x)^2 - 1)^2 -1
f = lambda x: 2*np.power( 2*np.power( np.cos(x) ,2) - 1, 2) - 1
Y = get_labels_improved(X , f)
K = 2 # number of centers for RBF
indices=np.random.choice(a=N,size=K) # choose numbers from 0 to D^(1)
subsampled_data_points=X[indices,:] # M_sub x D
stddev = 100
beta = 0.5*np.power(1.0/stddev,2)
Kern = np.exp(-beta*euclidean_distances(X=X,Y=subsampled_data_points,squared=True))
#(C,_,_,_) = np.linalg.lstsq(K,Y_train)
C = np.dot( np.linalg.pinv(Kern), Y )
Y_pred = np.dot( Kern , C )
plt.plot(X, Y, 'o', label='Original data', markersize=1)
plt.plot(X, Y_pred, 'r', label='Fitted line', markersize=1)
plt.legend()
plt.show()
Since the plots look strange I decided to read the docs for the ploting functions but I couldn't find anything obvious that was wrong.

Scaling of interpolating functions
The main problem is unfortunate choice of standard deviation of the functions used for interpolation:
stddev = 100
The features of your functions (its humps) are of size about 1. So, use
stddev = 1
Order of X values
The mess of red lines is there because plt from matplotlib connects consecutive data points, in the order given. Since your X values are in random order, this results in chaotic left-right movements. Use sorted X:
X = np.sort(low_x + (high_x - low_x) * np.random.rand(N,1), axis=0)
Efficiency issues
Your get_labels_improved method is inefficient, looping over the elements of X. Use Y = f(X), leaving the looping to low-level NumPy internals.
Also, the computation of least-squared solution of an overdetermined system should be done with lstsq instead of computing the pseudoinverse (computationally expensive) and multiplying by it.
Here is the cleaned-up code; using 30 centers gives a good fit.
import numpy as np
from sklearn.metrics.pairwise import euclidean_distances
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
N = 5000
low_x =-2*np.pi
high_x=2*np.pi
X = np.sort(low_x + (high_x - low_x) * np.random.rand(N,1), axis=0)
f = lambda x: 2*np.power( 2*np.power( np.cos(x) ,2) - 1, 2) - 1
Y = f(X)
K = 30 # number of centers for RBF
indices=np.random.choice(a=N,size=K) # choose numbers from 0 to D^(1)
subsampled_data_points=X[indices,:] # M_sub x D
stddev = 1
beta = 0.5*np.power(1.0/stddev,2)
Kern = np.exp(-beta*euclidean_distances(X=X, Y=subsampled_data_points,squared=True))
C = np.linalg.lstsq(Kern, Y)[0]
Y_pred = np.dot(Kern, C)
plt.plot(X, Y, 'o', label='Original data', markersize=1)
plt.plot(X, Y_pred, 'r', label='Fitted line', markersize=1)
plt.legend()
plt.show()

Fit a curve for data made up of two distinct regimes

I'm looking for a way to plot a curve through some experimental data. The data shows a small linear regime with a shallow gradient, followed by a steep linear regime after a threshold value.
My data is here: http://pastebin.com/H4NSbxqr
I could fit the data with two lines relatively easily, but I'd like to fit with a continuous line ideally - which should look like two lines with a smooth curve joining them around the threshold (~5000 in the data, shown above).
I attempted this using scipy.optimize curve_fit and trying a function which included the sum of a straight line and an exponential:
y = a*x + b + c*np.exp((x-d)/e)
although despite numerous attempts, it didn't find a solution.
If anyone has any suggestions please, either on the choice of fitting distribution / method or the curve_fit implementation, they would be greatly appreciated.

If you don't have a particular reason to believe that linear + exponential is the true underlying cause of your data, then I think a fit to two lines makes the most sense. You can do this by making your fitting function the maximum of two lines, for example:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from scipy.optimize import curve_fit
def two_lines(x, a, b, c, d):
one = a*x + b
two = c*x + d
return np.maximum(one, two)
Then,
x, y = np.genfromtxt('tmp.txt', unpack=True, delimiter=',')
pw0 = (.02, 30, .2, -2000) # a guess for slope, intercept, slope, intercept
pw, cov = curve_fit(two_lines, x, y, pw0)
crossover = (pw[3] - pw[1]) / (pw[0] - pw[2])
plt.plot(x, y, 'o', x, two_lines(x, *pw), '-')
If you really want a continuous and differentiable solution, it occurred to me that a hyperbola has a sharp bend to it, but it has to be rotated. It was a bit difficult to implement (maybe there's an easier way), but here's a go:
def hyperbola(x, a, b, c, d, e):
""" hyperbola(x) with parameters
a/b = asymptotic slope
c = curvature at vertex
d = offset to vertex
e = vertical offset
"""
return a*np.sqrt((b*c)**2 + (x-d)**2)/b + e
def rot_hyperbola(x, a, b, c, d, e, th):
pars = a, b, c, 0, 0 # do the shifting after rotation
xd = x - d
hsin = hyperbola(xd, *pars)*np.sin(th)
xcos = xd*np.cos(th)
return e + hyperbola(xcos - hsin, *pars)*np.cos(th) + xcos - hsin
Run it as
h0 = 1.1, 1, 0, 5000, 100, .5
h, hcov = curve_fit(rot_hyperbola, x, y, h0)
plt.plot(x, y, 'o', x, two_lines(x, *pw), '-', x, rot_hyperbola(x, *h), '-')
plt.legend(['data', 'piecewise linear', 'rotated hyperbola'], loc='upper left')
plt.show()
I was also able to get the line + exponential to converge, but it looks terrible. This is because it's not a good descriptor of your data, which is linear and an exponential is very far from linear!
def line_exp(x, a, b, c, d, e):
return a*x + b + c*np.exp((x-d)/e)
e0 = .1, 20., .01, 1000., 2000.
e, ecov = curve_fit(line_exp, x, y, e0)
If you want to keep it simple, there's always a polynomial or spline (piecewise polynomials)
from scipy.interpolate import UnivariateSpline
s = UnivariateSpline(x, y, s=x.size) #larger s-value has fewer "knots"
plt.plot(x, s(x))

I researched this a little, Applied Linear Regression by Sanford, and the Correlation and Regression lecture by Steiger had some good info on it. They all however lack the right model, the piecewise function should be
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import lmfit
dfseg = pd.read_csv('segreg.csv')
def err(w):
th0 = w['th0'].value
th1 = w['th1'].value
th2 = w['th2'].value
gamma = w['gamma'].value
fit = th0 + th1*dfseg.Temp + th2*np.maximum(0,dfseg.Temp-gamma)
return fit-dfseg.C
p = lmfit.Parameters()
p.add_many(('th0', 0.), ('th1', 0.0),('th2', 0.0),('gamma', 40.))
mi = lmfit.minimize(err, p)
lmfit.printfuncs.report_fit(mi.params)
b0 = mi.params['th0']; b1=mi.params['th1'];b2=mi.params['th2']
gamma = int(mi.params['gamma'].value)
import statsmodels.formula.api as smf
reslin = smf.ols('C ~ 1 + Temp + I((Temp-%d)*(Temp>%d))' % (gamma,gamma), data=dfseg).fit()
print reslin.summary()
x0 = np.array(range(0,gamma,1))
x1 = np.array(range(0,80-gamma,1))
y0 = b0 + b1*x0
y1 = (b0 + b1 * float(gamma) + (b1 + b2)* x1)
plt.scatter(dfseg.Temp, dfseg.C)
plt.hold(True)
plt.plot(x0,y0)
plt.plot(x1+gamma,y1)
plt.show()
Result
[[Variables]]
th0: 78.6554456 +/- 3.966238 (5.04%) (init= 0)
th1: -0.15728297 +/- 0.148250 (94.26%) (init= 0)
th2: 0.72471237 +/- 0.179052 (24.71%) (init= 0)
gamma: 38.3110177 +/- 4.845767 (12.65%) (init= 40)
The data
"","Temp","C"
"1",8.5536,86.2143
"2",10.6613,72.3871
"3",12.4516,74.0968
"4",16.9032,68.2258
"5",20.5161,72.3548
"6",21.1613,76.4839
"7",24.3929,83.6429
"8",26.4839,74.1935
"9",26.5645,71.2581
"10",27.9828,78.2069
"11",32.6833,79.0667
"12",33.0806,71.0968
"13",33.7097,76.6452
"14",34.2903,74.4516
"15",36,56.9677
"16",37.4167,79.8333
"17",43.9516,79.7097
"18",45.2667,76.9667
"19",47,76
"20",47.1129,78.0323
"21",47.3833,79.8333
"22",48.0968,73.9032
"23",49.05,78.1667
"24",57.5,81.7097
"25",59.2,80.3
"26",61.3226,75
"27",61.9194,87.0323
"28",62.3833,89.8
"29",64.3667,96.4
"30",65.371,88.9677
"31",68.35,91.3333
"32",70.7581,91.8387
"33",71.129,90.9355
"34",72.2419,93.4516
"35",72.85,97.8333
"36",73.9194,92.4839
"37",74.4167,96.1333
"38",76.3871,89.8387
"39",78.0484,89.4516
Graph

I used #user423805 's answer (found via google groups thread: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/lmfit-py/7I2zv2WwFLU ) but noticed it had some limitations when trying to use three or more segments.
Instead of applying np.maximum in the minimizer error function or adding (b1 + b2) in #user423805 's answer, I used the same linear spline calculation for both the minimizer and end-usage:
# least_splines_calc works like this for an example with three segments
# (four threshold params, three gamma params):
#
# for 0 < x < gamma0 : y = th0 + (th1 * x)
# for gamma0 < x < gamma1 : y = th0 + (th1 * x) + (th2 * (x - gamma0))
# for gamma1 < x : y = th0 + (th1 * x) + (th2 * (x - gamma0)) + (th3 * (x - gamma1))
#
def least_splines_calc(x, thresholds, gammas):
if(len(thresholds) < 2):
print("Error: expected at least two thresholds")
return None
applicable_gammas = filter(lambda gamma: x > gamma , gammas)
#base result
y = thresholds[0] + (thresholds[1] * x)
#additional factors calculated depending on x value
for i in range(0, len(applicable_gammas)):
y = y + ( thresholds[i + 2] * ( x - applicable_gammas[i] ) )
return y
def least_splines_calc_array(x_array, thresholds, gammas):
y_array = map(lambda x: least_splines_calc(x, thresholds, gammas), x_array)
return y_array
def err(params, x, data):
th0 = params['th0'].value
th1 = params['th1'].value
th2 = params['th2'].value
th3 = params['th3'].value
gamma1 = params['gamma1'].value
gamma2 = params['gamma2'].value
thresholds = np.array([th0, th1, th2, th3])
gammas = np.array([gamma1, gamma2])
fit = least_splines_calc_array(x, thresholds, gammas)
return np.array(fit)-np.array(data)
p = lmfit.Parameters()
p.add_many(('th0', 0.), ('th1', 0.0),('th2', 0.0),('th3', 0.0),('gamma1', 9.),('gamma2', 9.3)) #NOTE: the 9. / 9.3 were guesses specific to my data, you will need to change these
mi = lmfit.minimize(err_alt, p, args=(np.array(dfseg.Temp), np.array(dfseg.C)))
After minimization, convert the params found by the minimizer into an array of thresholds and gammas to re-use linear_splines_calc to plot the linear splines regression.
Reference: While there's various places that explain least splines (I think #user423805 used http://www.statpower.net/Content/313/Lecture%20Notes/Splines.pdf , which has the (b1 + b2) addition I disagree with in its sample code despite similar equations) , the one that made the most sense to me was this one (by Rob Schapire / Zia Khan at Princeton) : https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/spring07/cos424/scribe_notes/0403.pdf - section 2.2 goes into linear splines. Excerpt below:

If you're looking to join what appears to be two straight lines with a hyperbola having a variable radius at/near the intersection of the two lines (which are its asymptotes), I urge you to look hard at Using an Hyperbola as a Transition Model to Fit Two-Regime Straight-Line Data, by Donald G. Watts and David W. Bacon, Technometrics, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Aug., 1974), pp. 369-373.
The formula is drop dead simple, nicely adjustable, and works like a charm. From their paper (in case you can't access it):
As a more useful alternative form we consider an hyperbola for which:
(i) the dependent variable y is a single valued function of the independent variable x,
(ii) the left asymptote has slope theta_1,
(iii) the right asymptote has slope theta_2,
(iv) the asymptotes intersect at the point (x_o, beta_o),
(v) the radius of curvature at x = x_o is proportional to a quantity delta. Such an hyperbola can be written y = beta_o + beta_1*(x - x_o) + beta_2* SQRT[(x - x_o)^2 + delta^2/4], where beta_1 = (theta_1 + theta_2)/2 and beta_2 = (theta_2 - theta_1)/2.
delta is the adjustable parameter that allows you to either closely follow the lines right to the intersection point or smoothly merge from one line to the other.
Just solve for the intersection point (x_o, beta_o), and plug into the formula above.
BTW, in general, if line 1 is y_1 = b_1 + m_1 *x and line 2 is y_2 = b_2 + m_2 * x, then they intersect at x* = (b_2 - b_1) / (m_1 - m_2) and y* = b_1 + m_1 * x*. So, to connect with the formalism above, x_o = x*, beta_o = y* and the two m_*'s are the two thetas.

There is a straightforward method (not iterative, no initial guess) pp.12-13 in https://fr.scribd.com/document/380941024/Regression-par-morceaux-Piecewise-Regression-pdf
The data comes from the scanning of the figure published by IanRoberts in his question. Scanning for the coordinates of the pixels in not accurate. So, don't be surprised by additional deviation.
Note that the abscisses and ordinates scales have been devised by 1000.
The equations of the two segments are
The approximate values of the five parameters are written on the above figure.

Python: two-curve gaussian fitting with non-linear least-squares

My knowledge of maths is limited which is why I am probably stuck. I have a spectra to which I am trying to fit two Gaussian peaks. I can fit to the largest peak, but I cannot fit to the smallest peak. I understand that I need to sum the Gaussian function for the two peaks but I do not know where I have gone wrong. An image of my current output is shown:
The blue line is my data and the green line is my current fit. There is a shoulder to the left of the main peak in my data which I am currently trying to fit, using the following code:
import matplotlib.pyplot as pt
import numpy as np
from scipy.optimize import leastsq
from pylab import *
time = []
counts = []
for i in open('/some/folder/to/file.txt', 'r'):
segs = i.split()
time.append(float(segs[0]))
counts.append(segs[1])
time_array = arange(len(time), dtype=float)
counts_array = arange(len(counts))
time_array[0:] = time
counts_array[0:] = counts
def model(time_array0, coeffs0):
a = coeffs0[0] + coeffs0[1] * np.exp( - ((time_array0-coeffs0[2])/coeffs0[3])**2 )
b = coeffs0[4] + coeffs0[5] * np.exp( - ((time_array0-coeffs0[6])/coeffs0[7])**2 )
c = a+b
return c
def residuals(coeffs, counts_array, time_array):
return counts_array - model(time_array, coeffs)
# 0 = baseline, 1 = amplitude, 2 = centre, 3 = width
peak1 = np.array([0,6337,16.2,4.47,0,2300,13.5,2], dtype=float)
#peak2 = np.array([0,2300,13.5,2], dtype=float)
x, flag = leastsq(residuals, peak1, args=(counts_array, time_array))
#z, flag = leastsq(residuals, peak2, args=(counts_array, time_array))
plt.plot(time_array, counts_array)
plt.plot(time_array, model(time_array, x), color = 'g')
#plt.plot(time_array, model(time_array, z), color = 'r')
plt.show()

This code worked for me providing that you are only fitting a function that is a combination of two Gaussian distributions.
I just made a residuals function that adds two Gaussian functions and then subtracts them from the real data.
The parameters (p) that I passed to Numpy's least squares function include: the mean of the first Gaussian function (m), the difference in the mean from the first and second Gaussian functions (dm, i.e. the horizontal shift), the standard deviation of the first (sd1), and the standard deviation of the second (sd2).
import numpy as np
from scipy.optimize import leastsq
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
######################################
# Setting up test data
def norm(x, mean, sd):
norm = []
for i in range(x.size):
norm += [1.0/(sd*np.sqrt(2*np.pi))*np.exp(-(x[i] - mean)**2/(2*sd**2))]
return np.array(norm)
mean1, mean2 = 0, -2
std1, std2 = 0.5, 1
x = np.linspace(-20, 20, 500)
y_real = norm(x, mean1, std1) + norm(x, mean2, std2)
######################################
# Solving
m, dm, sd1, sd2 = [5, 10, 1, 1]
p = [m, dm, sd1, sd2] # Initial guesses for leastsq
y_init = norm(x, m, sd1) + norm(x, m + dm, sd2) # For final comparison plot
def res(p, y, x):
m, dm, sd1, sd2 = p
m1 = m
m2 = m1 + dm
y_fit = norm(x, m1, sd1) + norm(x, m2, sd2)
err = y - y_fit
return err
plsq = leastsq(res, p, args = (y_real, x))
y_est = norm(x, plsq[0][0], plsq[0][2]) + norm(x, plsq[0][0] + plsq[0][1], plsq[0][3])
plt.plot(x, y_real, label='Real Data')
plt.plot(x, y_init, 'r.', label='Starting Guess')
plt.plot(x, y_est, 'g.', label='Fitted')
plt.legend()
plt.show()

You can use Gaussian mixture models from scikit-learn:
from sklearn import mixture
import matplotlib.pyplot
import matplotlib.mlab
import numpy as np
clf = mixture.GMM(n_components=2, covariance_type='full')
clf.fit(yourdata)
m1, m2 = clf.means_
w1, w2 = clf.weights_
c1, c2 = clf.covars_
histdist = matplotlib.pyplot.hist(yourdata, 100, normed=True)
plotgauss1 = lambda x: plot(x,w1*matplotlib.mlab.normpdf(x,m1,np.sqrt(c1))[0], linewidth=3)
plotgauss2 = lambda x: plot(x,w2*matplotlib.mlab.normpdf(x,m2,np.sqrt(c2))[0], linewidth=3)
plotgauss1(histdist[1])
plotgauss2(histdist[1])
You can also use the function below to fit the number of Gaussian you want with ncomp parameter:
from sklearn import mixture
%pylab
def fit_mixture(data, ncomp=2, doplot=False):
clf = mixture.GMM(n_components=ncomp, covariance_type='full')
clf.fit(data)
ml = clf.means_
wl = clf.weights_
cl = clf.covars_
ms = [m[0] for m in ml]
cs = [numpy.sqrt(c[0][0]) for c in cl]
ws = [w for w in wl]
if doplot == True:
histo = hist(data, 200, normed=True)
for w, m, c in zip(ws, ms, cs):
plot(histo[1],w*matplotlib.mlab.normpdf(histo[1],m,np.sqrt(c)), linewidth=3)
return ms, cs, ws

coeffs 0 and 4 are degenerate - there is absolutely nothing in the data that can decide between them. you should use a single zero level parameter instead of two (ie remove one of them from your code). this is probably what is stopping your fit (ignore the comments here saying this is not possible - there are clearly at least two peaks in that data and you should certainly be able to fit to that).
(it may not be clear why i am suggesting this, but what is happening is that coeffs 0 and 4 can cancel each other out. they can both be zero, or one could be 100 and the other -100 - either way, the fit is just as good. this "confuses" the fitting routine, which spends its time trying to work out what they should be, when there is no single right answer, because whatever value one is, the other can just be the negative of that, and the fit will be the same).
in fact, from the plot, it looks like there may be no need for a zero level at all. i would try dropping both of those and seeing how the fit looks.
also, there is no need to fit coeffs 1 and 5 (or the zero point) in the least squares. instead, because the model is linear in those you could calculate their values each loop. this will make things faster, but is not critical. i just noticed you say your maths is not so good, so probably ignore this one.