Coupling and Poisson approximation

We give an overview of the Stein-Chen method for establishing Poisson approximations of various random variables. Couplings of certain variables are used to gives explicit bounds for the total variation distance between the distribution of a random variable and a Poisson variable. Some applications are given. In some cases, explicit couplings may be used to obtain good estimates; in other applications it suffices to show the existence of couplings with certain monotonicity properties.Supported by the Göran Gustafsson Foundation for Research in Natural Sciences and Medicine.