The exponential distribution is a probability distribution that describes the time between events in a process where events occur continuously and independently at a constant average rate. It is commonly used in fields like reliability engineering and queueing theory to model the time until a specific event happens, such as the failure of a machine or the arrival of customers. A key feature of the exponential distribution is its memoryless property, meaning that the probability of an event occurring in the future is independent of how much time has already passed. The distribution is defined by a single parameter, often denoted as λ (lambda), which represents the rate of occurrence of events.