All Questions
937 questions
4
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1
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Quotients of standard Borel spaces
Let $X$ and $Y$ be standard Borel spaces: topological spaces homeomorphic to Borel subsets of complete metric spaces. Given a surjective Borel map $f:X\to Y$, we get an equivalence relation $\sim_f\...
4
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Detection of Redundant Constraints
Suppose I pose the following query to a constraint logic programming
system:
?- Y <= 6 - X, Y <= (- 4) + 4 * X, Y <= 4 + X / 3.
Are there systems that would recognize the last inequality as
...
4
votes
1
answer
773
views
*Full proof* references for Markov generators with various boundary conditions
(Note: I've migrated this question from math.stackexchange, as the lack of answers there made me believe it was perhaps too advanced for that forum.)
Consider the one-dimensional heat equation
$$\...
4
votes
1
answer
485
views
Expected norms of Wishart matrices
Suppose $x_i \stackrel{\text{i.i.d}}{\sim} \mathcal{N}(\mu,\Sigma)$. What can we say about dependence on $b$ of Frobenius/spectral norm quantities below?
$$f(b)=\left\|\frac{1}{b}\sum_{i=1}^b x_i x_i^...
4
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Asymptotic behavior of max of chi-squared distribution
Suppose $X_{\max}$ is the maximum in a sequence $X_1,X_2,\ldots,X_n$ where each $X_i\sim\chi^2_k$ is an i.i.d. chi-squared random variable with $k$ degrees of freedom.
Since chi squared distribution ...
4
votes
1
answer
257
views
When is $\prod_{i=0}^\infty (I-x_i x_i^T)=0$ for isotropic Gaussian $x_i$?
Suppose $x_i$ is sampled IID from isotropic zero-centered Gaussian random variable in $d$ dimensions with covariance $\Sigma=c*I$. When is the following true with probability 1?
$$\prod_{i=0}^\infty (...
4
votes
1
answer
812
views
On the largest and smallest spacings for the uniform distribution
Let $Z_1,\dots,Z_n$ be iid random variables (r.v.'s) each uniformly distributed on $[0,1]$. Let $Z_{n:1}\le\cdots\le Z_{n:n}$ be the corresponding order statistics. For $i=1,\dots,n-1$, let $G_i:=Z_{n:...
4
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Arcsine law for Brownian motion with drift
Let
$$X_t = m \cdot t + W_t$$
where $W_t$ is a Brownian motion. Let
$$Z = \sup \{ t\in [0,1] : X_t = 0\}.$$
It is known that if $m = 0$ then the distribution of $z$ is given by
$$\mathbb{P}[Z \leq y ]...
4
votes
1
answer
262
views
Bounded density for diffusions with diffusion coefficients bounded away from $0$
Consider a diffusion given by
$$X_t=\int_0^t a(s,X_s)\,dW_s$$
for $t\ge 0$, where $W_\cdot$ is a standard Wiener process/Brownian motion and $a$ is a smooth enough positive function bounded away from $...
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Expectation of the trace of inverse of a Gaussian random matrix
Given a $N×M$ random complex gaussian matrix $X$ and $N×K$ random complex gaussian matrix $Y$ I'm interested in approximating the expectation expressed as:
\begin{align}
E[trace({(aX{X^H} + I)^{ - ...
4
votes
2
answers
274
views
Paper request : “A random integral and Orlicz spaces” from K. Urbanick
I tried all my methods to find the paper :
“K. Urbanik and WA Woyczynski, A random integral and Orlicz spaces, Bulletin de l'Académie Polonaise des Sciences, Série des sciences mathématiques, ...
4
votes
1
answer
771
views
Maximal component of a multivariate Gaussian distribution
Suppose you have a general random Gaussian vector $\mathbf{X}\sim\mathcal{N}\left(\boldsymbol{\mu},\boldsymbol{\Sigma}\right)$. I'm looking for the simple way to calculate the distribution of the ...
3
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Singular value decomposition of random rectangular matrices
Let $A$ be a $m\times n$ real matrix, whose entries are independent, identically distributed random variables, following standard normal distributions (mean zero and unit variance).
What is the ...
3
votes
2
answers
706
views
Birthday inequality for non-uniform distributions for fixed collision probability (random allocation, collision probability)
Question: Consider a distribution $D$, and $n$ i.i.d. random variables $X_i$, all distributed according to $D$. Let $p^D_2:=\Pr[X_1=X_2]$. What is a lower bound for $p^D_n:=\Pr[\exists i\neq j. X_i=...
3
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Expected value of logarithm of a binomial random variable
Suppose $X\sim \mathrm{Binomial}(n,p),$ i.e. $X$ takes values in $\{0,1,2,\ldots, n\}$ and $P(X=i) = {n\choose i} p^i(1-p)^{n-i}.$
I am looking for a good estimate for $\mathbb{E}\log(X+\alpha).$ I ...
3
votes
1
answer
396
views
A convergence problem
I have a math/stat problem where I need to show the convergence of the average of a sequence of experiments to an interval. The sequence of experiments is not i.i.d., hence the standard law of large ...
2
votes
2
answers
357
views
Is the Erdős–Rényi giant component result applicable here?
Consider a matrix whose elements are independently assigned a value $1$ with probability $p$ and a value $0$ with probability $1-p$.
Define a cluster of cells as a maximal connected component in the ...
2
votes
0
answers
198
views
Optimal transport: how is the use of disintegration theorem valid in this construction of $\widetilde{\phi}$?
Let $X,Y$ be Polish spaces and $\mathcal P(X)$ the space of all Borel probability measures on $X$.
Fix $\mu\in \mathcal P(X), \nu \in \mathcal P(Y)$. Let $\pi \in \Pi(\mu, \nu)$, i.e., $\pi \in \...
2
votes
1
answer
508
views
Proof and interpretation of the following percolation theory result for $n\times n$ square grid
While I was discussing this question with @JamesMartin, he mentioned a result here that:
In a $n\times n$ finite square grid, if $p\geq p_c+\epsilon$, such
that $\epsilon>0$ and $p_c$ is the ...
2
votes
1
answer
152
views
Computationally random bitstreams and normalcy
Let $\mathbb{N}$ denote the set of non-negative integers. We can identify every bitstream, i.e. a function $s:\mathbb{N}\to \{0,1\}$, with some $A\in{\cal P}(\mathbb{N})$: take $A = s^{-1}(\{1\})$.
...
2
votes
1
answer
361
views
Is $g(t)=\mathbb P[\inf_{0\le s\le t}X_s>0]$ differentiable with respect to $t$?
Consider the SDE
$$dX_t =b(t)dt + a(t)dW_t,\quad \forall t>0,$$
with $X_0>0$ has a density function $\rho:\mathbb R_+\to\mathbb R_+$. Consider the probability $g(t):=\mathbb P[\inf_{0\le s\le t}...
2
votes
0
answers
104
views
Stochastic stability of "open" continuous-time stochastic systems: reference request
I'm looking for results on the stability of stochastic systems, e.g. SDEs, whose coefficients depend on a different process that is not necessarily stable. I'm calling those systems "open" here, but ...
2
votes
1
answer
649
views
distribution on the inverse Wishart matrix eigenvalues summation
Let $\lambda_1>\lambda_2>....>\lambda_N$ be the ordered eigenvalues of Wishart matrix my objective is to find if it is possible the distribution of:
\begin{align}
s = \sum\limits_{i = 1}^...
2
votes
0
answers
105
views
Optimization over a convex cone generated by a set is equal to optimization over the set
Within my research I found an important doubt and that prevents me from advancing, the context of my doubt is as follows:
We considerer the following optimization problem
$$
\left\{\begin{array}{cl} \...
2
votes
1
answer
246
views
Does $X_t$ with $t>0$ admit a density?
$
\newcommand{\RR}{\mathbb{R}}
\newcommand{\TT}{\mathbb{T}}
\newcommand{\NN}{\mathbb{N}}
\newcommand{\PP}{\mathbb{P}}
\newcommand{\EE}{\mathbb{E}}
\newcommand{\FF}{\mathbb{F}}
\newcommand{\PPP}{\...
2
votes
2
answers
511
views
Geometry interpretation of any continuous random variable
Given a continuous random variable $X$ with the cdf $F_X(x)$, I want to know whether there exists a random vector $\mathbf{Z}$ uniformly distributed in a geometry region $\mathscr{Z}_n$ in $\mathbb{R}^...
2
votes
2
answers
322
views
If $(\exp(\mu_n))_{n\in\mathbb N}$ is weakly convergent, is the normalized sequence convergent as well?
Let $E$ be a metric space and $\mathcal M(E)$ denoote the space of finite signed measures on $\mathcal B(E)$ equipped with the total variation norm $\left\|\;\cdot\;\right\|$.
I would like to know ...
1
vote
2
answers
234
views
Find $\inf_{P_{X_1,X_2}}P_{X_1,X_2}(\|X_1-X_2\| > 2\alpha)$ , where $\alpha > 0$ and inf is over couplings
Let $\mathcal X$ be a seperable Banach space with norm $\|\cdot\|$, and let $X_1$ and $X_2$ be random vectors on $\mathcal X$ with finite means.
Question. Given $\alpha > 0$, what is value of, ...
1
vote
1
answer
184
views
Measure, volume and cardinality on Minlos' book on statistical physics
The following content was based on Minlos' book on statistical physics. Let $\Lambda \subset \mathbb{R}^{d}$ be fixed (Minlos takes $d=3$ but I think the ideas follow without change to $d \ge 1$). We ...
1
vote
1
answer
93
views
On the marginal distributions of an absorbed diffusion
This question can be seen as a variant of the post Bounded density for diffusions with diffusion coefficients bounded away from $0$ by Iosif Pinelis. Namely, consider the diffusion
$$X_t=\int_0^t a(s,...
1
vote
2
answers
194
views
Continuity of the densities of a stochastic process
Let $X=(X_t)_{t\in I}$ ($I\subset\mathbb{R}$ an interval) be a stochastic process with continuous sample paths and such that $X_t$ admits a continuous Lebesgue density $\chi_t\in C(\mathbb{R}^d)$ for ...
1
vote
1
answer
143
views
Comparison of hitting probability of two Markov chains both with only one absorbing state version 2 under stronger condition
Let $N_n:=\{1,2,\cdots,n\}$. Given two finite states Markov chains $\big(X^{(j)}_i\in N_n\}\big)_{i=0}^\infty$ for $j\in\{1,2\}$, both of which have two absorbing states at $1$ and $n$.
$\text{Pr}\...
1
vote
2
answers
1k
views
Sum of digits iterated
Original version.
I believe that it is an elementary question, already discussed somewhere. But I just have no idea of how to start it properly. Take a positive integer $n=n_1$ and compute its sum of ...
0
votes
1
answer
186
views
Poisson kernel, $E^{(x, y)}\text{exp}\{i\theta X_t - \theta Y_t\} = e^{i\theta x - \theta y}$
Let $d = 2$, and consider the domain $D = \mathbb{H}$, the upper half-plane. Let $W_t = (X_t, Y_t)$. How do I see that for any $\theta \in \mathbb{R}$ and any $t \ge 0$, we have$$E^{(x, y)}\text{exp}\{...
0
votes
1
answer
197
views
Bound the expectation of an average
Let $(a_n)_{n \geq 1}$ be random variables taking values on a finite subset $B$. Assume that $\nu_l(b) \le P[a_n = b\mid a_1,\ldots,a_{n-1}] \le \nu_u(b)$ almost surely for every $n \ge 1$ and $b \in ...
0
votes
1
answer
557
views
Is the limsup or liminf of n-wise independent events independent?
Let $(\Omega, \mathscr F, \mathbb P)$ be a probability space.
Consider events indexed by $m, n \in \mathbb N$:
$ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ A_{1,n}, A_{2,n}, A_{3,n} ...$ are n-wise independent.
$A_{m,1}...
0
votes
1
answer
159
views
Approximation of a random sum of random variables (infinitely divisible distribution) by a triangular array
We know that a Poisson distribution can be approximated by a binomial distribution. More exactly, let $(X_{jn})_{1\leq j \leq n}$ be a i.i.d. triangular array such that
$$P[X_{jn}= 1 ] = p_n = 1- P[X_{...
0
votes
1
answer
181
views
Bound on queries to a tree with unusual probabilties -- follow-up
This question follows up on Bound on queries to a tree with unusual probabilities, where @fedja was able to disprove my conjecture under only constraints (1-4) below. I restate the relevant facts here ...
178
votes
8
answers
31k
views
Why do probabilists take random variables to be Borel (and not Lebesgue) measurable?
I've been studying a bit of probability theory lately and noticed that there seems to be a universal agreement that random variables should be defined as Borel measurable functions on the probability ...
98
votes
17
answers
123k
views
Google question: In a country in which people only want boys [closed]
Hi all!
Google published recently questions that are asked to candidates on interviews. One of them caused very very hot debates in our company and we're unsure where the truth is. The question is:
...
94
votes
1
answer
11k
views
The mathematical theory of Feynman integrals
It is well known that Feynman integrals are one of the tools that physicists have and mathematicians haven't, sadly.
Arguably, they are the most important such tool. Briefly, the question I'd like to ...
75
votes
11
answers
28k
views
Does War have infinite expected length?
My question concerns the (completely deterministic) card game known as War, played by seven-year-olds everywhere, such as my son Horatio, and sometimes also by others, such as their fathers.
The ...
66
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Perron number distribution
A Perron number is a real algebraic integer $\lambda$ that is larger than the absolute value of any of its Galois conjugates. The Perron-Frobenius theorem says that any
non-negative integer matrix $M$ ...
65
votes
9
answers
12k
views
Polish spaces in probability
Probabilists often work with Polish spaces, though it is not always very clear where this assumption is needed.
Question: What can go wrong when doing probability on non-Polish spaces?
55
votes
5
answers
5k
views
Random manifolds
In the world of real algebraic geometry there are natural probabilistic questions one can ask: you can make sense of a random hypersurface of degree d in some projective space and ask about its ...
54
votes
4
answers
9k
views
Why is Quantum Field Theory so topological?
I understand that my question suffers from my lack of knowledge about the field, but as a mathematician without much knowledge of physics I have been wondering much about the following and I always ...
51
votes
3
answers
4k
views
What is the sandpile torsor?
Let G be a finite undirected connected graph. A divisor on G is an element of the free abelian group Div(G) on the vertices of G (or an integer-valued function on the vertices.) Summing over all ...
48
votes
7
answers
12k
views
What's the use of a complete measure?
A complete measure space is one in which any subset of a measure-zero set is measurable.
For what reasons would I want a complete measure space? The only reason I can think of is in the context of ...
43
votes
8
answers
3k
views
How to quantify noncommutativity?
If I have two operators or finite-dimensional matrices $A$ and $B$, how can I quantify the amount to which they commute or don't commute? (I would consider it a big plus if it is computable easily for ...
41
votes
4
answers
2k
views
What is the probability two random maps on n symbols commute?
It is well known that two randomly chosen permutations of $n$ symbols commute with probability $p_n/n!$ where $p_n$ is the number of partitions of $n$. This is a special case of the fact that in a ...