MHB Question about problem statement (marginal distribution)

  • Thread starter Thread starter kalish1
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Distribution
Click For Summary
The discussion centers on a practice final problem involving independent normal random variables X and Y, and the confusion arises from the relevance of a provided corollary for finding their marginal distributions. The problem statement suggests using the corollary to derive distributions for U and V, which are defined as U = X + Y and V = X + Y, leading to questions about the necessity of this approach. Participants clarify that the marginal distributions of X and Y are indeed just X and Y themselves due to their independence. There is also a suggestion to consider V as X - Y, which may indicate a misunderstanding of the problem setup. The overall consensus emphasizes the need to apply the corollary correctly to find the distributions of U and V.
kalish1
Messages
79
Reaction score
0
I am doing some problems from a practice final and would like to know if the following problem has mistakes in the way it is written. We are supposed to apply a corollary that doesn't seem to have any relevance in this context. It is throwing me off.

**Problem statement:** Suppose that $X$ ~ $N(\mu,\sigma^2)$ and $Y$ ~ $N(\mu,\sigma^2)$ and they are independent. Let $U=X+Y$ and $V=X+Y$. Use the following corollary to find the marginal distributions of $X$ and $Y$.

**Corollary:** Let $X_1, \ldots, X_n$ be mutually independent random variables with $X_i$ ~ $n(\mu_i, \sigma_i^2)$. Let $a_1, \ldots, a_n$ and $b_1, \ldots, b_n$ be fixed constants Then

$Z=\sum_{i=1}^n(a_iX_i + b_i)$ ~ $n(\sum_{i=1}^n(a_i\mu_i + b_i),\sum_{i=1}^na_i^2\sigma_i^2)$.

Also, aren't the marginal distributions of $X$ and $Y$ just $X$ and $Y$ themselves, because they are independent of each other??

Any help would be greatly appreciated. My final is tomorrow and I'm studying as hard as I can.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I would guess that $$V= X - Y$$ and that you should find the find the marginal distributions of U and [FONT=MathJax_Math]V.

You should use the Corollary to find their distribution, then try and apply the marginal distribution stuff.

But I could be wrong, good luck!
 
Last edited:
First trick I learned this one a long time ago and have used it to entertain and amuse young kids. Ask your friend to write down a three-digit number without showing it to you. Then ask him or her to rearrange the digits to form a new three-digit number. After that, write whichever is the larger number above the other number, and then subtract the smaller from the larger, making sure that you don't see any of the numbers. Then ask the young "victim" to tell you any two of the digits of the...

Similar threads

  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
1
Views
4K
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
16
Views
4K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Replies
5
Views
5K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K