Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/ia/paper-2/11f/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ia Paper 2 11F Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
All the following distributions are conditional on the point lying in the unit disk. Initially the joint probability density of is on the square. The disk has area , so the conditioning event has probability . Dividing by this probability gives the constant conditional density on the disk, proving its uniform distribution there.
The polar coordinates have Jacobian determinant . ConsequentlyIntegrating the joint probability density gives and . Since the joint density equals the product of these marginal densities on a product support, and are independent. In particular has the uniform distribution on .
The second change of variables preserves the angle and changes the radius toThe event has probability zero, so arbitrary definitions at that point have no effect on the distribution. For , monotonicity of the logarithm givesSince is a function of , it remains independent of the uniform angle. Hence the new joint probability density isFinally, has polar Jacobian determinant . Dividing the preceding density by gives the Cartesian joint probability densityThis factors into two standard normal distribution densities on . Thus and are independent, each with mean zero and variance one. This derivation is the radial form of the Box-Muller transform.
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