Bounded bilinear form by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A bilinear form on a real normed vector space is bounded when one constant satisfies
This is an upper bound on the magnitude of every pairing. It says nothing about the sign of and does not require a symmetric bilinear form. The chosen norm is part of the hypothesis. Boundedness is equivalent to joint continuity, as shown by the boundedness criterion for a bilinear form.[ref]
For example, on with the Euclidean norm, the bilinear forms
both satisfy the upper bound with , by the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. Yet their quadratic forms are and : the former takes negative values and the latter vanishes at the nonzero vector . Thus neither is a coercive bilinear form. The latter is also a degenerate bilinear form, whereas is nondegenerate. Boundedness controls size, not positivity or loss of directions.
Every bilinear form on a real or complex finite-dimensional vector space equipped with any norm is bounded. In coordinates, write using its matrix of a bilinear form. The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality gives , with the spectral norm; finite-dimensional equivalence of norms transfers this to the chosen norm. The conclusion concerns each fixed norm and fixed bilinear form: it does not supply a single constant for an arbitrary family of matrices or changing dimensions.
On an infinite-dimensional vector space, the upper bound is an additional condition. Equip the finitely supported sequences with the norm inherited from the l2 sequence space and set
Each pairing is a finite sum, so this is a well-defined bilinear form. For the basis vector , however, and ; no finite works. It is even a coercive bilinear form with , since . Consequently coercivity alone does not imply boundedness on a normed vector space. This example uses , which is not a Hilbert space; it does not define this pairing on all of the l2 sequence space.
A bounded bilinear form defines a bounded linear operator by , where is the continuous dual space. Its operator norm is the smallest admissible :
This converts an upper bound for pairings into an upper bound for a linear map taking an unknown vector to a linear functional.
The equilibria of , lie on
for every , and on for . They meet in a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation at ; the positive square-root branch meets the branch and exchanges stability in a transcritical bifurcation at .
Draining time of a uniform tank through a siphon by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
If a tank and siphon tube have areas and , the tube outlet is below an inlet initially submerged by , and both free boundaries are at atmospheric pressure, continuity and Bernoulli's equation give
for the free surface to reach the inlet.
Bernoulli equation over topography by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
For steady potential flow over small hills, linearized Bernoulli pressure combines a hydrostatic term with a dynamic term .
Bernoulli function by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The Bernoulli function combines pressure, kinetic energy density, and conservative potential.
CHSH inequality by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
For local outcomes , the Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt inequality is
An arbitrary no-signalling correlation can reach the algebraic maximum , while quantum correlations are bounded by .
Local hidden-variable theory by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
A local hidden-variable theory assigns each party's outcome from a shared hidden state and that party's own setting, independently of the spacelike-separated setting chosen by the other party.
Evidence lower bound by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
For posterior proportional to and approximation ,
and .
Markov chain Monte Carlo by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Markov chain Monte Carlo constructs an ergodic Markov chain whose stationary distribution is the target law and uses its post-burn-in states as approximate dependent samples.
Bayesian posterior by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The Bayesian posterior is the conditional probability distribution of an unknown statistical parameter after observing data. Suppose a continuous prior distribution has prior density relative to Lebesgue measure , and is the sampling probability mass function or probability density function of the observed data in the statistical model. Bayes' theorem gives
The Bayesian model evidence is the normalization constant making the posterior density integrate to one. The strict positive, finite condition is essential: a zero or infinite normalizer does not define this posterior distribution, even if the unnormalized expression can be written down. Other reference measures give the corresponding density formula; discrete parameter values replace the integral by a sum. The posterior propriety article gives examples where normalization fails.
With fixed, is a likelihood function of . Its normalization as a sampling distribution is over possible data, not over parameter values. In particular, a likelihood function is not a probability density function for and need not integrate to one over . The prior density supplies the probability weighting, and the Bayesian model evidence normalizes their product. This distinction prevents a tempting mistake: reversing the conditioning merely by exchanging the words “data” and “parameter”.
For eight heads among ten conditionally independent Bernoulli trials, take the observed data to be the heads count . Its binomial distribution likelihood function and the prior density give
Using the Euler beta function , the Bayesian model evidence and normalized posterior density are
Thus the posterior distribution is . If the data are instead one particular ordered sequence with eight heads and two tails, its likelihood function omits the factor 45 and its Bayesian model evidence becomes . The factor cancels in Bayes' theorem, leaving the same posterior distribution; these two data descriptions have different sampling probabilities but identical information about here.
Figure 1.
Beta(2,2) prior, peak-normalized Bernoulli likelihood, and Beta(10,4) posterior after eight heads and two tails
. Details.
The prior density and posterior density use the left axis and each integrate to one. The dashed likelihood function uses the right axis and is divided by its maximum solely to compare its shape; it is not a parameter probability density function. The likelihood function peaks at , while the posterior mode is and the posterior mean is . Multiplying by the prior density shifts the preferred values toward one half while preserving a range of possibilities.
The resulting posterior variance is , compared with prior variance . In this example the update reduces uncertainty. The posterior predictive probability of heads on the next conditionally independent toss is , and the credible interval above reports a 95% range. These are summaries of the same posterior distribution, rather than competing estimates of one density peak.
Prior probability by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Prior probability describes uncertainty before the current observations are incorporated. For a statistical parameter , a prior distribution assigns probabilities to its possible ranges, conditional on background information and a statistical model. A continuous prior density specifies these probabilities through integration:
Here the probability density function is relative to Lebesgue measure ; a discrete prior distribution instead uses a probability mass function and sums. Density at one point is not the probability of that point. A nonnegative kernel with infinite total mass is an improper prior, whose use requires a separate check of posterior propriety.
For the coin model in Bayesian statistics, the beta distribution has prior density on . Its mean is and its variance is . It favors moderate heads probabilities without ruling out values near zero or one. For example,
The prior curve in Bayesian posterior makes this preference visible; moment matching for a beta prior explains how to choose a beta distribution from a desired mean and variance.
A prior distribution lets earlier evidence or elicited knowledge contribute to statistical inference when the current sample size is limited. It also exposes assumptions that can be checked by prior elicitation and a prior predictive check. Before the same eight heads and two tails, a uniform prior would give posterior mean , compared with under : the observations do not uniquely determine a Bayesian posterior. Even a uniform prior makes a choice of parameter coordinates; its child article explains why changing coordinates can destroy uniformity.
Klein bottle group by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The fundamental group of the Klein bottle has presentation
Its subgroup has index two.
Normal form theorem for an amalgamated free product by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
In , an alternating product of elements of and is nonidentity. More generally, choosing coset representatives gives a unique reduced normal form.
HNN extension by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Given isomorphic subgroups and an isomorphism , the HNN extension is
Its stable letter records the loop edge in the associated graph of groups.
Bass-Serre tree by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
For , the Bass-Serre tree has vertices and edges , with joining to . Vertex degrees are the indices of the corresponding images of .
Epidemic invasion threshold by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A rare infection grows initially when and decays when .
Fundamental theorem of linear programming by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
If a linear program has an optimal solution, it has an optimal basic feasible solution. Choose an optimum with minimal positive support. A dependence among its active columns gives a feasible two-sided perturbation; optimality makes its objective slope zero, and moving until one coordinate vanishes contradicts minimality.
Path reversal by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
The reverse of a path is . Concatenating a path with its reverse is homotopic relative to endpoints to the constant path.

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