Cube of a number 2026-10-14
The cube of a number is , using the exponent three. For example, and .
For a unit modulo n and a nonnegative integer , division with remainder writes with . Euler's theorem then gives
This replaces a potentially enormous exponent by a small remainder. The exponent itself is reduced modulo Euler's totient function, while the powers are reduced modulo : these are different integer moduli.
For a worked modulo-fifteen calculation, seven is coprime to fifteen and . Therefore
Use exponentiation by squaring on the remaining exponent , reducing after each multiplication:
Thus . Modular exponentiation supplies the computation; Euler's theorem supplies the optional shortening of its exponent. Exponentiation by squaring also works for nonunit bases, without using this shortening.
The guaranteed exponent is a common return exponent and an upper bound on the shortest period; it need not be that period. The multiplicative order is the least positive return exponent for the chosen unit. The Carmichael function is the least positive return exponent that works for every unit. Their precise relation is
Either smaller return exponent can replace in exponent reduction for units. Modulo fifteen, , so gives immediately. For base four the multiplicative order is only two, smaller even than . A return at exponent eight alone does not prove that the multiplicative order is eight.[ref]
Figure 1.
Actual power periods, Carmichael function exponents and Euler return exponents
. Each row lists powers from exponent zero through eight. Highlighted first returns identify multiplicative orders; the accompanying labels distinguish a chosen base's shortest period, the common exponent for all units, and Euler's totient function. Powers of the nonunit three modulo fifteen repeat after an initial term but never return to one at a positive exponent. The final calculation compares reduction of modulo eight and modulo four. Details.
If the reduced exponent is zero, the rule gives , and still requires a unit. Applying it to the nonunit three would falsely predict ; the actual residue is six. For negative exponents, first interpret the power using a modular multiplicative inverse, as in modular exponentiation.
For and , the displayed recurrence relation uses and when or . At it becomes Pascal's identity.
An exact weighted-subset formula is
The exponent measures how far the selected positions lie beyond the earliest possible choices . Split the subsets according to whether they contain . Those without it give ; deleting it from those with it removes exactly from their exponent. This gives the displayed recurrence relation, explaining why it builds polynomials with nonnegative integer coefficients.
L-infinity norm 2026-10-14
On a measure space of positive total measure, the L-infinity norm of an essentially bounded measurable function is . The absolute value matters: a constant function has L-infinity norm three, even though its essential supremum is . The norm belongs to the equivalence class in Lp space; different representatives equal almost everywhere give the same answer. [ref].
For the function in essential infimum and essential supremum, under Lebesgue measure, whereas its supremum norm is four. Replacing the exceptional values by the ordinary values leaves every finite Lp norm unchanged as well: . This tends to one as . That agreement explains why the endpoint with exponent uses an essential bound rather than a pointwise bound.
A finite probability space makes the distinction between zero and small measure explicit. Let , , and . Assign weights , , , where . For ,
When , the singleton is a null set and . For every , however small, . For example, gives and , yet the large- Lp norms approach ten. The ordinary pointwise supremum norm is ten in both cases.
Figure 1.
A zero-weight value disappears from every Lp norm, while a rare positive-weight value determines the limiting L-infinity norm
. The original three-point example has values . The curves use weights and , respectively. Dashed levels show the limiting norms three and ten; the plotted finite exponents do not themselves reach those limits. Details.
Why can a rare value dominate? For a bounded function on a probability space, an almost everywhere bound gives . If , the set has positive probability, so . As , the factor tends to one. These two bounds squeeze the limit to . The probability measure assumption keeps total measure finite; this explanation does not assert the same finite- integrability on arbitrary infinite-measure spaces.
Lp norm Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
An Lp norm measures the size of a measurable function by averaging a power of its absolute value with respect to a specified measure. For ,
when the integral is finite. The exponent controls how strongly large values influence the result. The Lp space identifies functions equal almost everywhere, so this becomes a norm on the corresponding equivalence classes. For , use the essential supremum of , as defined by the L-infinity norm. [ref].
For a two-coordinate vector , treat the coordinates as a function on two inputs with counting measure. Then , , and . The middle case is the Euclidean norm; the first adds the coordinate magnitudes, and the last takes their largest value. These are different answers to different questions about size, all satisfying the triangle inequality.
If instead each input has probability , the same values give and , while remains unchanged. Thus the measure is not an optional label. On a probability space, the finite Lp norms are nondecreasing in whenever they are finite, by Hölder's inequality; the unnormalized two-coordinate example above decreases instead. Statements comparing different exponents must specify their measure convention.
Why are these sizes useful? If is an error function, its L1 norm measures aggregate absolute error, its L2 norm measures the square root of aggregate quadratic loss, and its L-infinity norm bounds error almost everywhere. Concentrating a large error on a set of small positive measure can give a modest finite Lp norm but a large L-infinity norm. The three-point example and diagram in L-infinity norm show this explicitly, including why a null set behaves differently from a rare event.
Lyapunov moment inequality Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
The Lyapunov moment inequality says that higher positive absolute moments give no smaller absolute moment sizes on a probability space. For a real random variable and ,
allowing an infinite value. For the left expression is an Lp norm; below one it is a quasi-norm, so the usual triangle inequality terminology needs that distinction. The comparison uses a probability measure of total mass one; arbitrary unnormalized measure spaces need a factor depending on their total mass.
For a nonnegative count, the first moment size is its expected value, while the second is the square root of its second moment. Both ten-trial counts in second moment method have first moment size one. The independent count has second moment size , whereas the shared-outcome count has second moment size . The second moment distinguishes models with the same average because its square increases the influence of rare large counts.
More generally, for with a Bernoulli random variable of parameter ,
It rises from one at toward ten as . Replacing by a parameter gives , which decreases toward zero for a fixed positive exponent when , making the rare-event and large-exponent limits different questions. For a scaled Rademacher random variable taking values and two with equal probabilities, every absolute moment size is exactly two: increasing the exponent does not distinguish signs when the absolute value is constant.
Figure 1.
Lyapunov moment inequality reveals how higher moments emphasize large outcomes and when equality holds
. Left: the two original ten-trial models from second moment method have the same mean one, but different absolute moment sizes at exponents above one. The shared model has with . Right: equal masses at and two keep almost surely, giving equality for every pair of positive exponents. These are fully specified mathematical probability models. Details.
For finite , apply the reversed Jensen's inequality to the strictly concave function and the nonnegative random variable :
Taking the positive th root proves the claim. Equality in this finite case holds exactly when is constant almost surely. If the higher moment is infinite, the upper bound is infinite and remains valid. Exponent zero is excluded from the statement; logarithmic or geometric limiting summaries require separately stated conventions, especially when can vanish.