Alternating arms argument at the self-dual percolation parameter Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
At parameter , primal and dual bond percolation on the square lattice have the same probability distribution. Suppose an infinite percolation cluster exists. Large boxes meet it with probability tending to one. The square-root trick for positively associated events and quarter-turn symmetry imply that each side has an infinite exterior open arm with probability tending to one. The same holds for dual arms. A union bound then gives positive probability of primal top and bottom arms together with dual left and right arms.
Use a primal box and a dual box with sides at . Open only primal edges whose endpoints both lie in the primal box, preserving all outward and exterior arm edges. The two primal arms are joined inside. Planarity prevents the two alternating dual arms from joining: a proposed dual connection together with the inner boundary arc separates one primal infinite arm from infinity. Thus the modified configuration has two infinite dual clusters. Its positive probability by finite modification of Bernoulli percolation contradicts uniqueness of the infinite percolation cluster. Consequently the percolation probability at is zero. This is often called Zhang's argument.
For the identity design and , comparing the minimizing objective at with its value at and expanding the squared Euclidean norm proves the displayed inequality, with . This deterministic inequality does not assume any probability distribution for the noise. A bound on the noise inner product turns it into a statistical error estimate.
Brownian first-passage time 2026-10-05
For standard Brownian motion and , is finite almost surely andThe Brownian reflection principle gives this distribution function. The Brownian scaling identity and the Strong Markov property show its probability distribution is a strictly stable distribution with index .
Brownian reflection at a stopping time 2026-10-05
Reflecting a Brownian motion after a stopping time by for , and leaving it unchanged for , preserves its path probability distribution. For finite , the Strong Markov property and symmetry of the future Brownian motion prove this. When , the path is left unchanged.
Causal minimality 2026-10-06
A probability distribution is causally minimal for a Directed acyclic graph when it satisfies the global Markov property for a directed acyclic graph for that graph and for no proper subgraph obtained by deleting edges on the same vertex set. It excludes redundant edges without excluding every extra conditional independence.
Chain rule for relative entropy Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
For probability distributions and on a product space, the Kullback-Leibler divergence decomposes into the divergence of a marginal and the expected divergence of the corresponding conditional distributions. Iteration gives
Characteristic function Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The characteristic function of a real random variable isIt determines the probability distribution of .
Claim count distribution 2026-10-07
The probability distribution of the nonnegative integer number of claims over a specified accounting period. Its probability generating function determines the count probabilities. A Poisson distribution gives equal count expected value and variance; a Poisson mixture allows heterogeneity in the underlying risk intensity.
Continuous spike-and-slab prior Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
A continuous spike-and-slab prior mixes a narrow continuous probability distribution around zero with a much wider component. It permits practical effect selection while retaining a continuous posterior density. Its narrow component is not the exact-zero mass of a point-null mixture prior. A latent component indicator aids computation; a wide-component draw can still have small magnitude, so posterior effect thresholds and component membership answer different questions.
Data processing inequality for relative entropy Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Passing two probability distributions through the same Markov kernel cannot increase their relative entropy. For a kernel ,
Discrete call-price curvature 2026-10-05
For an integer-valued underlying with European call option prices , the second strike difference equals . It is the discrete counterpart of recovering a payoff probability distribution from strike derivatives.
EM transition-count update on a tree 2026-10-06
For a common unconstrained Markov kernel on the edges of a rooted tree, let be the conditional expectation of the number of transitions , given observed leaves and the old Markov kernel. The expectation-maximization algorithm maximizes over row probability distributions, giving . A row with zero total count is unrestricted by this objective. Belief propagation computes the counts exactly on a tree.
Extreme value theory 2026-10-05
Extreme value theory studies limiting probability distributions of normalized sample maxima and related extremes. The standard limits for maxima include the Fréchet distribution, negative Weibull distribution, and Gumbel distribution.
f-divergence Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
For a convex function satisfying , the f-divergence between probability distributions and iswhere , , and the integrand uses the lower-semicontinuous perspective convention at .
Felsenstein pruning algorithm 2026-10-06
The Felsenstein pruning algorithm computes a site likelihood function by sum-product belief propagation from leaves to root. For a finite-state Markov kernel , the subtree likelihood function obeys , with observed-state indicators at leaves. Summing against the root probability distribution gives the site likelihood function. An outward pass gives edge posterior probabilities and expected transition counts for the expectation-maximization algorithm.
Four-cycle graph-state simulation of an entangle-and-measure circuit Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
Label a four-cycle . Measure vertex in the computational basis with result , then vertex in the equatorial qubit measurement basis at angle with result . Graph-state vertex deletion and one-bit teleportation leaveFinal computational basis measurements with raw results therefore simulate the ideal circuit on after the classical correction , . The output probability distribution is correct in every prior branch; no physical Pauli frame correction is needed.
Gaussian random variable Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Gibbs inequality Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-28
For probability distributions and on the same finite set,with equality exactly when on the support of .
Independent and identically distributed random variables Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
A family of independent random variables is independent and identically distributed when every variable has the same probability distribution.
Information projection Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
An information projection of onto a set of probability distributions minimizes over . For a closed convex set and suitable , it obeys the Pythagorean inequality