For independent geometric random variables supported on , put . Multiplication of their probability mass functions gives the likelihood functionThere are terminal successes and preceding failures.
With no deletion states allowed, each match state must emit once in every aligned sequence. Thus the four gap-free alignment columns, , become . Columns and form one optional run, represented by a single looping insertion state ; column requires a separate insertion state after . Two insertion states are sufficient and minimal in an ordered profile hidden Markov model: the two optional regions are separated by a compulsory emission and occupy different positions in the profile.
Estimate each transition probability by the number of observed uses of that transition divided by all transitions leaving its source state. The complete arrow diagram is given below; repeated labels denote the same state, so the second and third lines supply the branches of the first line. Start and End are silent:Three aligned sequences visit , giving three exits to , while one sequence emits twice there, giving one self-transition. Thus its exit and loop probabilities are and , respectively. Two sequences visit and two bypass it. All absent transitions have probability zero.
The probability mass functions of the emitting states, estimated from all characters assigned to each state with no added counts, areIn particular, pooling the two optional columns into pools four emissions: two T, one A and one G. This is a generative Hidden Markov model, so it can generate other run lengths and combinations as well as the training sequences; reproducing each training column deterministically is not its purpose.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 ia Paper 2 12F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Fix any starting village and let be the pickup distance, the subsequent passenger distance. From each vertex, the four possible pickup distances are , each with probability . From each pickup village, the three other possible destinations have distances , each with probability .
Sharing the pickup village does not by itself give independence. Here it does hold because the conditional distribution of is the same for every pickup village: for all allowed ,Thus has the taxi distance convolution on a rectangular road cycle. Counting the twelve equally likely pairs givesNo other distances are possible. The probability distribution is the same for every starting village, so no assumption about the previous customer's destination is needed.
The separate moments are , , and . Independence therefore givesAs a check from the displayed probability mass function, and subtracting gives the same variance.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 1 3H Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For a dominated family of sample distributions, a statistic is a sufficient statistic precisely when the probability mass function or density factors aswhere does not depend on the parameter. This is the Fisher-Neyman factorization theorem.
Here is the discrete proof in both directions. Suppose the factorization holds, and write . Then . Whenever this probability is positive, is finite and positive andis independent of . Thus the conditional distribution of the whole sample given is parameter-free, which is the definition of a sufficient statistic.
Conversely, if is sufficient, let denote this common conditional mass function on each possible fiber. ThenTake and to obtain the factorization. Fibers impossible for every parameter can be assigned ; conditional probabilities are required only for fibers with positive probability.
For the independent Poisson sample the joint mass function isAll parameter dependence is throughso this is a one-dimensional sufficient statistic. The sample mean contains the same information, since is known.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 37 4 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let the annual count be , with null mean and alternative mean . Dividing the two probability mass functions for the Poisson distributions cancels and the common power of :Consequently the score for the Poisson likelihood-ratio CUSUM isAt , this becomesUnder the stated Poisson model this identity is exact, rather than an additional approximation. The approximation in a practical application concerns the mortality model and the use of an estimated expected count.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 39 1 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Within the approximation that a factory has either zero or one accident, let be the accident count. The factories' independence gives . Given an accident, its cluster of claims has a Poisson distribution of mean , independently across factories. Its probability generating function is . Thus this is a binomial accident portfolio with Poisson clusters, withA factory can contribute no claims either because it has no accident or because its accident's Poisson cluster is empty. Hence the no-claim probability differs from the no-accident probability .
For , the accident probability mass function is . For ,Therefore its Panjer claim-count class parameters areAt the multiplier is zero, and afterwards both successive masses are zero, so the recurrence holds for all . Finally, and reproduce the same initialization .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ia Paper 2 4F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A Poisson distribution with parameter assigns probability mass functionThe exponential series makes these probabilities sum to one. Shifting the indices in the absolutely convergent sums givesHence andFor independent random variables of parameter one, let . Summing their product probability mass function over all nonnegative givesThe final equality follows from the multinomial theorem applied to . Thus has the Poisson distribution of parameter .
Each has expectation and variance one, so the central limit theorem gives convergence in distributionZero is a continuity point of the standard normal cumulative distribution function. ThereforeThe discrete atom at causes no difficulty: the central limit theorem applies to the entire event with threshold zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 33 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For discrete random variables, write for the joint probability mass function and for its marginal. The conditional entropy is the average of the entropies of the conditional distributions:Conditional distributions at zero-probability values of can be chosen arbitrarily; they contribute nothing. Here denotes Shannon entropy, with one common logarithm base and .
For , use and sum with weight . Summing out in the first term givesFor countable alphabets, the entropy contributions are nonnegative, so the equality remains valid with extended values by summing nonnegative terms. Applying this identity successively to the prefix and proves the chain rule for information entropy:For , the conditioning tuple is empty and the term is .
For the subset inequalities, first suppose the marginal entropies are finite, so all joint entropies below are finite by the chain rule and the assumed conditioning reduces entropy property. Put , and let be the joint entropy with coordinate omitted. Apply the two-variable chain rule in the order to getThe inequality holds because the prefix conditioning set is contained in the set of all other coordinates. Summing over and using the chain rule givesThis proves Han's entropy inequality. In terms of the normalized subset entropy, and , hence for .
Apply the same result to each -element coordinate set . It givesWhen this is summed over all -subsets, each fixed -subset occurs once for each possible added coordinate, namely times. ThereforeSubstitute and the analogous identity at . The binomial coefficient identity cancels the common positive factor and givesThis is the monotonicity of normalized subset entropies, obtained from the local -coordinate inequality by explicit counting.
If some marginal entropy is infinite, each subset average contains at least one subset including that coordinate. The entropy of such a subset is at least that marginal entropy, by the nonnegative conditional-entropy chain rule, so every is infinite. The inequalities then hold in the extended sense. Otherwise the finite-entropy proof applies. For independent random variables the averages are all ; repeated copies of one variable instead give , illustrating the entropy reduction caused by redundancy.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 44 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let . Since the two counts are independent Poisson distributions with means and , their total is a Poisson distribution with mean . For a fixed observed total , divide the joint probability mass function by that of the total:Define , so . ThenFor independent patients, the paired Poisson conditional likelihood isEvery nuisance rate cancels, while each patient's own baseline count level is retained through the conditioning total. A patient with total zero would contribute the constant one.
For these data, , , and . Maximizing this conditional likelihood givesThese are the fit under the model without a cure component, not the estimates of the mixture model in the later parts.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 47 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For minimizing an energy , simulated annealing at temperature uses the Boltzmann distribution . At each temperature run a Metropolis–Hastings algorithm or Gibbs transition preserving that law, then reduce . With a symmetric proposal, accept with probability : downhill moves are accepted and uphill moves remain possible. Keep the best state encountered. As temperature decreases, equilibrium mass favors global minima, provided the target is proper and the relevant concentration hypotheses hold. An arbitrary finite cooling run does not by itself prove global convergence.
Let , and . For the Poisson distribution model the observations must be nonnegative integers. Its log-likelihood isFor , differentiation gives and . If , the likelihood is decreasing and the maximizer is the boundary value zero. For the normal distribution model write , givingFor each , this is maximized at , and differentiating there gives . HenceThe normal variance estimate has denominator , not . A finite positive normal maximum requires ; if all observations coincide, the likelihood is unbounded as . The normal annealing calculation below assumes .
To maximize likelihood, choose the energy , so the annealing law is , not . This sign is important in the Poisson request: literally inserting a positive log-likelihood into a minimizing Boltzmann law would give a nonnormalizable probability density function growing like at infinity. We use likelihood-power annealing with the maximizing sign.
For the normal distribution model, take base measure . The joint annealing probability density function isCompleting the square gives the Gibbs sampling conditional for . Matching the conditional probability density function to the supplied inverse-gamma distribution convention givesIntegrating out contributes a factor , so the marginal law isThus this joint Boltzmann law is proper for . Its variance marginal and the normal conditional both concentrate at the stated estimates as . For example, for its marginal mean and variance areAlso .
There is a direct convergence proof for the actual changing-temperature Gibbs algorithm, beyond convergence of its equilibrium probability densities. Start at a finite deterministic , choose deterministic with , draw conditional on , then draw conditional on using the two boxed distributions. Conditional normal moments giveThe inverse-gamma distribution first and second moments consequently yieldandIn the first recursion the coefficient of the preceding mean is at most ; in the second the coefficient of the preceding second moment is at most . The means therefore stay bounded, and then so do the second moments. Letting in these formulas gives and . Together with , this provesThis Gaussian likelihood Gibbs annealing convergence uses the explicit conditional structure and does not assume that one Gibbs sampling sweep is an exact equilibrium draw.
For the Poisson distribution model, the likelihood-power law with respect to has the normalized probability density functionsoThe mean tends to and the variance to zero, proving convergence to a point mass at the Poisson maximum-likelihood estimate, including the zero-boundary case.
The Akaike information criterion is , counting one parameter for Poisson and two for normal. With and , the two forms areandChoose the smaller criterion. Likelihood constants that differ between models, including the factorial and terms, cannot be discarded.
For a fully specified trans-dimensional annealing for penalized likelihood, let or and defineUse the combined target, relative to counting measure on models and Lebesgue measure on their parameters,where are fixed reference weights. For and both model components are integrable. The factor is a convenient temperature convention keeping the within-model laws exactly those already derived. The extra factor makes the zero-temperature objective AIC rather than unpenalized likelihood.
Use, for example, probability for a model-change attempt in either model and probability for a within-model update. Within the Poisson distribution model draw a fresh gamma value from its boxed law; within the normal distribution model perform the boxed Gibbs sampling sweep. For a Poisson-to-normal proposal, draw with a fixed , and setThe inverse normal-to-Poisson proposal is with reverse auxiliary . This dimension matching uses one auxiliary variable to augment the one-dimensional Poisson parameter space. The absolute Jacobian determinant isIf the forward model-jump selection probability is and the reverse probability is , the reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo acceptance ratio isAccept with probability . For the reverse move compute and useFor the suggested equal selection probabilities, and those factors cancel. The probability density function must still be included, despite symmetry of its normal distribution: it is an auxiliary draw in only the forward dimension-increasing proposal. Pairing a move with its inverse makes the accepted forward and reverse probability flows equal after the change of variables, proving detailed balance for each fixed-temperature model-switch kernel.
Cool through proper temperatures, allow enough model and parameter exploration at each stage, and retain the smallest observed . The minima of the two energies are exactly the two AIC values above. Low-temperature equilibrium mass concentrates on the better criterion and its fitted parameters; if they tie, the minimizing set contains both models. Unlike the direct normal Gibbs argument, this multimodel exploration claim needs an appropriate cooling/mixing justification and is not guaranteed by an arbitrary short run.
Finally, an exact statistical comparison must put both likelihoods on the same observable and reference-measure convention. A Poisson distribution model is a probability mass function on counts, whereas the displayed normal distribution model is a continuous probability density function. The formulas above are the question's formal Gaussian working-likelihood comparison. A coherent exact normal approximation for count observations can instead use probabilities of rounding intervals; that changes its likelihood and generally loses the simple analytic normal estimates. This distinction matters when interpreting the numerical AIC difference, while leaving the dimension-matching and annealing construction applicable to properly specified likelihoods.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 30 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use base-two logarithms and the convention . Write and for . The conditional entropy is the average of the information entropies of these conditional laws:The careful form of Gibbs inequality is that, for two probability mass functions on a common countable set,where a term with gives . Equality holds exactly when . This is the nonnegativity of relative entropy.
First suppose . For every of positive probability, implies . Averaging the cross-entropies givesAll the summands here are nonnegative, so interchanging the sums is valid, and each conditional cross-entropy is finite. Applying Gibbs inequality to each shows that is at most its cross-entropy. Subtracting and averaging therefore givesEvery term on the right is nonnegative. The equality in the entropy conditioning inequality is thus equivalent to for all , which is exactly factorization of the joint probability mass function. Consequently
For arbitrary countable discrete random variables, the inequality remains valid in : the case is immediate. The finite-entropy condition is necessary for the usual equality characterization. For example, let for , with the normalizing constant, and let be an independent fair bit. The series defining the probability mass function converges, whereas its information entropy diverges like . Then and are dependent, but . In the infinite case, equality means precisely that the conditional entropy is also infinite; it does not imply independent random variables.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 30 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Introduce a selector with Bernoulli distribution of parameter , and construct by taking its conditional law given to be , and its conditional law given to be . No prescribed joint law of is needed. Summing over the selector gives the desired mixture probability mass function. The conditional entropy isSince conditioning cannot increase information entropy,This proves the concavity of information entropy. The argument also covers infinite information entropies with the convention that a zero mixing weight contributes zero. At or , the mixture is the corresponding original law and equality is immediate.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 43 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The claim-size exponential distribution has expected value and moment-generating functionConditional on , independence makes the aggregate moment-generating function equal to . Averaging over the Poisson distribution of the count givesPut . For fixed intensities, independence between risks givesThis is precisely the transform of a compound Poisson distribution. Indeed the addition of independent Poisson random variables makes the total count Poisson distributed with parameter , and every claim in the pooled portfolio has the same exponential distribution. Thus the portfolio aggregate is compound Poisson with intensity and exponential claim sizes of mean .
Now regard the individual intensities as independent gamma distributed quantities, with shape and rate . Their moment-generating functions are for . Multiplying these transforms proves additivity of independent gamma distributions with a common rate:Conditional on the individual intensities, the total count has Poisson distribution with parameter . Because this conditional law depends only on their sum, it is also the law of conditional on . Integrating its probability mass function against the gamma distribution density yieldsThus the total count has a negative binomial distribution with shape and success probability , using the convention that counts failures before the specified number of successes. Its probability generating function is .
Conditional on , the claim sizes retain their common exponential distribution and the amount has a compound Poisson distribution of intensity . Therefore the unconditional amount has a compound mixed Poisson distribution with gamma mixing intensity of shape and rate . To make the mixture explicit, average the conditional aggregate moment-generating function:The displayed domain ensures both the severity transform and the intensity transform are finite. The mixing distribution describes the Poisson intensity, not the claim sizes. In particular, the aggregate has an atom at zero of mass .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 45 4 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use Bayesian rejection sampling for a segregating-site count. Independently propose and for , and calculate . Draw an independent uniform on and accept the whole proposed vector exactly whenRepeat after a rejection. The right side is a probability mass function value of a Poisson distribution and is therefore between zero and one. On acceptance, the probability density function of a proposed vector is its prior density multiplied by this acceptance probability, divided by the probability of acceptance. Part (c) shows that this is precisely . Independent proposals and uniforms produce independent posterior draws. Equivalently, one could simulate a count from a Poisson distribution with mean and retain the proposal when that count equals ; the uniform version avoids simulating that extra count.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 49 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A nondegenerate distribution function is a max-stable distribution if, for every integer , there are and such thatEquivalently, the suitably centered and positively scaled sample maximum of independent and identically distributed random variables with law again has law . The extremal types theorem states that every nondegenerate limiting law of normalized sample maxima is a max-stable distribution. Thus this property identifies all possible limiting types, although a particular starting distribution function need not admit any such limiting normalization.
The three standard types are the Gumbel distributionthe Fréchet distribution, with ,and the negative Weibull distribution, with ,They are max-stable distributions, as follows respectively by taking , , and . The necessary and sufficient classification is: is max-stable exactly when for , , and one of these three types . A positive affine map sends a max-stable distribution to another max-stable distribution.
For the requested threshold equivalence, set . By independence,If , then and the expansion gives , since . Exponentiation proves the claimed limit. Conversely, if , then : any subsequence with would have its powers tending to zero. Taking logarithms now gives . Since , including the continuous extension at , it follows that . Hence
The exceedance count has the binomial distribution with parameters . For and each fixed nonnegative integer , its probability mass function satisfieswhere and . Indeed , , and . If , the bound gives the degenerate Poisson distribution at zero. Summing the finitely many terms proves, in both cases,This derives the needed instance of the Poisson limit theorem directly.
Finally fix with and put . The assumed limit for the normalized sample maximum and the proved equivalence give . The second-largest order statistic is at most exactly when at most one observation is strictly greater than . This event identity holds even if observations have ties. Apply the preceding Poisson limit theorem with to obtainThe endpoint corresponds to and is already included. This is the case of the exceedance count limit for extreme order statistics.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 60 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use base-two logarithms throughout, so classical rates are measured in bits and quantum compression rates in qubits. A memoryless classical information source is a sequence of independent and identically distributed random variables on a finite alphabet , with fixed probability mass function . A length- word has probability , and the one-symbol Shannon entropy is , with .
For , the typical set isThis is weak typicality: it constrains the normalized self-information, not each empirical symbol count separately.
The typical sequence theorem gives the following three facts for fixed . The probability tends to one; each word in the set has probability between and ; and, once the set has probability at least ,The concentration assertion follows from the weak law of large numbers applied to the iid information variables , whose finite-alphabet mean is . The probability bounds are the definition of typicality exponentiated. Summing the lower bound over the typical words and using total probability at most one proves the cardinality upper bound; summing the upper bound and using total typical probability at least proves the lower bound.
Fix and choose . Enumerate all words in and assign a distinct fixed-length binary index to each. Reserve one more index as a failure symbol for every atypical input. For all sufficiently large ,so these indices can be transmitted using bits. The decoder inverts the typical-word enumeration; on the failure index it returns any fixed word. This describes both the compressor and decompressor, and its block error probability obeysIts rate tends to bits per symbol. Thus every permits reliable fixed-rate compression, with no claim that atypical words are reconstructed correctly.
For the memoryless quantum information source, the average one-use density matrix isIts trace is one and determinant , so its two eigenvalues areThe source-coding limit in Schumacher compression is the Von Neumann entropy of this average state: every larger qubit rate allows asymptotically faithful recovery of the emitted states, and a smaller rate cannot do so. Applying that limit giveswhere is the binary entropy. The quantum typical subspace of has dimension about and carries asymptotically all source weight, which explains the compression rate. The entropy of the classical emission label is one bit; it is not the quantum rate because the two emitted pure states are nonorthogonal.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ia Paper 2 9F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the usual assumption that the two die scores are independent random variables. A fair score has expected value and variance . Linearity of expectation and the variance of a sum therefore giveCount the ordered pairs of scores to obtain the probability mass functionsOn these attainable probability supports, the maxima occur at and , each with probability ; the minima occur at and , each with probability . Outside the respective probability support, the mass is zero.
They are not independent: implies equal die scores and hence is an even number, so , whereas . In fact : this is an example of uncorrelated random variables that are dependent.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ia Paper 2 9F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A geometric distribution with parameter on has probability mass functionIt counts the trial on which the first success occurs in independent trials with success probability . Its probability generating function is . Differentiating at givesThis support convention is important: a count of failures before the first success would start at zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ia Paper 2 10F b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Each waiting time has the geometric distribution on with success probability : a wait of length consists of failures followed by the prescribed success, so its probability is . HenceDisjoint successive blocks of independent tosses give independent waiting times. More explicitly, any specified list of block lengths determines exactly one allowed sequence of heads and tails and has probability , the product of the individual block probabilities.
There are waiting times. Multiplication of their probability generating functions and addition of their expectations giveTo recover its probability mass function, expand by the negative binomial series:The coefficient of is thereforeand it is zero below . Equivalently there are compositions of into positive block lengths, each with probability . This is the negative binomial distribution for a sum of geometric waiting times, even though the desired outcome alternates between blocks.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ia Paper 2 3F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For a nonnegative integer-valued random variable, the probability generating function isinitially for , with . For the Poisson distribution, insert its probability mass function and sum the exponential series:Thus