Algebra of sets 2026-10-06
A nonempty collection of subsets of a fixed universe closed under complements and finite unions, hence also finite intersections. It generates a sigma-algebra by allowing countable set operations. A countable generating algebra provides one simultaneous family of test indicators for measure-theoretic arguments.
Borel measure Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-28
A Borel measure on a topological space is a measure defined on the sigma-algebra generated by the open sets, equivalently on the Borel sets.
Borel set Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Borel sigma-algebra Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-03
The Borel sigma-algebra of a topological space is the sigma-algebra generated by its open sets. Its members are exactly the Borel sets.
Canonical model of an independent and identically distributed sequence Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-03
For a probability law on , take the sequence space with product measure . The coordinate maps are an independent and identically distributed sequence with common law , and they generate the product sigma-algebra.
Complete measure 2026-10-05
A measure is complete when every subset of each null set is a measurable set. Such a subset also has measure zero by monotonicity. The completion of a measure extends it to a complete measure by adjoining all subsets of measurable null sets to its sigma-algebra.
Completion of a measure Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-05
The completion of a measure space adjoins every subset of every measurable null set to its sigma-algebra. A statement that two events or σ-algebras agree modulo null sets becomes literal after passing to the corresponding measure-algebra completion.
Complex measure Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
A complex measure is a countably additive complex-valued set function on a sigma-algebra. Its total variation norm of a measure is obtained by taking the supremum of sums over finite measurable partitions. For finite variation and absolute continuity of measures with respect to a sigma-finite positive measure, the Radon-Nikodym theorem supplies an integrable complex density.
For nonnegative integrable , the finite measure restricted to a sub-sigma-algebra is absolutely continuous with respect to the restricted base measure. Its Radon-Nikodym derivative is -measurable and has the required integral identities. Positive and negative parts extend the construction to real integrable functions; real and imaginary parts extend it to complex functions. The result is unique almost everywhere.
For independent and identically distributed random variables that are integrable random variables, with , symmetry gives . The decreasing sigma-algebras generated by these future sums permit application of the reverse martingale convergence theorem.
Conditional information function 2026-10-05
For a measurable partition and a sigma-algebra , the conditional information function isThe conditional expectation in this formula is positive almost everywhere on . Without conditioning, the information is .
Conditional Jensen inequality Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
For an integrable random variable , a sub-sigma-algebra , and a convex function with suitable integrability, almost surely. One proof writes as a supremum of supporting affine functions and applies monotonicity and linearity of conditional expectation to each. This proves the convex-loss form of the Rao-Blackwell theorem.
Dependency graph of events 2026-10-06
A dependency graph of events joins potentially dependent events. Each event must be independent of the sigma-algebra generated by all its nonneighbors, a joint condition stronger than pairwise independence. In a product probability space, joining events whose sets of underlying independent variables overlap gives such a graph. This supplies the hypothesis of the Lovász local lemma.
Set . On a finite measurable space, points in the same atom of a sigma-algebra give the same Dirac measure, so is a measurable function and constant on atoms. Every probability measure is a finite mixture of representative Dirac measures with its atom masses as weights. Affineness then proves the expected-utility representation, even when the sigma-algebra is smaller than the power set.
Filtered probability space 2026-10-05
A filtered probability space is a probability space together with an increasing family of sigma-algebras describing the information available by time .
L1 contraction of conditional expectation 2026-10-05
For an integrable random variable , the conditional expectation satisfies almost surely. Taking expected values gives the L1 contraction of conditional expectation. Applying it to shows that convergence in L1 is preserved by conditional expectation with respect to any fixed sigma-algebra.
For increasing sigma-algebras , put and . For each atom and ,Together with the bound by and the tail integral formula for moments, this yields . The inequality follows by stopping the conditional-expectation martingale the first time it falls below .
Measurable set Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
A subset of is measurable relative to a sigma-algebra when it belongs to . A measure defined on assigns sizes to these sets. Measurability depends on the chosen sigma-algebra; for example, a Lebesgue measurable set need not be a Borel set.
Measurable space 2026-10-06
A measurable space is a set equipped with a sigma-algebra of measurable subsets. A measure space additionally specifies a measure on that sigma-algebra.