3.
Distribution of Sums, Ratios and Order Statistics
HW: Read about common continuous distributions from GW 5.4: Uniform, Exponen-
tial, Normal, Cauchy, Gamma, Beta. (Also available in 5.3-5.6 of Ross in more detail).
Sec 6.4 of GW, 6.2 & 6.5 of HPS, 6.3 & 6.6 of Ross
Distributions of functions of random variables. (X, Y ) random vector with joint density
fX,Y . Looking at a function g : R2 → R. What is the distribution of Z = g(X, Y )?
Transform to (Z, W ) for some suitably defined W so that the transformation is one-to-
one using the Jacobian method. Then integrate away W .
1 Sums of random variables
Example 1. Z = X + Y . Define W = Y . The transformation is one-to-one and the
Jacobian is 1. The density of Z is
Z ∞
f (z − w, w)dw
−∞
Theorem 1. Let X and Y be independent random variables with pdf fX and fY . Then
the pdf of Z = X + Y is given by the convolution formula
Z ∞
fZ (a) = fX (a − y)fY (y)dy
−∞
Theorem 2. Let X and Y be independent random variables with mgf mX and mY . Then
the mgf of Z = X + Y is given by
mZ (t) = mX (t)mY (t)
. Using uniqueness of mgf, this can be used to derive the distribution of Z.
Example 2. If X and Y are independent unif(0,1) random variables, then the pdf of
Z = X + Y is given by
z if 0 ≤ z ≤ 1
fZ (z) = 2 − z if 1 ≤ z ≤ 2
0 otherwise
Example 3. If X and Y are independent Exp(λ) random variables, then the distribution
of Z = X + Y is Gamma(2,λ).
λα α−1 λx
Definition
R ∞ 1. Gamma(α, λ) distribution pdf fX (x) = Γα x e ,0 ≤ x < ∞, where
Γα = 0 uα−1 eu du
Example 4. If X and Y are independent Gamma(α1 , λ) and Gamma(α2 , λ) random
variables, then the distribution of Z = X + Y is Gamma(α1 + α2 , λ).
1. Exp(λ) is Gamma(1, λ).
1
2. χ2n is Gamma( n2 , 12 ).
3. α is hsape parameter and λ is scale parameter.
R1 Γ(α1 +α2 )
4. 0 uα1 −1 (1 − u)α2 −1 du = Γ(α 1 )Γ(α2 )
= β(α1 , α2 ). This is the beta(α1 , α2 ) density
1 α1 −1 α2 −1
fU (u) = β(α1 ,α2 ) u (1 − u) , 0 ≤ u ≤ 1.
5. Γn = (n − 1)!
2 Ratio of random variables
Example 5. Z = X/Y . Define W = Y . The transformation is one-to-one. Inverse is
X = W Z, Y = W and the Jacobian is | W |. The density of Z is
Z ∞
| w | f (wz, w)dw
−∞
Example 6. Z = X/Y where X and Y are independent standard normals. Then fZ (z) =
1 1
2 1+z 2 , that is the ratio is the standard Cauchy distribution.
3 Distribution of order statistics
Let U1 , · · · , Un be independent continuous random variables, each having distribution
function F and density function f . Let X1 , · · · , Xn be random variables obtained by
permuting U1 , · · · , Un so as to be in increasing order. In particular,
X1 (ω) = min(U1 (ω), · · · , Un (ω)) and Xn (ω) = max(U1 (ω), · · · , Un (ω)).
The random variable Xk is called the k-th order statistic. Another related variable of
interest is the range R, defined by R(ω)) = Xn (ω) − X1 (ω).
It follows from the assumptions (continuous) on U1 , ..., Un that, with probability one,
the Ui ’s are distinct and hence X1 < X2 < · · · < Xn .
The probability that exactly j of the Ui ’s are less than x equals nj F (x)j (1−F (x))n−j .
Thus
n
X n
FXk (x) = P (Xk ≤ x) = F (x)j (1 − F (x))n−j .
j
j=k
Example 7. 1. FXn (x) = F (x)n
2. fXn (x) = nF (x)n−1 f (x)
3. FX1 (x) = 1 − (1 − F (x))n
4. fX1 (x) = n(1 − F (x))n−1 f (x)
5. fXk (x) = nk kf (x)F (x)k−1 (1 − F (x))n−k
6. FX1 ,Xn (x, y) = F (y)n − (F (y) − F (x))n
7. fX1 ,Xn (x, y) = n(n − 1)f (y)f (x)(F (y) − F (x))n−2 , for x ≤ y.