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Chapter2 Probability Theory
Chapter2 Probability Theory
Transformation of variables
Sec 6.5 of GW, 6.7 of HPS, 6.7 of Ross
Example 1. Let X ∼ U nif orm(0, 1) and let Y = X 2 . What is the density for Y ?
Theorem 1. Let U ∼ U nif orm(0, 1) random variable. Let X be a continuous ran-
dom variable such that its distribution function, FX , is a strictly increasing continuous
function. Then
−1
1. Y = FX (U ) has the same distribution as X.
2. Z = FX (X) has the same distribution as U .
Example 2. Find a function g, such that g(U ) has Exp(λ) distribution, where U ∼
U nif (0, 1).
1
We derive the joint density of (Y1 , · · · , Yn ) as follows. First, we observe that the joint
density of (X1 , · · · , Xn+1 ) is
( n+1 )
X
fX (x) = exp − xi I{x1 > 0, · · · , xn+1 > 0}
i=1
Pj
As an intermediate step, define Zj = i=1 Xi for j = 1, · · · , n + 1. Then the Xi may be
expressed in terms of the Zi as
Zi if i = 1
Xi = (2)
Zi − Zi − 1 if i > 1
The Jacobian is clearly 1 for this transformation, since the Jacobian matrix is lower
triangular with ones on the diagonal. Therefore, we obtain FZ (z) = exp{−zn+1 }I{0 <
z1 < z2 < · · · < zn+1 } as the density of Z. If we define Yn+1 = Zn+1 , then we may
express the Zi in terms of the Yi as
Yn+1 Yi if i < n + 1
Zi = (3)
Yn+1 if i = n + 1
The Jacobian matrix of the transformation in equation (3) is upper triangular, with yn+1
along the diagonal except for a 1 in the lower right corner. Thus, the Jacobian equals
n
yn+1 , so the density of Y is
n
fY (y) = yn+1 exp{−yn+1 }I{yn+1 > 0}I{0 < y1 < · · · < yn < 1}. (4)