Homepage Solution manuals Terence Tao Probability Theory Exercise 0.28 (Properties of cumulative distribution function)

Exercise 0.28 (Properties of cumulative distribution function)

Let X be a random variable with cumulative distribution function F. Show that for any t one has

1.
P(X < t) = lim stF(s).
2.
P(X = t) = F(t) lim stF(s).
3.
In particular, P(X = t) = 0 iff F is continuous.

Answers

As always, we will use arbitrary sequences (sn)n along the continuous limits s t instead of the continuous limits themselves.

1.
By the downwards monotone convergence we obtain: lim nP(X sn) = lim nP (X t) P (sn < X t) = P (X t) lim nP (sn < X t) = P (X t) P ( n {sn < X t}) = P (X t) P({X = t}) = P (X < t).

(We have excluded the obvious case where sn = t eventually, since in that case theorem assumption follows trivially.)

2.
This follows by the previous part of this exercise from P (X t) P({X = t}) = P (X < t)P({X = t}) = P (X t) P (X < t) = P (X t) lim stF(s).
3.
If F is continuous, its right and left limits coincide and so P({X = t}) = P (X t) P (X < t) = F(t) lim stF(s) = 0.

User profile picture
2021-08-03 00:00
Comments