Probability mass functions¶

It is defined for discrete random variables. It measures the probability associated with for each possible random variable. The pmf can be viewed as a function \(p_X: \Omega \rightarrow R\) such that

\[ p_X(x) = P(X = x) \]

Properties¶

  • \(0 \le p_X(x) \le 1\)

  • \(\sum_{x \in Val(X)} p_X(x)=1\)

  • \(\sum_{x \in A} p_X(x) = P(X \in A)\)

Probability density function¶

It is defined for continuous random variables and iit is defined as the derivative of the CDF:

\[ f_X(x) = \frac{dF_X(x)}{dx} \]

This may not exists if the CDF is not differentiable everywhere.