Paper 3, Section II, K

Probability and Measure
Part II, 2019

(a) Let XX and YY be real random variables such that E[f(X)]=E[f(Y)]\mathbb{E}[f(X)]=\mathbb{E}[f(Y)] for every compactly supported continuous function ff. Show that XX and YY have the same law.

(b) Given a real random variable ZZ, let φZ(s)=E(eisZ)\varphi_{Z}(s)=\mathbb{E}\left(e^{i s Z}\right) be its characteristic function. Prove the identity

g(εs)f(x)eisxφZ(s)dsdx=g^(t)E[f(Zεt)]dt\iint g(\varepsilon s) f(x) e^{-i s x} \varphi_{Z}(s) d s d x=\int \hat{g}(t) \mathbb{E}[f(Z-\varepsilon t)] d t

for real ε>0\varepsilon>0, where is ff is continuous and compactly supported, and where gg is a Lebesgue integrable function such that g^\hat{g} is also Lebesgue integrable, where

g^(t)=g(x)eitxdx\hat{g}(t)=\int g(x) e^{i t x} d x

is its Fourier transform. Use the above identity to derive a formula for E[f(Z)]\mathbb{E}[f(Z)] in terms of φZ\varphi_{Z}, and recover the fact that φZ\varphi_{Z} determines the law of ZZ uniquely.

(c) Let XX and YY be bounded random variables such that E(Xn)=E(Yn)\mathbb{E}\left(X^{n}\right)=\mathbb{E}\left(Y^{n}\right) for every positive integer nn. Show that XX and YY have the same law.

(d) The Laplace transform ψZ(s)\psi_{Z}(s) of a non-negative random variable ZZ is defined by the formula

ψZ(s)=E(esZ)\psi_{Z}(s)=\mathbb{E}\left(e^{-s Z}\right)

for s0s \geqslant 0. Let XX and YY be (possibly unbounded) non-negative random variables such that ψX(s)=ψY(s)\psi_{X}(s)=\psi_{Y}(s) for all s0s \geqslant 0. Show that XX and YY have the same law.

(e) Let

f(x;k)=1{x>0}1k!xkexf(x ; k)=1_{\{x>0\}} \frac{1}{k !} x^{k} e^{-x}

where kk is a non-negative integer and 1{x>0}1_{\{x>0\}} is the indicator function of the interval (0,+)(0,+\infty).

Given non-negative integers k1,,knk_{1}, \ldots, k_{n}, suppose that the random variables X1,,XnX_{1}, \ldots, X_{n} are independent with XiX_{i} having density function f(;ki)f\left(\cdot ; k_{i}\right). Find the density of the random variable X1++XnX_{1}+\cdots+X_{n}.