P Formula Sheet

General Probability

  • Basic Probability Relationships:

    • Pr(A \cup B) = Pr(A) + Pr(B) - Pr(A \cap B)

    • Pr(A \cup B \cup C) = Pr(A) + Pr(B) + Pr(C) - Pr(A \cap B) - Pr(B \cap C) - Pr(A \cap C) + Pr(A \cap B \cap C)

    • Pr(A^c) = 1 - Pr(A)

  • Law of Total Probability:

    • Pr(B) = Pr(B \cap A)

  • De Morgan’s Law:

    • Pr[(A \cup B)^c] = Pr(A^c \cap B^c)

    • Pr[(A \cap B)^c] = Pr(A^c \cup B^c)

  • Conditional Probability:

    • Pr(A|B) = \frac{Pr(A \cap B)}{Pr(B)}

  • Independence:

    • Pr(A \cap B) = Pr(A) \cdot Pr(B)

    • Pr(A|B) = Pr(A)

  • Bayes’ Theorem:

    • Pr(𝐴𝐴&|𝐡𝐡) =

      Pr(𝐡𝐡|𝐴𝐴& ) β‹… Pr(𝐴𝐴&)

      βˆ‘ Pr(𝐡𝐡|𝐴𝐴") β‹… Pr(𝐴𝐴" )#

  • Combinatorics:

    • n! = n \cdot (n-1) \cdot … \cdot 2 \cdot 1

    • nPk = \frac{n!}{(n-k)!}

    • nCk = \binom{n}{k} = \binom{n}{n-k} = \frac{n!}{(n-k)! \cdot k!}

    • Partition = \frac{n!}{k1! \cdot k2! \cdot … \cdot km!}, where k1 + k2 + … + km = n

    • Probability = \frac{\text{number of outcomes that satisfy the event}}{\text{total number of outcomes}}

Univariate Probability Distributions

  • Learn both discrete and continuous cases.

  • Probability Mass Function (PMF):

    • \sum p_X(x) = 1

    • Pr(X = a) = 0 (continuous)

  • Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF):

    • FX(x) = Pr(X \le x) = \sum pX(i)

    • Pr(a < X \le b) = FX(b) - FX(a)

    • fX(x) = \frac{d}{dx} FX(x) (continuous)

  • Survival Function:

    • SX(x) = 1 - FX(x) = Pr(X > x)

  • Expected Value:

    • E[g(X)] = \int g(x) \cdot f_X(x) dx

    • E[g(X)] = \int0^\infty g'(x) \cdot SX(x) dx, for x \ge 0 and g(0) = 0

    • E[g(X)|j \le X \le k] = \frac{\intj^k g(x) \cdot fX(x) dx}{Pr(j \le X \le k)}

    • E[c] = c

    • E[c \cdot g(X)] = c \cdot E[g(X)]

    • E[g1(X) + \cdots + gn(X)] = E[g1(X)] + \cdots + E[gn(X)]

  • Variance, Standard Deviation, and Coefficient of Variation:

    • Var[X] = E[(X - \mu)^2] = E[X^2] - (E[X])^2

    • Var[aX + b] = a^2 \cdot Var[X]

    • Var[c] = 0

    • SD[X] = \sqrt{Var[X]}

    • CV[X] = \frac{SD[X]}{E[X]}

  • Percentiles:

    • The 100p^{th} percentile is the smallest value of \pip where FX(\pi_p) \ge p.

  • Modes:

    • The mode(s) of a random variable is/are the value(s) where the probability function is maximized.

Discrete Distributions

  • Discrete Uniform:

    • PMF: \frac{1}{b - a + 1}, x = a, a+1, …, b

    • Mean: \frac{a+b}{2}

    • Variance: \frac{(b-a+1)^2 - 1}{12}

  • Binomial:

    • PMF: \binom{n}{x} p^x (1-p)^{n-x}, x = 0, 1, …, n

    • Mean: np

    • Variance: np(1-p)

    • Special Properties: Sum of independent binomials with same p is binomial (n = \sum n_i, p)

  • Hypergeometric:

    • PMF: \frac{\binom{K}{x} \cdot \binom{N-K}{n-x}}{\binom{N}{n}}

    • Mean: n \cdot \frac{K}{N}

    • Variance: n \cdot \frac{K}{N} \cdot \frac{N-K}{N} \cdot \frac{N-n}{N-1}

  • Geometric (X = # trials until 1st success):

    • PMF: (1-p)^{x-1}p, x = 1, 2, 3, …

    • Mean: \frac{1}{p}

    • Variance: \frac{1-p}{p^2}

    • Memoryless property: (X-c | X > c) \sim X

  • Geometric (X = # failures before 1st success):

    • PMF: (1-p)^x p, x = 0, 1, 2, …

    • Mean: \frac{1-p}{p}

  • Negative Binomial (X = # trials until rth success):

    • PMF: \binom{x-1}{r-1} p^r (1-p)^{x-r}, x = r, r+1, r+2, …

    • Mean: \frac{r}{p}

    • Variance: \frac{r(1-p)}{p^2}

    • Special Properties: Sum of r independent geometric(p) is negative binomial (r = \sum r_i, p)

  • Negative Binomial (X = # failures until rth success):

    • PMF: \binom{r+x-1}{r-1} p^r (1-p)^x, x = 0, 1, 2, …

    • Mean: \frac{r(1-p)}{p}

  • Poisson:

    • PMF: \frac{e^{-\lambda} \cdot \lambda^x}{x!}, x = 0, 1, 2, …

    • Mean: \lambda

    • Variance: \lambda

    • Special Properties:

      • Sum of independent Poissons is Poisson (\lambda = \sum \lambda_i)

      • Non-overlapping intervals are independent

Continuous Distributions

  • Continuous Uniform:

    • PDF: \frac{1}{b-a}, a \le x \le b

    • CDF: \frac{x-a}{b-a}

    • Mean: \frac{a+b}{2}

    • Variance: \frac{(b-a)^2}{12}

    • (X|c < X < d) \sim Uniform(c, d)

    • (X-c | X > c) \sim Uniform(0, b-c)

  • Exponential:

    • PDF: \frac{1}{\theta} e^{-\frac{x}{\theta}}, x > 0

    • CDF: 1 - e^{-\frac{x}{\theta}}

    • Mean: \theta

    • Variance: \theta^2

    • Memoryless property: (X-c | X > c) \sim X

  • Gamma:

    • PDF: \frac{x^{\alpha-1} e^{-\frac{x}{\theta}}}{\Gamma(\alpha) \cdot \theta^\alpha}, x > 0

    • CDF: 1 - \sum_{k=0}^{\alpha-1} \frac{e^{-\frac{x}{\theta}} (\frac{x}{\theta})^k}{k!}, \alpha = 1, 2, 3, …

    • Mean: \alpha \theta

    • Variance: \alpha \theta^2

    • Special properties: Sum of \alpha independent exponentials(\theta) is Gamma(\alpha, \theta)

  • Normal:

    • PDF: \frac{1}{\sigma \sqrt{2\pi}} e^{-\frac{1}{2} (\frac{x-\mu}{\sigma})^2}, - \infty < x < \infty

    • Z = \frac{X - \mu}{\sigma}

    • CDF: Pr(Z \le z) = \Phi(z)

    • Mean: \mu

    • Variance: \sigma^2

    • Symmetry: Pr(Z \le z) = Pr(Z \ge -z)

    • Special properties:

      • Sum of independent normals is normal (\mu = \sum \mui, \sigma^2 = \sum \sigmai^2)

  • LogNormal:

    • PDF: \frac{1}{x \sigma \sqrt{2\pi}} e^{-\frac{1}{2} (\frac{ln x - \mu}{\sigma})^2}, x > 0

    • CDF: \Phi(\frac{ln x - \mu}{\sigma})

    • Mean: e^{\mu + \frac{1}{2} \sigma^2}

    • Variance: e^{2\mu + \sigma^2} (e^{\sigma^2} - 1)

    • If X is lognormal then lnX is normal

    • Product of independent lognormals is lognormal (\mu = \sum \mui, \sigma^2 = \sum \sigmai^2)

  • Beta:

    • PDF: \frac{\Gamma(a+b)}{\Gamma(a)\Gamma(b)} x^{a-1} (1-x)^{b-1}, 0 \le x \le 1

    • CDF: No closed form

    • Mean: \frac{a}{a+b}

    • Variance: \frac{ab}{(a+b)^2 (a+b+1)}

    • Beta(1, 1) is Uniform(0, 1)

Multivariate Probability Distributions

  • Joint PMF and CDF:

    • \sumx \sumy p_{X,Y}(x, y) = 1

    • F{X,Y}(x, y) = \sum{i \le x} \sum{j \le y} p{X,Y}(i, j)

    • F{X,Y}(x, \infty) = FX(x)

    • F{X,Y}(\infty, y) = FY(y)

    • S_{X,Y}(x, y) = Pr[(X > x) \cap (Y > y)]

  • Marginal Distributions and Conditional Distributions:

    • pX(x) = \sumy p_{X,Y}(x, y)

    • pY(y) = \sumx p_{X,Y}(x, y)

    • p{X|Y}(x|Y=y) = \frac{p{X,Y}(x, y)}{p_Y(y)}

  • Joint Expected Value and Conditional Expectation:

    • E[g(X, Y)] = \sumx \sumy g(x, y) \cdot p_{X,Y}(x, y)

    • E[X|Y=y] = \sumx x \cdot p{X|Y}(x|Y=y)

  • Weighted Average:

    • For conditional random variables of Y denoted as C1 and C2 with weights a1 + a2 = 1

      • fY(y) = a1 f{C1}(y) + a2 f{C_2}(y)

      • FY(y) = a1 F{C1}(y) + a2 F{C_2}(y)

      • SY(y) = a1 S{C1}(y) + a2 S{C_2}(y)

      • E[Y^k] = a1 E[C1^k] + a2 E[C2^k]

  • Double Expectation and Law of Total Variance:

    • E[X] = E[E[X|Y]]

    • Var[X] = E[Var[X|Y]] + Var[E[X|Y]]

  • Covariance and Correlation Coefficient:

    • Cov[X, Y] = E[XY] - E[X]E[Y]

    • Cov[aX, bY] = ab \cdot Cov[X, Y]

    • Cov[X, X] = Var[X]

    • Var[aX + bY] = a^2 Var[X] + b^2 Var[Y] + 2ab \cdot Cov[X, Y]

    • \rho_{X,Y} = Corr[X, Y] = \frac{Cov[X, Y]}{\sqrt{Var[X]Var[Y]}}

  • Independence:

    • F{X,Y}(x, y) = FX(x) \cdot F_Y(y)

    • f{X,Y}(x, y) = fX(x) \cdot f_Y(y)

    • f{X|Y}(x|y) = fX(x)

    • f{Y|X}(y|x) = fY(y)

    • E[g(X) \cdot h(Y)] = E[g(X)] \cdot E[h(Y)]

    • Cov[X, Y] = 0

    • \rho_{X,Y} = 0

  • Multinomial Distribution:

    • Pr(X1 = x1, …, Xk = xk) = \frac{n!}{x1! \cdot … \cdot xk!} \cdot p1^{x1} \cdot … \cdot pk^{xk}

    • E[Xi] = npi

    • Var[Xi] = npi(1 - p_i)

    • Cov[Xi, Xj] = -npi pj, for i \ne j

  • Expectation and Variance for Sum and Average of IID Random Variables:

    • S = X1 + … + Xn

    • \overline{X} = [X1 + … + Xn]/n

    • E[S] = n \cdot E[X_i]

    • E[\overline{X}] = E[X_i]

    • Var[S] = n \cdot Var[X_i]

    • Var[\overline{X}] = (1/n) \cdot Var[X_i]

  • Central Limit Theorem:

    • The sum or average of a large number of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables approximately follows a normal distribution.

  • Order Statistics:

    • X_{(k)} = kth order statistic

    • X{(1)} = min(X1, X2, …, Xn)

    • X{(n)} = max(X1, X2, …, Xn)

    • For i.i.d. random variables,

      • S{X{(1)}}(x) = [S_X(x)]^n

      • F{X{(n)}}(x) = [F_X(x)]^n

      • f{X{(k)}}(x) = \frac{n!}{(k-1)! (n-k)!} \cdot [FX(x)]^{k-1} \cdot fX(x) \cdot [S_X(x)]^{n-k}

Insurance and Risk Management

  • Learn both discrete and continuous cases

  • Unreimbursed Loss, L

    • If X is the loss and Y is the payment (ie reimbursed loss), then X = Y + L

    • L = X - Y, and E[L] = E[X] - E[Y]

  • Deductible

    • Y = 0, X <= d , X-d, X > d

    • E[Y] = integral(x-d) * fX(x) dx from d to infinity = integral(SX(x)) dx from d to infinity

    • For exponential: d * Pr(X > d)

  • Policy Limit

    • Y = X, X <= u, u, X > u

    • E[Y] = integral(x * fX(x) dx) from 0 to u + u * SX(u) = integral(SX(x) dx) from 0 to u

    • For exponential: u * Pr(X < u)

  • Deductible and Policy Limit

    • Y= 0, X <= d, X-d, d < X < d+u, u, X >= d+u

    • E[Y] = integral((x-d) * fX(x) dx) from d to d+u + u * SX(d+u) = integral(SX(x) dx) from d to d+u

    • For exponential: theta * Pr( d < X < d+u)