Lesson plan

Stability (probability)

In probability theory, the stability of a random variable is the property that a linear combination of two independent copies of the variable has the same distribution, up to location and scale parameters. The distributions of random variables having this property are said to be "stable distributions". Results available in probability theory show that all possible distributions having this property are members of a four-parameter family of distributions. The article on the stable distribution describes this family together with some of the properties of these distributions. The importance in probability theory of "stability" and of the stable family of probability distributions is that they are "attractors" for properly normed sums of independent and identically distributed random variables. Important special cases of stable distributions are the normal distribution, the Cauchy distribution and the Lévy distribution. For details see stable distribution.

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Article summary

In probability theory, the stability of a random variable is the property that a linear combination of two independent copies of the variable has the same distribution, up to location and scale parameters. The distributions of random variables having this property are said to be "stable distributions". Results available in probability theory show that all possible distributions having this property are members of a four-parameter family of distributions. The article on the stable distribution describes this family together with some of the properties of these distributions. The importance in probability theory of "stability" and of the stable family of probability distributions is that they are "attractors" for properly normed sums of independent and identically distributed random variables. Important special cases of stable distributions are the normal distribution, the Cauchy distribution and the Lévy distribution. For details see stable distribution.

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Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.