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26 votes
5 answers
3k views

Nice applications for Schwartz distributions

I am to teach a second year grad course in analysis with focus on Schwartz distributions. Among the core topics I intend to cover are: Some multilinear algebra including the Kernel Theorem and ...
Abdelmalek Abdesselam's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
892 views

Isomorphisms between spaces of test functions and sequence spaces

I am in the process of writing some self-contained notes on probability theory in spaces of distributions, for the purposes of statistical mechanics and quantum field theory. Perhaps the simplest ...
Abdelmalek Abdesselam's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Properties of convolutions

Consider the function $$f_{n}(x)=e^{-x^2}x^n.$$ and the function $$h_p(x):=e^{-\vert x \vert^p}.$$ My goal is to analyze $$ F_p(y):=\frac{(f_2*h_p)(y)}{(f_0*h_p)(y)}- \left(\frac{(f_1*h_p)(y) }{(f_0*...
Landauer's user avatar
  • 173
5 votes
1 answer
363 views

Universal decay rate of the Fisher information along the heat flow

I'm looking for a reference for the following fact: In the torus $\mathbb T^d$ let me denote by $u_t=u(t,x)$ the (unique, distributional) solution of the heat equation $$ \partial_t u=\Delta u $$ ...
leo monsaingeon's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
318 views

Weak convergence for discrete-time processes using characteristic functions

I am looking for a good reference about the analogues of the Bochner Theorem and the Lévy Continuity Theorem for probability measures on $\mathbb{R}^{\mathbb{N}}$ with the product topology. ...
Abdelmalek Abdesselam's user avatar
40 votes
5 answers
5k views

"Entropy" proof of Brunn-Minkowski Inequality?

I read in an information theory textbook the Brunn-Minkowski inequality follows from the Entropy Power inequality. The first one says that if $A,B$ are convex polygons in $\mathbb{R}^d$, then $$ m(...
john mangual's user avatar
  • 22.7k
17 votes
5 answers
3k views

Conditional probabilities are measurable functions - when are they continuous?

Let $\Omega$ be a Banach space; for the sake of this post, we will take $\Omega = {\mathbb R}^2$, but I am more interested in the infinite dimensional setting. Take $\mathcal F$ to be the Borel $\...
Tom LaGatta's user avatar
  • 8,422
16 votes
2 answers
5k views

Positive-Definite Functions and Fourier Transforms

Bochner's theorem states that a positive definite function is the Fourier transform of a finite Borel measure. As well, an easy converse of this is that a Fourier transform must be positive definite. ...
Alex R.'s user avatar
  • 4,912
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Lipschitz function of independent subgaussian random variables

This question was asked here, but I have reason to believe that it's a serious research question appropriate for this forum (also, the answers given at the link aren't satisfactory). ​If $X\in\mathbb{...
Aryeh Kontorovich's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
233 views

Find $\inf_{P_{X_1,X_2}}P_{X_1,X_2}(\|X_1-X_2\| > 2\alpha)$ , where $\alpha > 0$ and inf is over couplings

Let $\mathcal X$ be a seperable Banach space with norm $\|\cdot\|$, and let $X_1$ and $X_2$ be random vectors on $\mathcal X$ with finite means. Question. Given $\alpha > 0$, what is value of, ...
dohmatob's user avatar
  • 6,824
93 votes
1 answer
11k views

The mathematical theory of Feynman integrals

It is well known that Feynman integrals are one of the tools that physicists have and mathematicians haven't, sadly. Arguably, they are the most important such tool. Briefly, the question I'd like to ...
algori's user avatar
  • 23.4k
65 votes
9 answers
11k views

Polish spaces in probability

Probabilists often work with Polish spaces, though it is not always very clear where this assumption is needed. Question: What can go wrong when doing probability on non-Polish spaces?
Thanh's user avatar
  • 651
23 votes
2 answers
7k views

What is a Gaussian measure?

Let $X$ be a topological affine space. A Gaussian measure on $X$ is characterized by the property that its finite-dimensional projections are multivariate Gaussian distributions. Is there a direct ...
Tom LaGatta's user avatar
  • 8,422
18 votes
4 answers
1k views

Reference for a strong intermediate value theorem for measures

Let $\mu$ be a finite nonatomic measure on a measurable space $(X,\Sigma)$, and for simplicity assume that $\mu(X) = 1$. There is a well-known "intermediate value theorem" of Sierpiński that states ...
Manny Reyes's user avatar
  • 5,162
16 votes
6 answers
1k views

Identities and inequalities in analysis and probability

Usually, at the heart of a good limit theorem in probability theory is at least one good inequality – because, in applications, a topological neighborhood is usually defined by inequalities. Of course,...

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