GRV and Vectors
GRV and Vectors
GRV and Vectors
It can be shown this fX integrates to 1 (i.e., it is a valid pdf), and that the mean of the random
variable X with the above pdf is m and the variance is σ 2 .
The statement “X is Gaussian with mean m and variance σ 2 ” is compactly written as “X ∼
N (m, σ 2 ).”
The cdf corresponding to the Gaussian pdf is given by
" #
x x
1 (u − m)2
Z Z
FX (x) = fX (u)du = √ exp − du.
−∞ −∞ σ 2π 2σ 2
u−m
This integral cannot be computed in closed-form, but if we make the change of variabe =v
σ
we get
Z x−m 2
σ 1 v x−m
FX (x) = √ exp − dv = Φ ,
−∞ 2π 2 σ
where Φ is the cdf of a N (0, 1) random variable, i.e.,
Z x 2
1 u
Φ(x) = √ exp − du.
−∞ 2π 2
Φ(−x) = 1 − Φ(x).
For computing the Q function in Matlab, we may use the Matlab functions erf or erfc after
modifying them appropriately.
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V.V. Veeravalli, 2006 1
Jointly Gaussian Random Variables
Two random variables X and Y are said to be jointly Gaussian if their joint density satisfies the
equation
(x − mX )2 2ρ(x − mX )(y − mY ) (y − mY )2
1 1
fX,Y (x, y) = exp − 2 − + .
2(1 − ρ2 ) σY2
p
2πσX σY 1 − ρ2 σX σX σY
Note that the following properties hold:
2
• X is Gaussian with mean mX and variance σX
• Y is Gaussian with mean mY and variance σY2
• The conditional densities fX|Y (x|y) and fY |X (y|x) are also Gaussian
• ρ is the correlation coefficient between X and Y . If ρ = 0, then X and Y are independent.
• Z = aX + bY is also Gaussian (what are the mean and variance of Z?)
The definition of jointly Gaussian random variables extends quite naturally to n variables X1 , X2 , . . . , Xn .
Let the vectors X and m, and matrix Σ be defined by
X1 m1 Σ11 Σ12 . . . Σ1n
X2 m2 Σ21 Σ22 . . . Σ2n
X = . m = E[X] = . Σ = E[(X − m)(X − m)⊤ ] = . .. .. ..
.. .. .. . . .
Xn mn Σn1 Σn2 . . . Σnn
where mi = E[Xi ] and Σij = cov(Xi , Xj ). Then the random variables X1 , X2 , . . . , Xn are jointly
Gaussian if their joint density is given by
1 1 ⊤ −1
f (x) = p exp − (x − m) Σ (x − m) .
(2π)n det(Σ) 2
The statement “X1 , X2 , . . . , Xn are jointly Gaussian with mean m and covariance matrix Σ” can
be compactly written as “X ∼ N (m, Σ)”.
Properties of jointly Gaussian random variables include:
i.e., Y is jointly Gaussian with mean mY = AmX , and covariance matrix ΣY = AΣX A⊤ .
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V.V. Veeravalli, 2006 2