Moment Generating Functions

Free SOA Exam P (Probability) lesson in Univariate Random Variables. 12 min read, ~1,862 words.

MGF definition:, and it must exist in a neighborhood of. k-th moment:, differentiate k times then evaluate at zero. Variance shortcut:, faster than the raw definition. Uniqueness: if for all near 0, then and share the same distribution. Sum of independents:, MGFs multiply (not add). Linear transform:. Closure under convolution...

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