Probability And Statistics Brain Teaser

This book is meant to be a practical introduction into the use of probability and statistics in experimental physics for advanced undergraduate students and for graduate students. I have attempted to write a short book. It is not intended as a comprehensive text in probability and statistics. I have tried to emphasize areas I have found to be useful when doing experimental physics. Except for the first two chapters the emphasis is on applications and understanding. I have omitted proofs of formal theorems in the interests of brevity unless I felt the proof added to one's intuition in understanding and applying the theorem. Since, however, this is a field in which there are often a number of misunderstandings, it is necessary to state some things with reasonable precision. I have tried to do this when necessary. I assume the student is familiar with partial derivatives and with ele­ mentary matrix manipulation. A computer is a needed tool for probability and statistics in experimental physics. We will introduce its use in this subject in some of the homework problems. One may interact with a computer in a batch mode or an inter­ active mode. In a batch mode, one submits FORTRAN or other language programs, the computer processes them, and returns the end results. In the interactive mode, one gives the computer an instruction, the computer processes it, indicates what it has done, and waits for the next instruction.

This workshop will teach you the fundamentals of statistics in order to give you a leg up at work or in school.

Probability and Statistics are studied by most science students, usually as a second- or third-year course. Many current texts in the area are just cookbooks and, as a result, students do not know why they perform the methods they are taught, or why the methods work. The strength of this book is that it readdresses these shortcomings; by using examples, often from real-life and using real data, the authors can show how the fundamentals of probabilistic and statistical theories arise intuitively. It provides a tried and tested, self-contained course, that can also be used for self-study.

"This is a marvelous book . . . Anyone with the slightest interest in the history of statistics, or in understanding how modern ideas have developed, will find this an invaluable resource."
–Short Book Reviews of ISI

This book covers the method of metric distances and its application in probability theory and other fields. The method is fundamental in the study of limit theorems and generally in assessing the quality of approximations to a given probabilistic model. The method of metric distances is developed to study stability problems and reduces to the selection of an ideal or the most appropriate metric for the problem under consideration and a comparison of probability metrics.