1. Introduction
- What Is Probability?
- How Is Uncertainty Quantified?
- Probability in Engineering and the Sciences
- What Is Actuarial Science?
- What Is Financial Engineering?
- Interpretations of Probability
- Probability Modeling in Practice
- Outline of This Book
- Chapter Summary
- Further Reading
2. A Survey of Some Basic Concepts Through Examples
- Payoff in a Simple Game
- Choosing Between Payoffs
- Future Lifetimes
- Simple and Compound Growth
- Chapter Summary
- Exercises
3. Classical Probability
- The Formal Language of Classical Probability
- Conditional Probability
- The Law of Total Probability
- Bayes' Theorem
- Chapter Summary
- Exercises
- Appendix on Sets, Combinatorics, and Basic Probability Rules
4. Random Variables and Probability Distributions
4.1 Definitions and Basic Properties
- What Is a Random Variable?
- What Is a Probability Distribution?
- Types of Distributions
- Probability Mass Functions
- Probability Density Functions
- Mixed Distributions
- Equality and Equivalence of Random Variables
- Random Vectors and Bivariate Distributions
- Dependence and Independence of Random Variables
- The Law of Total Probability and Bayes' Theorem (Distributional Forms)
- Arithmetic Operations on Random Variables
- The Difference Between Sums and Mixtures
- Exercises
4.2 Statistical Measures of Expectation, Variation, and Risk
- Expectation
- Deviation from Expectation
- Higher Moments
- Exercises
4.3 Alternative Ways of Specifying Probability Distributions
- Moment and Cumulant Generating Functions
- Survival and Hazard Functions
- Exercises
4.4 Chapter Summary
4.5 Additional Exercises
4.6 Appendix on Generalized Density Functions (Optional)
5. Special Discrete Distributions
- The Binomial Distribution
- The Poisson Distribution
- The Negative Binomial Distribution
- The Geometric Distribution
- Exercises
6. Special Continuous Distributions
6.1 Special Continuous Distributions for Modeling
Uncertain Sizes
- The Exponential Distribution
- The Gamma Distribution
- The Pareto Distribution
6.2 Special Continuous Distributions for Modeling Lifetimes
- The Weibull Distribution
- The DeMoivre Distribution
6.3 Other Special Distributions
- The Normal Distribution
- The Lognormal Distribution
- The Beta Distribution
6.4 Exercises
7. Transformations of Random Variables
- Determining the Distribution of a Transformed Random Variable
- Expectation of a Transformed Random Variable
- Insurance Contracts with Caps, Deductibles, and Coinsurance (Optional)
- Life Insurance and Annuity Contracts (Optional)
- Reliability of Systems with Multiple Components or Processes (Optional)
- Trigonometric Transformations (Optional)
- Exercises
8. Sums and Products of Random Variables
8.1 Techniques for Calculating the Distribution of a Sum
- Using the Joint Density
- Using the Law of Total Probability
- Convolutions
8.2 Distributions of Products and Quotients
8.3 Expectations of Sums and Products
- Formulas for the Expectation of a Sum or Product
- The Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality
- Covariance and Correlation
8.4 The Law of Large Numbers
- Motivating Example: Premium Determination in Insurance
- Statement and Proof of the Law
- Some Misconceptions Surrounding the Law of Large Numbers
8.5 The Central Limit Theorem
8.6 Normal Power Approximations (Optional)
8.7 Exercises
9. Mixtures and Compound Distributions
- Definitions and Basic Properties
- Some Important Examples of Mixtures Arising in Insurance
- Mean and Variance of a Mixture
- Moment Generating Function of a Mixture
- Compound Distributions
- General Formulas
- Special Compound Distributions
- Exercises
10. The Markowitz Investment Portfolio Selection Model
- Portfolios of Two Securities
- Portfolios of Two Risky Securities and a Risk-Free Asset
- Portfolio Selection with Many Securities
- The Capital Asset Pricing Model
- Further Reading
- Exercises
Appendixes
- The Gamma Function
- The Incomplete Gamma Function
- The Beta Function
- The Incomplete Beta Function
- The Standard Normal Distribution
- Mathematica Commands for Generating the Graphs of Special Distributions
- Elementary Financial Mathematics
Answers to Selected Exercises
Index