4 ms·
They could even be negative Not under any standard formulation of probability. Probability is a measure, and measures are nonnegative by definition.
by kbolino 14y ago
They could even be negative
Not under any standard formulation of probability. Probability is a measure, and measures are nonnegative by definition.
- sp332 14y agoThat's an interesting idea. I know negative probabilities are used in quantum mechanics http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4319276 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4319276 and they come up in some math problems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_probability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_probability so, even if you can't think of a case where they would occur, it's nice to know we have the math in case it happens :)
- kbolino 14y agoQuantum mechanics: frustrating formal mathematicians for over a century. You'd have to exercise caution when using (quasi-)probabilities less than zero or greater than one, because many of the classical properties of probability theory depend upon those conditions.