Solved – Probability density function of the sample maximum of a random variable

extreme valuerandom variableself-study

According to my book, for a random sample $(X_1, \ldots, X_n)$ from a continuous distribution with p.d.f. $f(x)$ and c.d.f. $F(x)$, the p.d.f. of the maximum of the sample is $g(z)=nf(z)[F(z)]^{n-1}$, where $z=\mathrm{max}(x_1, \ldots,x_n)$. The book gives the following question:

the random variable $X$ has p.d.f. $f(x)=12x^2 (1-x), 0≤x≤1$.

I'm assuming that I put this into the $g$ function, such that
$$
g(z)=n \{12z^2 (1-z)\} \left[\int_{-\infty}^z 12t^2 (1-t)dt\right]^{n-1} .
$$

However, I have no clue how to carry on from there to find the probability that the largest maximum is 1/2.

Best Answer

I'd rewrite: $g_Z(z)=n[F_X(z)]^{n-1}f_X(z)$ and try a short recap. This happens because: $$\begin{align} F_Z(z) &= P(\max\{X_i\}<z)=P(X_1<z,\dots,X_n<z) \\ &\overset{ind}{=}P(X_1<z)\cdots P(X_n<z)\overset{i.d.}{=}[P(X<z)]^n=[F_X(z)]^n\end{align}$$ Then: $$g_Z(z)=\frac{\text{d}[F_X(z)]^n}{\text{d}z}=n[F_X(z)]^{n-1}\frac{\text{d}F_X(z)}{\text{d}z}=n[F_X(z)]^{n-1}f_X(z),\quad 0\le z\le 1$$ Now:

  • $F_X(z)=\int_0^z 12t^2(1-t)\text{d}t$;
  • $F_Z(z)=[F_X(z)]^n$;
  • probability that the largest maximum is 1/2: $P(Z\le1/2)=F_Z(1/2)$.
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