Probability Distributions – Distribution of $\max(X,Y)/\min(X,Y)$ for Uniformly Distributed $X$ and $Y$

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Suppose that $X$ and $Y$ are chosen randomly and independently according to the uniform distribution from $(0,1)$. Define $$ Z=\frac{\max(X,Y)}{\min(X,Y)}.$$

Compute the probability distribution function of $Z$.

Can anyone give me some hints on how to proceed?

I can only note that $\mathbb{P}[Z\geq 1]=1$ and $$F_Z(t)= \mathbb{P}[Z \leq t]=\mathbb{P}[X\leq Y, Y\leq tX]+\mathbb{P}[Y \leq X, x\leq tY]$$

Best Answer

You might find this more helpful easier to write $F_Z(t)= \mathbb{P}[Z \leq t]$ as $1-(\mathbb{P}[X\leq Y/t] +\mathbb{P}[Y \leq X/t])$ for $t\ge 1$.

You can calculate this from the unit square

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or by simple integration $$1-\left(\int_{y=0}^{1} \int_{x=0}^{y/t} dx \; dy + \int_{x=0}^{1} \int_{y=0}^{x/t} dy \; dx\right)$$