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Utility Representation Theorem
In economics, a utility representation theorem shows that, under certain conditions, a preference ordering can be represented by a real-valued utility function, such that option A is preferred to option B if and only if the utility of A is larger than that of B. The most famous example of a utility representation theorem is the Von Neumann–Morgenstern utility theorem, which shows that any rational agent has a utility function that measures their preferences over lotteries. Background Suppose a person is asked questions of the form "Do you prefer A or B?" (when A and B can be options, actions to take, states of the world, consumption bundles, etc.). If the agent prefers A to B, we write A\succ B. The set of all such preference-pairs forms the person's '' preference relation.'' Instead of recording the person's preferences between every pair of options, it would be much more convenient to have a single ''utility function'' - a function ''u'' that assigns a real number to each opt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of Agent (economics), economic agents and how economy, economies work. Microeconomics analyses what is viewed as basic elements within economy, economies, including individual agents and market (economics), markets, their interactions, and the outcomes of interactions. Individual agents may include, for example, households, firms, buyers, and sellers. Macroeconomics analyses economies as systems where production, distribution, consumption, savings, and Expenditure, investment expenditure interact; and the factors of production affecting them, such as: Labour (human activity), labour, Capital (economics), capital, Land (economics), land, and Entrepreneurship, enterprise, inflation, economic growth, and public policies that impact gloss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equivalence Class
In mathematics, when the elements of some set S have a notion of equivalence (formalized as an equivalence relation), then one may naturally split the set S into equivalence classes. These equivalence classes are constructed so that elements a and b belong to the same equivalence class if, and only if, they are equivalent. Formally, given a set S and an equivalence relation \sim on S, the of an element a in S is denoted /math> or, equivalently, to emphasize its equivalence relation \sim, and is defined as the set of all elements in S with which a is \sim-related. The definition of equivalence relations implies that the equivalence classes form a partition of S, meaning, that every element of the set belongs to exactly one equivalence class. The set of the equivalence classes is sometimes called the quotient set or the quotient space of S by \sim, and is denoted by S /. When the set S has some structure (such as a group operation or a topology) and the equivalence re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isotone Function
In mathematics, a monotonic function (or monotone function) is a function between ordered sets that preserves or reverses the given order. This concept first arose in calculus, and was later generalized to the more abstract setting of order theory. In calculus and analysis In calculus, a function f defined on a subset of the real numbers with real values is called ''monotonic'' if it is either entirely non-decreasing, or entirely non-increasing. That is, as per Fig. 1, a function that increases monotonically does not exclusively have to increase, it simply must not decrease. A function is termed ''monotonically increasing'' (also ''increasing'' or ''non-decreasing'') if for all x and y such that x \leq y one has f\!\left(x\right) \leq f\!\left(y\right), so f preserves the order (see Figure 1). Likewise, a function is called ''monotonically decreasing'' (also ''decreasing'' or ''non-increasing'') if, whenever x \leq y, then f\!\left(x\right) \geq f\!\left(y\right), so it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Probability Space
In probability theory, a probability space or a probability triple (\Omega, \mathcal, P) is a mathematical construct that provides a formal model of a random process or "experiment". For example, one can define a probability space which models the throwing of a . A probability space consists of three elements:Stroock, D. W. (1999). Probability theory: an analytic view. Cambridge University Press. # A '' sample space'', \Omega, which is the set of all possible outcomes of a random process under consideration. # An event space, \mathcal, which is a set of events, where an event is a subset of outcomes in the sample space. # A '' probability function'', P, which assigns, to each event in the event space, a probability, which is a number between 0 and 1 (inclusive). In order to provide a model of probability, these elements must satisfy probability axioms. In the example of the throw of a standard die, # The sample space \Omega is typically the set \ where each element in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Topology
In mathematics, an order topology is a specific topology that can be defined on any totally ordered set. It is a natural generalization of the topology of the real numbers to arbitrary totally ordered sets. If ''X'' is a totally ordered set, the order topology on ''X'' is generated by the subbase of "open rays" :\ :\ for all ''a, b'' in ''X''. Provided ''X'' has at least two elements, this is equivalent to saying that the open intervals :(a,b) = \ together with the above rays form a base for the order topology. The open sets in ''X'' are the sets that are a union of (possibly infinitely many) such open intervals and rays. A topological space ''X'' is called orderable or linearly orderable if there exists a total order on its elements such that the order topology induced by that order and the given topology on ''X'' coincide. The order topology makes ''X'' into a completely normal Hausdorff space. The standard topologies on R, Q, Z, and N are the order topologies. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semicontinuous
In mathematical analysis, semicontinuity (or semi-continuity) is a property of extended real-valued functions that is weaker than continuity. An extended real-valued function f is upper (respectively, lower) semicontinuous at a point x_0 if, roughly speaking, the function values for arguments near x_0 are not much higher (respectively, lower) than f\left(x_0\right). Briefly, a function on a domain X is lower semi-continuous if its epigraph \ is closed in X\times\R, and upper semi-continuous if -f is lower semi-continuous. A function is continuous if and only if it is both upper and lower semicontinuous. If we take a continuous function and increase its value at a certain point x_0 to f\left(x_0\right) + c for some c>0, then the result is upper semicontinuous; if we decrease its value to f\left(x_0\right) - c then the result is lower semicontinuous. The notion of upper and lower semicontinuous function was first introduced and studied by René Baire in his thesis in 1899. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Set
In mathematics, an open set is a generalization of an Interval (mathematics)#Definitions_and_terminology, open interval in the real line. In a metric space (a Set (mathematics), set with a metric (mathematics), distance defined between every two points), an open set is a set that, with every point in it, contains all points of the metric space that are sufficiently near to (that is, all points whose distance to is less than some value depending on ). More generally, an open set is a member of a given Set (mathematics), collection of Subset, subsets of a given set, a collection that has the property of containing every union (set theory), union of its members, every finite intersection (set theory), intersection of its members, the empty set, and the whole set itself. A set in which such a collection is given is called a topological space, and the collection is called a topology (structure), topology. These conditions are very loose, and allow enormous flexibility in the choice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Partial Order
In mathematics, especially order theory, a partial order on a set is an arrangement such that, for certain pairs of elements, one precedes the other. The word ''partial'' is used to indicate that not every pair of elements needs to be comparable; that is, there may be pairs for which neither element precedes the other. Partial orders thus generalize total orders, in which every pair is comparable. Formally, a partial order is a homogeneous binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive. A partially ordered set (poset for short) is an ordered pair P=(X,\leq) consisting of a set X (called the ''ground set'' of P) and a partial order \leq on X. When the meaning is clear from context and there is no ambiguity about the partial order, the set X itself is sometimes called a poset. Partial order relations The term ''partial order'' usually refers to the reflexive partial order relations, referred to in this article as ''non-strict'' partial orders. However som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Connected Space
In topology and related branches of mathematics, a connected space is a topological space that cannot be represented as the union (set theory), union of two or more disjoint set, disjoint Empty set, non-empty open (topology), open subsets. Connectedness is one of the principal topological properties that distinguish topological spaces. A subset of a topological space X is a if it is a connected space when viewed as a Subspace topology, subspace of X. Some related but stronger conditions are #Path connectedness, path connected, Simply connected space, simply connected, and N-connected space, n-connected. Another related notion is Locally connected space, locally connected, which neither implies nor follows from connectedness. Formal definition A topological space X is said to be if it is the union of two disjoint non-empty open sets. Otherwise, X is said to be connected. A subset of a topological space is said to be connected if it is connected under its subspace topology. So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Separable Space
In mathematics, a topological space is called separable if it contains a countable, dense subset; that is, there exists a sequence ( x_n )_^ of elements of the space such that every nonempty open subset of the space contains at least one element of the sequence. Like the other axioms of countability, separability is a "limitation on size", not necessarily in terms of cardinality (though, in the presence of the Hausdorff axiom, this does turn out to be the case; see below) but in a more subtle topological sense. In particular, every continuous function on a separable space whose image is a subset of a Hausdorff space is determined by its values on the countable dense subset. Contrast separability with the related notion of second countability, which is in general stronger but equivalent on the class of metrizable spaces. First examples Any topological space that is itself finite or countably infinite is separable, for the whole space is a countable dense subset of itself. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Countable Set
In mathematics, a set is countable if either it is finite or it can be made in one to one correspondence with the set of natural numbers. Equivalently, a set is ''countable'' if there exists an injective function from it into the natural numbers; this means that each element in the set may be associated to a unique natural number, or that the elements of the set can be counted one at a time, although the counting may never finish due to an infinite number of elements. In more technical terms, assuming the axiom of countable choice, a set is ''countable'' if its cardinality (the number of elements of the set) is not greater than that of the natural numbers. A countable set that is not finite is said to be countably infinite. The concept is attributed to Georg Cantor, who proved the existence of uncountable sets, that is, sets that are not countable; for example the set of the real numbers. A note on terminology Although the terms "countable" and "countably infinite" as def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second-countable Space
In topology, a second-countable space, also called a completely separable space, is a topological space whose topology has a countable base. More explicitly, a topological space T is second-countable if there exists some countable collection \mathcal = \_^ of open subsets of T such that any open subset of T can be written as a union of elements of some subfamily of \mathcal. A second-countable space is said to satisfy the second axiom of countability. Like other countability axioms, the property of being second-countable restricts the number of open subsets that a space can have. Many "well-behaved" spaces in mathematics are second-countable. For example, Euclidean space (R''n'') with its usual topology is second-countable. Although the usual base of open balls is uncountable, one can restrict this to the collection of all open balls with rational radii and whose centers have rational coordinates. This restricted collection is countable and still forms a basis. Properties ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
