In mathematics, uniform integrability is an important concept in
real analysis
In mathematics, the branch of real analysis studies the behavior of real numbers, sequences and series of real numbers, and real functions. Some particular properties of real-valued sequences and functions that real analysis studies include converg ...
,
functional analysis
Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. Inner product space#Definition, inner product, Norm (mathematics)#Defini ...
and
measure theory
In mathematics, the concept of a measure is a generalization and formalization of geometrical measures ( length, area, volume) and other common notions, such as mass and probability of events. These seemingly distinct concepts have many simil ...
, and plays a vital role in the theory of
martingales.
Measure-theoretic definition
Uniform integrability is an extension to the notion of a family of functions being dominated in
which is central in
dominated convergence
In measure theory, Lebesgue's dominated convergence theorem provides sufficient conditions under which almost everywhere convergence of a sequence of functions implies convergence in the ''L''1 norm. Its power and utility are two of the primary ...
.
Several textbooks on real analysis and measure theory use the following definition:
Definition A: Let
be a positive
measure space
A measure space is a basic object of measure theory, a branch of mathematics that studies generalized notions of volumes. It contains an underlying set, the subsets of this set that are feasible for measuring (the -algebra) and the method that i ...
. A set
is called uniformly integrable if
, and to each
there corresponds a
such that
:
whenever
and
Definition A is rather restrictive for infinite measure spaces. A slightly more general definition of uniform integrability that works well in general measures spaces was introduced by
G. A. Hunt.
Definition H: Let
be a positive measure space. A set
is called uniformly integrable if and only if
:
where
.
For finite measure spaces the following result follows from Definition H:
Theorem 1: If
is a (positive) finite measure space, then a set
is ''uniformly integrable'' if and only if
:
Many textbooks in probability present Theorem 1 as the definition of uniform integrability in Probability spaces. When the space
is
-finite, Definition H yields the following equivalency:
Theorem 2: Let
be a
-finite measure space, and
be such that
almost surely. A set
is ''uniformly integrable'' if and only if
, and for any
, there exits
such that
:
whenever
.
In particular, the equivalence of Definitions A and H for finite measures follows immediately from Theorem 2; for this case, the statement in Definition A is obtained by taking
in Theorem 2.
Probability definition
In the theory of probability, Definition A or the statement of Theorem 1 are often presented as definitions of uniform integrability using the notation expectation of random variables., that is,
1. A class
of random variables is called uniformly integrable if:
* There exists a finite
such that, for every
in
,
and
* For every
there exists
such that, for every measurable
such that
and every
in
,
.
or alternatively
2. A class
of
random variable
A random variable (also called random quantity, aleatory variable, or stochastic variable) is a mathematical formalization of a quantity or object which depends on random events. It is a mapping or a function from possible outcomes (e.g., the po ...
s is called uniformly integrable (UI) if there exists