2
$\begingroup$

Say $f(X_1)$, $f(X_2)$, $f(X_3)$, $f(X_4)$ are the empirical marginal PDFs of random variables $X_1$, $X_2$ , $X_3$, $X_4$. Also given is correlation between each pair of variables $X_1$, $X_2$ , $X_3$, $X_4$. Is it possible to obtain the empirical joint PDF of $f(X_1, X_2, X_3, X_4)$?

$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ How do you define "empirical marginal PDFs"; $\endgroup$
    – JohnK
    Commented Jul 9, 2016 at 17:08
  • $\begingroup$ @JohnK I obtained empirical PDFs from an experiment that I conducted $\endgroup$
    – Spandyie
    Commented Jul 9, 2016 at 17:11
  • $\begingroup$ not without additional assumptions (eg. multi-variate normality would be sufficient). $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 9, 2016 at 17:28

1 Answer 1

5
$\begingroup$

In general, no.

In fact, even if the marginals are normally distributed, the joint distribution could be quite interesting. Here is an one example: Is it possible to have a pair of Gaussian random variables for which the joint distribution is not Gaussian?.

$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ @Vimal the marginals of individual variables are definitely not normally distributed, I think it looks somewhat Gamma distributed. $\endgroup$
    – Spandyie
    Commented Jul 10, 2016 at 1:09

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.