# Is the expected value of a RV same as the mean of the corresponding pdf?

As we know the expectation of a RV $$X$$ or a function, say $$g(X)$$, of $$X$$, both with pdf $$p_{X}(x)$$ is

$$\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {X \sim {p_X}(x):}&{E[X] = \int {x.{p_X}(x)dx} }\\ {g(X) \sim {p_X}(x):}&{E[X] = \int {g(x).{p_X}(x)dx} } \end{array}$$

So my question is, can we say that When $$X$$ is just an argument the mean of pdf $$p(x)$$ is the same as the expected value of $$X$$, i.e. $$E[X]$$; but for a function of this RV ,say $$g(X)$$, it is not true.

Also as mentioned in this topic:

"The expectation is the average value or mean of a random variable not a probability distribution."

So in general: The expected value of a RV is not always the same as the mean of the corresponding pdf. Is my interpretation correct?

• There is no difference between expectation of $X$ and expectation of the distribution of $X$. – StubbornAtom Jun 2 '19 at 10:27
• Thank you for comment. And about the expectation of a function of $X$ and expectation of the distribution of $X$? @StubbornAtom – sci9 Jun 2 '19 at 10:29
• If $p$ is the pdf of $X$, then mean of $X$=$\int xp(x)\,dx$. And for a function $g$, mean of $g(X)$ is $\int g(x)p(x)\,dx$, which follows from this theorem. – StubbornAtom Jun 2 '19 at 10:37
• @StubbornAtom Thank you for the link. So we say that when the distribution of $g(X)$, i.e. $p_{g(X)}(x)$, is known, $E(g(X))$ is the same as mean of pdf $p_{g(X)}(x)$? – sci9 Jun 2 '19 at 10:53
• Yes, $E(g(X))=\int x p_{g(X)}(x)\,dx$. – StubbornAtom Jun 2 '19 at 11:01

The expectation of a (Borel measurable) function $$g$$ relative to a probability density $$f(x)$$ is defined to be the integral of $$g(x)f(x)\mathrm{d}x$$ provided the integral of $$|g(x)|f(x)\mathrm{d}x$$ is finite. This is always equal to the expectation of $$g(X)$$ whenever $$X$$ is a random variable with $$f$$ for its density.

This is a fundamental result of probability theory and so is well worth learning and understanding. Although it has frequently been quoted on these pages, I don't believe it has been rigorously stated here, nor has any sketch of its proof been shown. For those details, read on.

Let's get clear about the definitions.

A random variable $$X$$ associates numerical values to outcomes in a probability space $$(\Omega, \mathfrak F, \mathbb P).$$ Its expectation is the mathematical expression of the average of $$X$$ as weighted by the probability, written

$$E[X] = \int_\Omega X(\omega)\,\mathrm{d}\mathbb{P}(\omega).$$

In this expression, which is a Lebesgue integral, "$$\omega$$" refers to elements of the sample space $$\Omega$$, $$X(\omega)$$ is the value associated by $$X$$ to $$\omega,$$ and $$\mathrm{d}\mathbb{P}(\omega)$$ can be understood as its proper weight in this average.

Similarly, when $$g$$ is a function of the possible values of $$X$$ (so it assigns numbers to numbers) and $$g(X)$$ also is a random variable, this formula shows $$g(X)$$ has an expectation

$$E[g(X)] = \int_\Omega g(X(\omega))\,\mathrm{d}\mathbb{P}(\omega).$$

The (probability) distribution $$F_X$$ of a random variable $$X$$ is a probability function defined on certain "nice" sets of numbers, the Borel sets. For any number $$x,$$ it is determined by the rule

$$F_X(x) = \mathbb{P}\left(\left\{\omega\in\Omega\mid X(\omega)\le x\right\}\right).$$

In words: the value of the distribution function $$F_X$$ at the number $$x$$ is the chance that $$X$$ will not exceed $$x.$$

When $$F_X$$ has a derivative $$f_X,$$ the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus says $$F_X$$ can be recovered by integrating $$f_X:$$

$$F_X(x) = \int_{-\infty}^x f_X(x)\mathrm{d}x.$$

In this case, we say $$X$$ has a probability density function (pdf) $$f_X.$$ Such a density function can be considered an assignment of a non-negative number $$f_X(x)$$--the "probability density at $$x$$"--to every number $$x.$$ This makes it a different kind of mathematical object than $$X.$$ Nevertheless, the two objects enjoy a fundamental relationship.

The Law of the Unconscious Statistician assserts the expectation of any sufficiently nice (i.e., measurable) function $$g$$ applied to $$X,$$ written above as an abstract integral over $$\Omega,$$ can always be computed as an integral over $$f_X$$ when $$X$$ has a pdf:

LOTUS (the Law of the Unconscious Statistician): $$E[|g(X)|] = \int_{-\infty}^\infty |g(x)| f(x)\mathrm{d}x$$ and, when this quantity is finite, $$E[g(X)] = \int_{-\infty}^\infty g(x) f(x)\mathrm{d}x.$$

This is not straightforward to prove. The standard demonstration echoes the definition of the Lebesgue integral: basically, you have to start from scratch by defining the two kinds of integrals over the simplest possible functions (those that take on only the values $$0$$ and $$1$$) and gradually generalizing them to more complicated functions, checking at each step that LOTUS holds. The stages of generality of $$g$$ are:

1. Indicator functions (measurable functions with values in $$0$$ and $$1$$).

2. Finite sums of indicator functions multiplied by positive constants ("simple functions").

3. Non-negative (Borel) measurable functions. These can be approximated by simple functions.

4. General measurable functions. These can be expressed as differences of non-negative measurable functions.

For details, see the reference.

### Reference

Steven Shreve, Stochastic Calculus for Finance II: Continuous-Time Models (Springer 2000), section 1.5.