English

A de Bruijn identity for discrete random variables

Information Theory 2017-08-22 v1 math.IT Probability Quantum Physics

Abstract

We discuss properties of the "beamsplitter addition" operation, which provides a non-standard scaled convolution of random variables supported on the non-negative integers. We give a simple expression for the action of beamsplitter addition using generating functions. We use this to give a self-contained and purely classical proof of a heat equation and de Bruijn identity, satisfied when one of the variables is geometric.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1701.07089,
  title  = {A de Bruijn identity for discrete random variables},
  author = {Oliver Johnson and Saikat Guha},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1701.07089},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

9 pages, shorter version submitted to ISIT 2017

R2 v1 2026-06-22T17:59:18.858Z