POSSIBILITY THEORY II: CONDITIONAL POSSIBILITY

Abstract

It is shown that the nolion of conditional possibility can be consistently iniroduced in possibility theory, in very much the same way as conditional expectations and probabilities are defined in the measure- and integral-theoretic treatment of probability theory. I write down possibilistic integral equations which are formal counterparts of the integral equations used to define conditional expectations and probabilities, and use their solutions to define conditional possibilities. In all, three types of conditional possibilities, with special cases, are introduced and studied. I explain why, like conditional expectations, conditional possibilities are not uniquely defined, but can only be determined up to almost everywhere equality, and I assess the consequences of this nondeterminacy. I also show that this approach solves a number of consistency problems, extant in Ihe literature.

INDEX TERMS:

• Possibility integral
• integral equation
• conditional possibility