The use of Fourier series in the evaluation of probability distribution functions

Abstract

In statistics, Fourier series have been used extensively in such areas as time series and stochastic processes. These series; however, to a large degree have been neglected with regard to their use in statistical distribution theory. This omission appears quite striking when one considers that, after the elementary functions, the trigonometric functions are the most important functions in applied mathematics. In this paper a procedure is developed for utilizing Fourier series to represent distribution functions of finite range random variables as Fourier series with coefficients easily expressible (using Chebyshev polynomials) In terms of the moments of the distribution. This method allows the evaluation of probabilities for a wide class of distributions. It is applied to the

Keywords:

• Fourier series expansions of distribution functions
• evaluation of distribution functions