% ================================================================= % Lecture 3 % Source: handwritten notes (Mathpix-converted) + Kashlak STAT 571 % ================================================================= \section[Lecture 3 -- Uniqueness; Dynkin's \texorpdfstring{$\pi$--$\lambda$}{pi-lambda} Theorem; Completeness]{Lecture 3 \textemdash{} Uniqueness; Dynkin's \texorpdfstring{$\pi$--$\lambda$}{pi-lambda} Theorem; Completeness} \label{sec:lec03} The Carath\'eodory theorem of the previous lecture extends a pre-measure on a ring $\Acal$ to a measure on $\sigma(\Acal)$. The natural follow-up question is whether such an extension is \emph{unique}: if $\mu_{1}$ and $\mu_{2}$ are two measures on $\sigma(\Acal)$ that coincide on $\Acal$, must they coincide on all of $\sigma(\Acal)$? The Dynkin $\pi$-$\lambda$ theorem is the standard machinery for answering this question. \subsection{\texorpdfstring{$\pi$}{pi}-systems and \texorpdfstring{$\lambda$}{lambda}-systems} \begin{definition}{\texorpdfstring{$\pi$}{pi}-system}{pisystem} A collection $\Acal$ of subsets of $\Omega$ is a \emph{$\pi$-system} if $\varnothing \in \Acal$ and, for any $A, B \in \Acal$, we have $A \cap B \in \Acal$. That is, $\Acal$ is closed under finite intersections. \end{definition} \begin{definition}{\texorpdfstring{$\lambda$}{lambda}-system}{lambdasystem} A collection $\Lcal$ of subsets of $\Omega$ is a \emph{$\lambda$-system} if \begin{itemize} \item $\Omega \in \Lcal$; \item for $A, B \in \Lcal$ with $A \subset B$, we have $B \setminus A \in \Lcal$; \item for $\{A_{i}\}_{i=1}^{\infty} \subset \Lcal$ pairwise disjoint, we have $\bigcup_{i=1}^{\infty} A_{i} \in \Lcal$. \end{itemize} \end{definition} \begin{remark} A $\lambda$-system is very close to a $\sigma$-field; the difference is that closure under countable unions is required only for \emph{disjoint} collections. Note that any field is automatically a $\pi$-system, and a collection that is \emph{both} a $\pi$-system and a $\lambda$-system is a $\sigma$-field. \end{remark} \subsection{Dynkin's \texorpdfstring{$\pi$--$\lambda$}{pi-lambda} theorem} The next theorem is the workhorse: it lets us upgrade containment in a $\lambda$-system to containment of the full generated $\sigma$-field, provided we start from a $\pi$-system. \begin{theorem}{Dynkin's \texorpdfstring{$\pi$--$\lambda$}{pi-lambda} Theorem}{dynkin} Let $\Acal$ be a $\pi$-system and $\Lcal$ be a $\lambda$-system on $\Omega$ with $\Acal \subset \Lcal$. Then $\sigma(\Acal) \subset \Lcal$. \end{theorem} \subsection{Uniqueness of extension} \begin{theorem}{Uniqueness of Extension}{uniqueness} Let $\mu_{1}, \mu_{2}$ be $\sigma$-finite measures on $\sigma(\Acal)$, where $\Acal$ is a $\pi$-system. If $\mu_{1}(A) = \mu_{2}(A)$ for every $A \in \Acal$, then $\mu_{1}(B) = \mu_{2}(B)$ for every $B \in \sigma(\Acal)$. \end{theorem} \begin{remark} For finite measures the proof is short: one checks that $\Lcal := \{B \subset \Omega : \mu_{1}(B) = \mu_{2}(B)\}$ is a $\lambda$-system containing $\Acal$, and then applies the $\pi$-$\lambda$ theorem. The $\sigma$-finite case is handled by exhausting $\Omega$ along a sequence $\Omega = \bigcup_{i} A_{i}$ with $A_{i} \in \Acal$ and $\mu_{1}(A_{i}) = \mu_{2}(A_{i}) < \infty$ and using inclusion--exclusion on the $\pi$-system. \end{remark} \begin{remark}[Probability spaces and \texorpdfstring{$\pi$}{pi}-systems] $\pi$-systems arise naturally in probability: if we know two events, we can also consider their intersection (the joint event). Rolling two fair dice, for instance, the events $\{D_{1}+D_{2}=8\}$ and $\{D_{1} \equiv 0 \bmod 2\}$ both belong to a $\pi$-system, as does their intersection. \end{remark} \begin{example}[$\sigma$-finiteness is necessary] Without $\sigma$-finiteness, uniqueness can fail. Take $\Omega = (0,1]$ and $\Acal$ the collection of finite unions of half-open intervals $(a,b]$. \begin{itemize} \item Let $\mu$ assign $0$ to $\varnothing$ and $\infty$ to every non-empty element of $\Acal$. Its outer measure $\mu^{*}$ assigns $\infty$ to every non-empty subset of $\Omega$. \item The counting measure also assigns $0$ to $\varnothing$ and $\infty$ to each non-empty $(a,b]$, but it assigns the finite value $3$ to $\{\tfrac{1}{4}, \tfrac{1}{2}, \tfrac{3}{4}\}$. \end{itemize} The two measures agree on $\Acal$ but disagree on $\sigma(\Acal)$. \end{example} \subsection{Completeness} We would like a measure space in which any set differing from a measurable set by a null set is itself measurable, with the same measure. The original $\sigma$-field need not have this property, but it can be enlarged so it does. \begin{definition}{Symmetric Difference}{symdiff} For two sets $A, B \subset \Omega$, the \emph{symmetric difference} is \[ A \triangle B := (A \setminus B) \cup (B \setminus A). \] \end{definition} For a measure space $(X, \Fcal, \mu)$ with $\Fcal \subset \Pcal(X)$, recall the outer measure \[ \mu^{*}(B) := \inf\{ \mu(A) : B \subset A,\ A \in \Fcal \}, \qquad B \in \Pcal(X). \] \begin{definition}{Null Sets and Completeness}{complete} The collection of \emph{$\mu$-null sets} is \[ \Ncal_{\mu} := \{ N \subset X : \mu^{*}(N) = 0 \} \subset \Pcal(X). \] The measure space $(X, \Fcal, \mu)$ is \emph{complete} if $\Ncal_{\mu} \subset \Fcal$. \end{definition} \begin{remark}[Exercise] Show that $\Ncal_{\mu}$ is a ring. \end{remark} When the space is not complete, we may complete it by enlarging $\Fcal$ to include all null sets and their unions with measurable sets. \begin{proposition}{Completion of a Measure Space (Dudley 3.3.2)}{completion} Let $(X, \Fcal, \mu)$ be a measure space with null sets $\Ncal_{\mu}$. Define \[ \Fcal \vee \Ncal_{\mu} := \{ A \cup N : A \in \Fcal,\ N \in \Ncal_{\mu} \}. \] Then \[ \Fcal \vee \Ncal_{\mu} = \{ B \subset X : \exists\, A \in \Fcal \text{ with } A \triangle B \in \Ncal_{\mu} \}, \] and this is the smallest $\sigma$-field containing both $\Fcal$ and $\Ncal_{\mu}$. The triple $(X, \Fcal \vee \Ncal_{\mu}, \bar{\mu})$ with $\bar{\mu}(A \cup N) := \mu(A)$ is a complete measure space, called the \emph{completion} of $(X, \Fcal, \mu)$. \end{proposition}