Gambler's ruin
The gambler's ruin is a concept in statistics. It is most commonly expressed as follows: A gambler playing a game with negative expected value will eventually go broke, regardless of their betting sys
Littlewood–Offord problem
In mathematical field of combinatorial geometry, the Littlewood–Offord problem is the problem of determining the number of of a set of vectors that fall in a given convex set. More formally, if V is a
Balls into bins problem
The balls into bins (or balanced allocations) problem is a classic problem in probability theory that has many applications in computer science. The problem involves m balls and n boxes (or "bins"). E
Coupon collector's problem
In probability theory, the coupon collector's problem describes "collect all coupons and win" contests. It asks the following question: If each box of a brand of cereals contains a coupon, and there a
Bertrand's box paradox
Bertrand's box paradox is a veridical paradox in elementary probability theory. It was first posed by Joseph Bertrand in his 1889 work Calcul des Probabilités. There are three boxes: 1.
* a box conta
Sleeping Beauty problem
The Sleeping Beauty problem is a puzzle in decision theory in which whenever an ideally rational epistemic agent is awoken from sleep, she has no memory of whether she has been awoken before. Upon bei
Boy or Girl paradox
The Boy or Girl paradox surrounds a set of questions in probability theory, which are also known as The Two Child Problem, Mr. Smith's Children and the Mrs. Smith Problem. The initial formulation of t
Monty Hall problem
The Monty Hall problem is a brain teaser, in the form of a probability puzzle, loosely based on the American television game show Let's Make a Deal and named after its original host, Monty Hall. The p
Hamburger moment problem
In mathematics, the Hamburger moment problem, named after Hans Ludwig Hamburger, is formulated as follows: given a sequence (m0, m1, m2, ...), does there exist a positive Borel measure μ (for instance
Birthday problem
In probability theory, the birthday problem asks for the probability that, in a set of n randomly chosen people, at least two will share a birthday. The birthday paradox is that, counterintuitively, t
Bertrand's ballot theorem
In combinatorics, Bertrand's ballot problem is the question: "In an election where candidate A receives p votes and candidate B receives q votes with p > q, what is the probability that A will be stri
Newton–Pepys problem
The Newton–Pepys problem is a probability problem concerning the probability of throwing sixes from a certain number of dice. In 1693 Samuel Pepys and Isaac Newton corresponded over a problem posed to
Pill puzzle
The pill jar puzzle is a probability puzzle, which asks the expected value of the number of half-pills remaining when the last whole pill is popped from a jar initially containing n whole pills and th
Two envelopes problem
The two envelopes problem, also known as the exchange paradox, is a paradox in probability theory. It is of special interest in decision theory, and for the Bayesian interpretation of probability theo
Moment problem
In mathematics, a moment problem arises as the result of trying to invert the mapping that takes a measure μ to the sequences of moments More generally, one may consider for an arbitrary sequence of f
German tank problem
In the statistical theory of estimation, the German tank problem consists of estimating the maximum of a discrete uniform distribution from sampling without replacement. In simple terms, suppose there
Three Prisoners problem
The Three Prisoners problem appeared in Martin Gardner's "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American in 1959. It is mathematically equivalent to the Monty Hall problem with car and goat replace
Problem of points
The problem of points, also called the problem of division of the stakes, is a classical problem in probability theory. One of the famous problems that motivated the beginnings of modern probability t
Buffon's needle problem
In mathematics, Buffon's needle problem is a question first posed in the 18th century by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon: Suppose we have a floor made of parallel strips of wood, each the same
Mabinogion sheep problem
In probability theory, the Mabinogion sheep problem or Mabinogian urn is a problem in stochastic control introduced by David Williams , who named it after a herd of magic sheep in the Welsh collection
Waldegrave problem
In probability and game theory, the Waldegrave problem refers to a problem first described in the second edition of Pierre Raymond de Montmort`s Essay d'analyse sur les jeux de hazard. This problem is
Hausdorff moment problem
In mathematics, the Hausdorff moment problem, named after Felix Hausdorff, asks for necessary and sufficient conditions that a given sequence (m0, m1, m2, ...) be the sequence of moments of some Borel
Siegel's paradox
Siegel's paradox is the phenomenon that uncertainty about future prices can theoretically push rational consumers to temporarily trade away their preferred consumption goods (or currency) for non-pref
Sunrise problem
The sunrise problem can be expressed as follows: "What is the probability that the sun will rise tomorrow?" The sunrise problem illustrates the difficulty of using probability theory when evaluating t
Urn problem
In probability and statistics, an urn problem is an idealized mental exercise in which some objects of real interest (such as atoms, people, cars, etc.) are represented as colored balls in an urn or o
Secretary problem
The secretary problem demonstrates a scenario involving optimal stopping theory that is studied extensively in the fields of applied probability, statistics, and decision theory. It is also known as t
Stieltjes moment problem
In mathematics, the Stieltjes moment problem, named after Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, seeks necessary and sufficient conditions for a sequence (m0, m1, m2, ...) to be of the form for some measure μ. If
Trigonometric moment problem
In mathematics, the trigonometric moment problem is formulated as follows: given a finite sequence {α0, ... αn }, does there exist a positive Borel measure μ on the interval [0, 2π] such that In other
Banach's matchbox problem
Banach's match problem is a classic problem in probability attributed to Stefan Banach. Feller says that the problem was inspired by a humorous reference to Banach's smoking habit in a speech honourin