Probability theory

Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability, the analysis of random phenomena. The central objects of probability theory are random variables, , and events: mathematical abstractions of non-deterministic events or measured quantities that may either be single occurrences or evolve over time in an apparently random fashion.

It is not possible to predict precisely results of random events. However, if a sequence of individual events, such as coin flipping or the roll of dice, is influenced by other factors, such as friction, it will exhibit certain patterns, which can be studied and predicted. Two representative mathematical results describing such patterns are the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem.

As a mathematical foundation for statistics, probability theory is essential to many human activities that involve quantitative analysis of large sets of data. Methods of probability theory also apply to descriptions of complex systems given only partial knowledge of their state, as in statistical mechanics. A great discovery of twentieth century physics was the probabilistic nature of physical phenomena at atomic scales, described in quantum mechanics.

The mathematical theory of probability has its roots in attempts to analyze games of chance by Gerolamo Cardano in the sixteenth century, and by Pierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal in the seventeenth century (for example the "problem of points"). Christiaan Huygens published a book on the subject in 1657 and in the 19th century, Pierre Laplace completed what is today considered the classic interpretation.

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