Paper 1, Section II, F

Probability | Part IA, 2020

Let A1,A2,…,AnA_{1}, A_{2}, \ldots, A_{n} be events in some probability space. State and prove the inclusion-exclusion formula for the probability P(⋃i=1nAi)\mathbb{P}\left(\bigcup_{i=1}^{n} A_{i}\right). Show also that

P(⋃i=1nAi)⩾∑iP(Ai)−∑i<jP(Ai∩Aj)\mathbb{P}\left(\bigcup_{i=1}^{n} A_{i}\right) \geqslant \sum_{i} \mathbb{P}\left(A_{i}\right)-\sum_{i<j} \mathbb{P}\left(A_{i} \cap A_{j}\right)

Suppose now that n⩾2n \geqslant 2 and that whenever i≠ji \neq j we have P(Ai∩Aj)⩽1/n\mathbb{P}\left(A_{i} \cap A_{j}\right) \leqslant 1 / n. Show that there is a constant cc independent of nn such that ∑i=1nP(Ai)⩽cn\sum_{i=1}^{n} \mathbb{P}\left(A_{i}\right) \leqslant c \sqrt{n}.

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