The Mean and the Variance as Dual Concepts in a Fundamental Duality
A basic duality arises throughout the mathematical and natural sciences. Traditionally, logic is thought to be based on the Boolean logic of subsets, but the development of category theory in the mid-twentieth century shows the duality between subsets and partitions (or equivalence relations). Hence...
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2025-06-01
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| author | David Ellerman |
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| description | A basic duality arises throughout the mathematical and natural sciences. Traditionally, logic is thought to be based on the Boolean logic of subsets, but the development of category theory in the mid-twentieth century shows the duality between subsets and partitions (or equivalence relations). Hence, there is an equally fundamental dual logic of partitions. At a more basic or granular level, the elements of a subset are dual to the distinctions (pairs of elements in different blocks) of a partition. The quantitative version of subset logic is probability theory (as developed by Boole), and the quantitative version of the logic of partitions is information theory re-founded on the notion of logical entropy. The subset side of the duality uses a one-sample (or one-element) approach, e.g., the mean of a random variable; the partition side uses a two-sample (or pair-of-elements) approach. This paper gives a new derivation of the variance (and covariance) based on the two-sample approach, which positions the variance on the partition and information theory side of the duality and thus dual to the mean. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8d0e8c5e180d4ca5b698f99686645862 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 2075-1680 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Axioms |
| spelling | doaj-art-8d0e8c5e180d4ca5b698f996866458622025-06-25T13:28:27ZengMDPI AGAxioms2075-16802025-06-0114646610.3390/axioms14060466The Mean and the Variance as Dual Concepts in a Fundamental DualityDavid Ellerman0Independent Researcher, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaA basic duality arises throughout the mathematical and natural sciences. Traditionally, logic is thought to be based on the Boolean logic of subsets, but the development of category theory in the mid-twentieth century shows the duality between subsets and partitions (or equivalence relations). Hence, there is an equally fundamental dual logic of partitions. At a more basic or granular level, the elements of a subset are dual to the distinctions (pairs of elements in different blocks) of a partition. The quantitative version of subset logic is probability theory (as developed by Boole), and the quantitative version of the logic of partitions is information theory re-founded on the notion of logical entropy. The subset side of the duality uses a one-sample (or one-element) approach, e.g., the mean of a random variable; the partition side uses a two-sample (or pair-of-elements) approach. This paper gives a new derivation of the variance (and covariance) based on the two-sample approach, which positions the variance on the partition and information theory side of the duality and thus dual to the mean.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/6/466fundamental subsets–partitions dualitylogic of subsetslogic of partitionslogical entropyvariancecovariance |
| spellingShingle | David Ellerman The Mean and the Variance as Dual Concepts in a Fundamental Duality Axioms fundamental subsets–partitions duality logic of subsets logic of partitions logical entropy variance covariance |
| title | The Mean and the Variance as Dual Concepts in a Fundamental Duality |
| title_full | The Mean and the Variance as Dual Concepts in a Fundamental Duality |
| title_fullStr | The Mean and the Variance as Dual Concepts in a Fundamental Duality |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Mean and the Variance as Dual Concepts in a Fundamental Duality |
| title_short | The Mean and the Variance as Dual Concepts in a Fundamental Duality |
| title_sort | mean and the variance as dual concepts in a fundamental duality |
| topic | fundamental subsets–partitions duality logic of subsets logic of partitions logical entropy variance covariance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/6/466 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidellerman themeanandthevarianceasdualconceptsinafundamentalduality AT davidellerman meanandthevarianceasdualconceptsinafundamentalduality |