Conditional Random Quantities and Compounds of Conditionals (1304.4990v1)

Abstract: In this paper we consider finite conditional random quantities and conditional previsions assessments in the setting of coherence. We use a suitable representation for conditional random quantities; in particular the indicator of a conditional event $E|H$ is looked at as a three-valued quantity with values 1, or 0, or $p$, where $p$ is the probability of $E|H$. We introduce a notion of iterated conditional random quantity of the form $(X|H)|K$ defined as a suitable conditional random quantity, which coincides with $X|HK$ when $H \subseteq K$. Based on a paper by S. Kaufmann, we introduce a notion of conjunction of two conditional events and then we analyze it in the setting of coherence. We give a representation of the conjoined conditional and we show that this new object is a conditional random quantity. We examine some cases of logical dependencies, by also showing that the conjunction may be a conditional event; moreover, we introduce the negation of the conjunction and by De Morgan's Law the operation of disjunction. Finally, we give the lower and upper bounds for the conjunction and the disjunction of two conditional events, by showing that the usual probabilistic properties continue to hold.