Math 481 (Mathematical Theory of Statistics), Section 1, Fall 2026 (Rutgers University)

Last Update: Sept. 4, 2026

Textbook

Instructor

Times and Place

• TF2 (Tuesdays and Fridays, 10:20-11:40pm) Lucy Stone Hall-B117 (Livingstone Campus)

Dr. Z.'s Office Hours

Hill 704. Tuesdays 2:45-3:30 pm; Thursdays: 2:45-4:00 pm.

CLASS POLICY (and grading method)

Lecture Schedule

• Mandatory Preliminary Reading: Professor James Norris's Probability Distributions [posted here by kind permison of the author].

• Tues. 9/1: Lecture 1 (Chapter 1). Homework: Write a short essay: Is it better to be a Frequentist or a Bayesian?

  Added Sept. 1, 2026: today's attendance quiz and here are the Solutions to today's attendance quiz

• Fri. 9/4: Lecture 2 (Chapter 2, pp. 12-26). Homework (due 9/18): Excercises 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5. Problems 2.1, 2.6

  Added Sept. 4, 2026: today's attendance quiz and here are the Solutions to today's attendance quiz

• Tue. 9/8: NO CLASS TODAY (RUTGERS HAS MONDAY SCHEDULE TODAY)

• Fri. 9/11, Lecture 3 (Chapter 3, pp. 29-38). Homework (due 9/18): Exercises 3.1,3.3 ; Problem 3.1 . Also: Plot the probability function, and cumulative probability function of the random vairable: `Number of goals' defined on the sample space "Players with at least five goals" in the World Cup, using the data given here.

• Tue. 9/15: Lecture 4 (Chapter 3, pp.38-41). Homework (due 9/25): Exercises 3.4, 3.5; Problem 3.2 .

• Fri. 9/18: Lecture 5 (Chapter 4, pp. 44-59). Homework (due 9/25): Excercises 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4; Problem 4.1.
  Quiz 1 (on Lectures 1- 3)

• Tue. 9/22: Lecture 6 (Chapter 4, pp. 59-65). Homework (due 10/2): Excercises 4.9, 4.10, 4.11; Problems 4.2, 4.3.

• Fri. 9/25: Lecture 7 (Chapter 5, pp. 68-75). Homework (due 10/2): Excercises 5.1, 5.2, 5.3; Problems 5.1, 5.2.
  Quiz 2 (on Lectures 4 and 5)

• Tue. 9/29: Lecture 8 (Chapter 5, pp. 75-77). Homework (due 10/9): Excercises 5.4, 5.5, 5.6; Problem 5.5.

• Fri. 10/2: Lecture 9 (Chapter 6, pp. 81-90). Homework (due 10/9): Excercises 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4; Problems 6.1, 6.2.
  Quiz 3 (on Lectures 6 and 7)

• Tue. 10/6: Lecture 10 (Chapter 6, pp. 90-103). Homework (due 10/16): Excercises 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 6.10; Problem 6.5.

• Fri. 10/9: Lecture 11: (Chapter 7, pp. 108-115). Homework (due 10/16): Excercises 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4; Problem 7.1.
  Quiz 4 (on Lectures 8 and 9)

• Tue.. 10/13: REVIEW.

• Fri. 10/16: EXAM 1 (On lectures 1-11)

• Tue. 10/20: Lecture 12 (Chapter 7, pp. 115-120). Homework (due 10/30): Excercises 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9; Problem 7.3.

• Fri. 10/23: Lecture 13 (Chapter 8). Homework (due 10/30): Excercises 8.1, 8.2, 8.3; Problems 8.1, 8.5.
  Quiz 5 (on Lectures 10 and 11)

• Tue. 10/27: Lecture 14 (Chapter 9, pp. 139-154). Homework (due 11/6): Excercises 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5; Problem 9.1.

• Fri. 10/30: Lecture 15 (Chapter 9, pp. 154-161). Homework (due 11/6): Excercises 9.6, 9.7, 9.8, 9.9. 9.10, 9.11; Problem 9.3.
  Quiz 6 (on Lectures 12 and 13)

• Tue. 11/3: Lecture 16 (Chapter 10, pp. 165-176). Homework (due 11/13): Excercises 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4.

• Fri. 11/6: Lecture 17 (Chapter 10, pp. 176-185). Homework (due 11/13): Excercises 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8; Problem 10.2.
  Quiz 7 (on Lectures 14 and 15)

• Tue. 11/10: Lecture 18 (Chapter 11). Homework (due 11/20): Problems 11.1, 11.2, 11.3.

• Fri. 11/13: Lecture 19 (Chapter 12, pp. 209-221). Homework (due 11/20), Excercises 12.1, 12.2, 12.3; Problem 12.1.
  Quiz 8 (on Lectures 16 and 17)

• Tue. 11/17: Lecture 20 (Chapter 12, pp. 221-226). Homework (due 12/8), Excercises 12.4, 12.5, 12.6

• Fri. 11/20: REVIEW . No quiz today.

• Wed. 11/25: EXAM 2 (On lectures 1-19, with some emphasis on lectures 12-19) .

• Tue. 12/1: Lecture 21: Perci Diaconis essay on mathematical statistics, chapter VII.10 here (part 1) . Homework: tbd
  Quiz 9 (on Lectures 18 and 19)

• Fri. 12/4: Lecture 22 : Perci Diaconis essay on mathematical statistics, chapter VII.10 here (part 2). Homework: tbd

• Tue. 12/8: Lecture 23: Review
  Quiz 10 (on Lectures 20 and 21)

• Fri. 12/11: 9:00 am-11:50 am (Optional, but strongly recommended) Marathon review, via WebEx

Final:

• Fri. 12/18, 8:00 am-11:00 am in the classrom (Lucy Stone Hall-B117)