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I know that these are two properties of PMF.

Non-negativity

Sum over the support equals 1

However I can't show that this PMF's sum over the support equals 1.

Muon
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  • @gammatester wow, i didn't even think about Taylor series! Now it is too obvious. Thanks for the help! – Muon Oct 16 '13 at 11:48

1 Answers1

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Using the Taylor series for $e^{\lambda}$ you have $$ \sum_{k=0}^{\infty} p_X(k) = \sum_{k=0}^{\infty} e^{-\lambda} \frac{{\lambda}^k}{k!} = e^{-\lambda} \sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \frac{{\lambda}^k}{k!} = e^{-\lambda} e^{\lambda} = 1 $$

gammatester
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