Theory 1

In many contexts it is useful to consider random variables that are summations of a large number of variables.

Summation formulas: and

Suppose is a large sum of random variables:

Then:

If and are uncorrelated (e.g. if they are independent):

Extra - Derivation of variance of a sum

Using the definition:

In the last line we use the fact that for the first term, and the symmetry property of covariance for the second term with the factor of 2.