When we have $m$ $i.i.d$ samples  $\{x^{(1)},...,x^{(m)}\}$ from a Normal distribution with parameter $\mu$ and $\sigma$, such that: 
	$$P(x^{(i)};\mu, \sigma) = \frac{1}{\sigma\sqrt{2\pi}}e^{\frac{1}{2}(\frac{x-\mu}{\sigma})^2}$$,
a unbiased estimator for $\mu$ is the mean of those samples:
	$\hat{\mu}_m = \frac{1}{m} \sum_{i=1}^m x^{(i)}$


Johns Hopkins University

Bell-shaped distribution, often referred to as Gaussian. To test the assumption of normality, a variety of methods are available, but the simplest is to inspect the data visually using a histogram or a Q-Q scatterplot. Real-world data are almost never perfectly normal, so this assumption can be considered reasonably met if the shape looks approximately symmetric and bell-shaped. The data in the example figure below is approximately normally distributed.

Normal Distribution

When we take $n$ $i.i.d.$ samples from a Bernoulli distribution with parameter $\theta$, the mean of those samples is an unbiased estimator for $\theta$

Similarly, the mean of $n$ $i.i.d.$ samples from a Normal distribution is an unbiased estimator for the $\mu$ paramter of the Normal distirbution. 

Examples of Unbiased Estimators

A normal distribution, also known as a Gaussian distribution, is a continuous probability distribution defined by its mean $$\mu$$ and variance $$\sigma^2$$ (where $$\sigma$$ is the standard deviation). The probability density function is given by the formula: $$p(x) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2 \pi \sigma^2}} \exp\left(-\frac{1}{2 \sigma^2} (x - \mu)^2ight)$$. Changing the mean $$\mu$$ corresponds to a shift of the distribution along the $$x$$-axis, while increasing the variance $$\sigma^2$$ spreads the distribution out and lowers its peak.

Gaussian (Normal) Distribution

Goodfellow, I., Bengio, Y., & Courville, A. (2016). $\mathit{Deep \ Learning.}$ MIT Press. Retrieved from [www.deeplearningbook.org](https://www.deeplearningbook.org) 

Deep Learning

Paper Describing Central Limit Theorem and Its Connection to Normality: Kwak, S. G., & Kim, J. H. (2017). Central limit theorem: The cornerstone of modern statistics. Korean Journal of Anesthesiology, 70(2), 144. doi:10.4097/kjae.2017.70.2.144. Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5370305/

Reference Paper for Central Limit Theorem 

Maximal Entropy Distributions

In probability theory, a log-normal (or lognormal) distribution is a continuous probability distribution of a random variable whose logarithm is normally distributed. Thus, if the random variable X is log-normally distributed, then Y = ln(X) has a normal distribution. Equivalently, if Y has a normal distribution, then the exponential function of Y, X = exp(Y), has a log-normal distribution. A random variable which is log-normally distributed takes only positive real values. It is a convenient and useful model for measurements in exact and engineering sciences, as well as medicine, economics and other topics (e.g., energies, concentrations, lengths, financial returns and other metrics).


Log-normal distribution

Unbiased Estimator for Normal $\mu$ Parameter

The Central Limit Theorem is a foundational mathematical principle in probability theory stating that the average of $$n$$ independent random samples drawn from any distribution (with mean $$\mu$$ and standard deviation $$\sigma$$) will approximately follow a normal distribution centered at the true mean $$\mu$$ with a standard deviation of $$\sigma/\sqrt{n}$$, as the sample size $$n$$ grows large. In machine learning, this theorem explains why the empirical error of a classifier evaluated on a test set converges to its true population error at an asymptotic rate of $$\mathcal{O}(1/\sqrt{n})$$.

Central Limit Theorem

When we have $m$ $i.i.d$ samples  $\{x^{(1)},...,x^{(m)}\}$ from a Bernoulli distribution with parameter $\theta$, such that: 
	$$P(x^{(i)},\theta) = \theta^{x^{(i)}} (1-\theta)^{(1-x^{i})}$$,
a unbiased estimator for $\theta$ is the mean of those samples:
	$\hat{\theta}_m = \frac{1}{m} \sum_{i=1}^m x^{(i)}$


Unbiased Estimator for Bernoulli Parameter

See this [youtube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1hgiAla3KI) for a explanation for why 
$$\mathbb{E}[\hat{\sigma}^2_m] =\mathbb{E}\left[\frac{1}{m - 1}\sum_{i=1}^m \left(x^{(i)} - \hat{\mu}_m\right)^2\right]$$
is an unbiased estimator for the variance $\sigma^2$. 

Unbiased Estimator for Normal $\sigma^2$ parameter

Probability density function plot for a gaussian distribution has got a symmetric bell shape where $\sigma$ defines the width of the curve and $\mu$ describes the center of the curve. The y axis is the probability density function.

The below curve is for a standard normal distribution having $\mu$ = 0  and $\sigma$ = 1


Plot of Normal Distribution Density Function

The mathematical formula for the normal distribution's probability density function can be directly implemented in Python. Using standard libraries like `math` and `numpy` (or their deep learning equivalents in PyTorch, JAX, or TensorFlow), a function can be defined to calculate the probability density $$p$$ for a given value $$x$$, given a mean $$\mu$$ and standard deviation $$\sigma$$. The code implementation is as follows:

```python
def normal(x, mu, sigma):
    p = 1 / math.sqrt(2 * math.pi * sigma**2)
    return p * np.exp(-0.5 * (x - mu)**2 / sigma**2)
```

This runnable implementation aligns with the formal definition: $$p(x) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2 \pi \sigma^2}} \exp\left(-\frac{1}{2 \sigma^2} (x - \mu)^2\right)$$.

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