If i have 2 random vectors $X$ and $Y$, each of them with own different pdf, what is the conceptual interpretation of saying that the conditional expectation of $X$ given $Y$ is null? i.e. \begin{equation} E[X|Y] = 0 \end{equation} Thank you very much for your attention.
interpretation of the conditional mean
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1 Answers
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I would prefer to see something like "$E[X|Y=y]=0$ for all $y$", which could be taken as meaning that whatever the value of $Y$, the expected value of $X$ is $0$.
One example of this might be $Y$ having any distribution you want and $X$ taking the values $\pm Y$ with probability $\frac12$ each. Since $|X|=|Y|$, they are not independent even though the value of $Y$ does not affect the expectation of $X$.
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0I probably should have required $Y$ to have a finite mean – 2012-08-24