Explain stochastic processes in plain English?

Question

I’ve learned some basic probability theory, like random variables, pdfs, cdfs, joint pdf, renewal processes, etc.

However, I know nothing about Markov chain. I don’t even understand the definitions of ***stochastic processes*** (especially those notations). Is it simply *”**random* *events that occur one after another”*?

Can someone explain stochastic processes in plain English? Can I say it is a collection of RVs along a timeline?

In: Mathematics

Answer 1

> can I say it is a collection of RVs along a timeline

Pretty much, and the variables are drawn from the same space. More generally you can think of it as a family of random variables sharing a state space and indexed by some set which is usually a subset of the real line — time being the natural interpretation for a time-dependent stochastic process.