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Fisher Information


The Fisher information in an observation X about a scalar parameter theta is the variance of the score function. If X has probability density function f(x;theta), it is

 I(theta)=E_theta[(partial/(partialtheta)lnf(X;theta))^2],

where E_theta[Y] denotes the expectation value of Y under the distribution with parameter theta. Under regularity conditions that permit differentiation under the integral sign, this can also be written as

 I(theta)=-E_theta[(partial^2)/(partialtheta^2)lnf(X;theta)].

Fisher information is additive for independent observations. Thus, n independent observations from the same distribution have information nI(theta). The reciprocal of the information gives the Cramér-Rao bound on the variance of an unbiased estimator under corresponding regularity conditions.

A sharp bound for Boolean encoders of correlated binary data is the Amari-Kobayashi conjecture, proved by Chen et al. (2026).


See also

Cramér-Rao Bound, Expectation Value, Fisher Information Matrix, Likelihood Function, Score Function, Variance

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References

Chen, J.; Watanabe, S.; and Yu, L. "A Sharp Fisher-Information Inequality for Boolean Pairs: Proof of the Amari-Kobayashi Conjecture." 29 Oct 2026. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.39355.Fisher, R. A. "Theory of Statistical Estimation." Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 22, 700-725, 1925. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305004100009580.

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Fisher Information." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/FisherInformation.html

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