Definition:Elementary Event

Definition

Let $\EE$ be an experiment.

An elementary event of $\EE$, often denoted $\omega$ (Greek lowercase omega) is one of the elements of the sample space $\Omega$ (Greek capital omega) of $\EE$.

Also known as

An elementary event is one of the possible outcomes of $\EE$.

Thus outcome means the same thing as elementary event.

Some sources refer to an elementary event as a sample point.

Examples

Throwing a 6-Sided Die

Let $\EE$ be the experiment of throwing a standard $6$-sided die.

The elementary events of $\EE$ are the elements of the set $\set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}$.

Also see

• Results about elementary events can be found here.

Sources

• 1965: A.M. Arthurs: Probability Theory ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $2$: Probability and Discrete Sample Spaces: $2.2$ Sample spaces and events
• 1986: Geoffrey Grimmett and Dominic Welsh: Probability: An Introduction ... (previous) ... (next): $1$: Events and probabilities: $1.2$: Outcomes and events
• 2013: Donald L. Cohn: Measure Theory (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $10$: Probability: $10.1$: Basics