Kolmogorov Equations

Author

John Robin Inston

Published

September 25, 2026

1 Kolmogorov Equations

In Probability Theory, the Kolmogorov equations characterize [[continuous-time-markov-processes]]. In particular, they describe how the probability of a continuous-time Markov process in a certain state changes over time. There are four distinct equations:

  1. The Kolmogorov forward equation for continuous processes (now understood to be identical to the Fokker–Planck equation);
  2. The Kolmogorov forward equation for jump processes;
  3. The Kolmogorov backward equation for continuous processes; and
  4. The Kolmogorov backward equation for jump processes.

These important results have a discrete analogue known as the Chapman-Kolmogorov Equations for Markov Chains.

2 Kolmogorov Forward Equation

3 Backlinks

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