Chapter 2 Preliminaries

In this chapter, we introduce the main tools used for studying the stochastic properties of start-up demonstration tests. After familiarizing ourselves with the material of this chapter, we would be able to readily follow most of the probabilistic arguments met in the subsequent chapters. The first section includes some basic elements from the combinatorial theory and generating functions; the theory and application of finite Markov chain embedding technique is demonstrated in the next section, while at end of this chapter, some elements of reliability theory can be found.