The exponential map in non-commutative probability

Abstract

The wrapping transformation $W$ is a homomorphism from the semigroup of probability measures on the real line, with the convolution operation, to the semigroup of probability measures on the circle, with the multiplicative convolution operation. We show that on a large class $\mathcal{L}$ of measures, $W$ also transforms the three non-commutative convolutions---free, Boolean, and monotone---to their multiplicative counterparts. Moreover, the restriction of $W$ to $\mathcal{L}$ preserves various qualitative properties of measures and triangular arrays. We use these facts to give short proofs of numerous known, and new, results about multiplicative convolutions.

arXiv commentv4: added a remark on conditional convolutions; v3: added a unimodality result; corrections throughout following comments by the referees. v2: a correction in Remark 22