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Variance to mean ratio of a random intersection

Question

Two subsets AA and BB of {1,2,…,20}\{1,2,\dots,20\} are chosen independently and uniformly from all 2202^{20} subsets (they may coincide). With N=∣A∩B∣N=|A\cap B|, compute Var⁡(N)/E[N]\operatorname{Var}(N)/\mathbb{E}[N].

Short answer

34\tfrac34. Each element lies in AA and in BB independently with probability 12\tfrac12 each, so it lies in the intersection with probability 14\tfrac14, independently of other elements. Hence N∼Bin(20,14)N\sim\text{Bin}(20,\tfrac14) and the ratio is 1−p=341-p=\tfrac34.

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