stopping time

A stopping time is a specific moment when a certain event occurs for the first time in a process or random sequence. Imagine watching a game and noting the exact point when a team scores their first goal; that moment is a stopping time because it’s the first occurrence of that event. In probability and statistics, stopping times help define when to stop observing or analyzing a process based on a particular condition being met, ensuring decisions are made solely on available information up to that point, without future knowledge influencing the choice.