Abstract
A finite dimensional abstract approximation and convergence theory is developed for estimation of the distribution of random parameters in infinite dimensional discrete time linear systems with dynamics described by regularly dissipative operators and involving, in general, unbounded input and output operators. By taking expectations, the system is re-cast as an equivalent abstract parabolic system in a Gelfand triple of Bochner spaces wherein the random parameters become new space-like variables. Estimating their distribution is now analogous to estimating a spatially varying coefficient in a standard deterministic parabolic system. The estimation problems are approximated by a sequence of finite dimensional problems. Convergence is established using a state space-varying version of the Trotter-Kato semigroup approximation theorem. Numerical results for a number of examples involving the estimation of exponential families of densities for random parameters in a diffusion equation with boundary input and output are presented and discussed.