Basics of copula’s theory

The most important properties of p-variate distributions on the hypercube whose univariate marginals are uniformly distributed on [0; 1] are discussed. These distributions, also called p-copulas, have become a popular tool in order to study financial markets, macroeconomics and other fields. The study of Russian articles shows that in most cases these articles contain a list of several typical copulas and techniques of their using but they hold no discussions about meaning of acts over copulas. The review is an attempt to change for the better this situation, even if it were a little.