There are two equivalent ways to define a cylinder set measure. One way is to define it directly as a set function on the
cylindrical algebra such that certain restrictions on smaller σ-algebras are σ-additive measure. This can also be expressed in terms of a finite-dimensional linear operator. Denote by \mathcal{Cyl}(N,M) the cylindrical algebra defined for two spaces with
dual pairing \langle,\rangle:=\langle,\rangle_{N,M}, i.e. the set of all cylindrical sets :C_{f_1,\dots,f_m,B}=\{x\in N\colon (\langle x,f_1\rangle,\dots,\langle x,f_m\rangle)\in B\} for some f_1,\dots,f_m\in M and B\in \mathcal{B}(\mathbb{R}^m). This is an algebra which can also be written as the union of smaller σ-algebras.
Definition on the cylindrical algebra Let X be a
topological vector space over \R, denote its algebraic dual as X^* and let G\subseteq X^* be a subspace. Then the set function \mu:\mathcal{Cyl}(X,G)\to \R_{+} is a
cylinder set measure (or
cylinderical measure) if for any finite set F=\{f_1,\dots,f_n\}\subset G the restriction to :\mu:\sigma(\mathcal{Cyl}(X,F))\to \R_{+} is a σ-additive measure. Notice that \sigma(\mathcal{Cyl}(X,F)) is a σ-algebra while \mathcal{Cyl}(X,G) is not. As usual if \mu(X)=1 we call it a
cylindrical probability measure.
Operatic definition Let E be a
real topological vector space. Let \mathcal{A} (E) denote the collection of all
surjective continuous linear maps T : E \to F_T defined on E whose image is some finite-dimensional real vector space F_T: \mathcal{A} (E) := \left\{ T \in \mathrm{Lin} (E; F_{T}) : T \mbox{ surjective and } \dim_{\R} F_{T} A
cylinder set measure on E is a collection of
measures \left\{\mu_{T} : T \in \mathcal{A} (E)\right\}. where \mu_T is a measure on F_T. These measures are required to satisfy the following consistency condition: if \pi_{ST} : F_S \to F_T is a surjective
projection, then the
push forward of the measure is as follows: \mu_{T} = \left(\pi_{ST}\right)_{*} \left(\mu_{S}\right). If \mu(E)=1 then it's a
cylindrical probability measure. Some authors define cylindrical measures explicitly as probability measures, however they don't need to be. ==Connection to the abstract Wiener spaces==