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I wonder whether one can exactly calculate the following integral in terms of $d$ and $p\geq 1$ or not, or a better bound(than the trivial one I am going to give) in terms of $d,p$:

$$\left(\int_{[0,1)^d}\|x\|_2^p\,dx\right)^{1/p},$$

where $\|x\|_2$ is the Euclidean distance from $x$ to 0. Trivially, one has $\|x\|_2\leq\sqrt{d}$, but this ignores the effect of $p$. Can we have a better explicit bound which also relies on $p$, or even an explicit formula?

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  • $\begingroup$ I think only $p=1$ has a chance for an exact formula. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 26, 2021 at 17:20
  • $\begingroup$ @GeraldEdgar: at least we can do that for p=2 as well, see Iosif's answer below. $\endgroup$
    – MikeG
    Commented Sep 26, 2021 at 17:23
  • $\begingroup$ For p=2 the integral can be calculated since it's just of $(x_1^2+\cdots+x_d^2)$. Iosif gives the inequality for $p\geq 2$. $\endgroup$
    – MikeG
    Commented Sep 26, 2021 at 17:28

1 Answer 1

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$\DeclareMathOperator\E{E}\DeclareMathOperator\Var{Var}\DeclareMathOperator\P{P}$Note that
$$\int_{[0,1)^d}\|x\|_2^p\,dx =\E S_d^{p/2},\tag{1}\label{1}$$ where $S_d:=\sum_1^d U_j^2$ and the $U_j$'s are iid random variables uniformly distributed on the interval $[0,1]$.

Note next that $\E S_d=d/3$ and $\Var S_d=4d/45<d/10$. So, by Cantelli's inequality, $$\P(S_d\ge d/6)\ge1-\frac{\Var S_d}{\Var S_d+(d/3-d/6)^2} \\ \ge 1-\frac{d/10}{d/10+(1/3-1/6)^2 d} \\ =1-\frac{1/10}{1/10+(1/3-1/6)^2}=:c\in(0,1).$$ So, $$\E S_d^{p/2}\ge(d/6)^{p/2} \P(S_d\ge d/6) \ge c(d/6)^{p/2}$$ and hence $$\Bigl(\int_{[0,1)^d}\|x\|_2^p\,dx\Bigr)^{1/p} =(\E S_d^{p/2})^{1/p} \ge c^{1/p}\sqrt{d/6} \ge c\sqrt{d/6}$$ for $p\ge1$.

So, the trivial upper bound $\sqrt d$ on $\bigl(\int_{[0,1)^d}\|x\|_2^p\,dx\bigr)^{1/p}$ is optimal up to a universal constant factor.


For $p\ge2$, one can can do with a much simpler reasoning: by Jensen's inequality, $$\Bigl(\int_{[0,1)^d}\|x\|_2^p\,dx\Bigr)^{1/p} \ge\Bigl(\int_{[0,1)^d}\|x\|_2^2\,dx\Bigr)^{1/2} =\sqrt{d/3}.$$


One may also note that, for any real $p>0$, by the Fatou lemma, $$\liminf_{d\to\infty}\Bigl(\int_{[0,1)^d}\|x\|_2^p\,dx\Bigr)^{1/p} \Big/\sqrt{d/3}\ge1.$$ In view of \eqref{1}, this follows because, by the law of large numbers, $S_d/d\to \E U_1^2=1/3$ in probability (as $d\to\infty$).

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  • $\begingroup$ For $p \leq 2$ you can use a similar trick. Call $c_p$ the value of the integral so that $c_\infty=\sqrt d$, $c_2=\sqrt{d/3}$. Then $c_2 \leq c_p^{p/2}c_\infty^{1-p/2}$ gives $c_p \geq \sqrt{d} /3^{1/p}$. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 26, 2021 at 15:41
  • $\begingroup$ @GiorgioMetafune : Good point! $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 26, 2021 at 15:52
  • $\begingroup$ I have not understood how you get the last inequality in your answer. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 26, 2021 at 15:58
  • $\begingroup$ @GiorgioMetafune : I have added a detail on this. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 26, 2021 at 16:06
  • $\begingroup$ Ah, ok. Thank you $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 26, 2021 at 16:07

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