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I am interested in finding a comprehensive list of all noticeable random walk inequalities.

ie. $S_n = \sum_{k\leq n} X_i$ for i.i.d symmetric $X_i$

I can only seem to find books/papers that list the already well known ones like Kolmogorov's maximal inequality.

Does anyone know of such a paper/book?

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2 Answers 2

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There I will list the inequalities and asymptotic theorems on random walks, that are currently known to me:

Notation that will be used in the list:

$\{X_n\}_{n = 1}^\infty$ are i.i.d. random variables.

$\{S_n\}$ is the random walk ($S_n = \Sigma_{k = 1}^n X_k$)

$\nu(t) = \max\{n \in \mathbb{N}_0 | S_n < t \}$ - the corresponding renewal process (well defined if $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$)

$U(t) = 1 + E(\nu(t))$ -the corresponding renewal function (well defined if $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$)

The types of convergence will be denoted in the following way:

$\to_D$ is convergence by distribution

$\to_P$ is convergence by probability

$\to_{a.s.}$ is convergence almost surely

$\Rightarrow$ is convergence of stochastic processes in Skorokhod space.

THE LIST:

Law of Large Numbers

If $|E(X_1)| < \infty$, then

$$\frac{S_n}{n} \to_{a.s.} E(X_1)$$

Laws of Iterated Logarithm

1.Suppose $E(X_1) = 0$ and $Var(X_1) = 1$, then

$$P(\overline{\lim_{n \to \infty}} \frac{S_n}{\sqrt{2n\log\log n}} = 1) = 1$$

2.Suppose $E(X_1) = 0$ and $Var(X_1) = 1$, then

$$P(\underline{\lim_{n \to \infty}} \frac{S_n}{\sqrt{2n\log\log n}} = -1) = 1$$

Central Limit Theorem

If $|E(X_1)| < \infty$ and $Var(X_1) < \infty$, then

$$\frac{S_n - nE(X_1)}{\sqrt{n}} \to_{D} Z \sim {N}(0, Var(X_1))$$

Berry-Esseen Inequality

If $E(X_1) = 0$, $0 < Var(X_1) < +\infty$ and $E(|X_1|^3) < +\infty$, then

$$|P(S_n \leq x \sqrt{n Var(X_1)}) - \frac{e^{\frac{x^2}{2}}}{\sqrt{2\pi}}| < \frac{0.4748 E(|X_1|^3)}{(Var(X_1))^{\frac{3}{2}} \sqrt{n}}$$

Shevtsova inequalities

1.If $E(X_1)= 0$, $0 < Var(X_1) < +\infty$ and $E(|X_1|^3) < +\infty$, then

$$|P(S_n \leq x \sqrt{n Var(X_1)}) - \frac{e^{\frac{x^2}{2}}}{\sqrt{2\pi}}| < \frac{0.33554 E(|X_1|^3) + 0.415 (Var(X_1))^{\frac{3}{2}}}{(Var(X_1))^{\frac{3}{2}} \sqrt{n}}$$

2.If $E(X_1) = 0$, $0 < Var(X_1) < +\infty$ and $1.286(Var(X_1))^{\frac{3}{2}} < E(|X_1|^3)< +\infty$, then

$$|P(S_n \leq x \sqrt{n Var(X_1)}) - \frac{e^{\frac{x^2}{2}}}{\sqrt{2\pi}}| < \frac{0.3328 E(|X_1|^3) + 0.429 (Var(X_1))^{\frac{3}{2}}}{(Var(X_1))^{\frac{3}{2}} \sqrt{n}}$$

Hoeffding Inequalities

1.If $P(X_1 \in [0;1])=1$ and $t > 0$, then

$$P(S_n - nE(X_1) \geq t) \leq e^{\frac{2t^2}{n}}$$

2.If $P(X_1 \in [0;1])=1$ and $t > 0$, then

$$P(|S_n - nE(X_1)| \geq t) \leq 2e^{\frac{2t^2}{n}}$$

Bennet Inequality

Suppose $E(X_1) = 0$, $0 < Var(X_1) < +\infty$, $P(X_1 < a) = 1$, for some $a < +\infty$ and $t > 0$ then

$$P(S_n > t) \leq {(\frac{Var(X_1) + at}{Var(X_1)})}^{-\frac{Var(X_1) + at}{a^2}} e^{\frac{t}{a}}$$

Bernstein Inequalities

1.If $E(X_1) = 0$ and $P(|X_1| \leq M) = 1$, then

$$P(S_n > t) \leq e^{- \frac{3t^2}{6n Var(X_1) + 2Mt}}$$

2.If $\exists L >0$ $\forall k > 1$ $2E(|X_1^k|) \leq k!L E(X_1^2)$ and $0 < t < \frac{n E(X_1^2)}{L}$ then

$$P(S_n > t) < e^{-\frac{t^2}{4n E(X_1^2)}}$$

3.If $\exists L >0$ $\forall k > 3$ $4!5^{k - 4}E(|X_1^k|) \leq k!L^{k - 4}$, and $0 < t < \frac{5}{4L}$, then

$$P(|S_n - \frac{2}{3}nE(X_1^3)t^2| \geq 2nE(X_1^2)t(1 + \frac{E(X_1^4)t^2}{3E(X_1^2)}))) < 2e^{-nE(X_1^2)t^2}$$

Kolmogorov Inequality

If $E(X_1) = 0$, $Var(X_1) < +\infty$ and $t > 0$, then

$$P(\max_{1 \leq k \leq n} S_k \geq t) \leq \frac{n Var(X_1)}{t^2}$$

Law of Large Numbers for Renewal Process

If $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$, $E(X_1) < +\infty$ , $t \to +\infty$ then

$$\frac{\nu(t)}{t} \to_{P} \frac{1}{E(X_1)}$$

Central Limit Theorem for Renewal Process

If $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$, $E(X_1) < +\infty$ , $Var(X_1) < +\infty$, $t \to +\infty$ then

$$\frac{(E(X_1))^\frac{3}{2} \nu(t) - t (E(X_1))^{\frac{1}{2}} }{t^{\frac{1}{2}}(Var(X_1))} \to_{D} Z \cong Z \sim {N}(0, 1)$$

Wald Equality

If $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$, $E(X_1) < +\infty$ and $t > 0$ then

$$E(S_{\nu(t) + 1})=U(t)E(X_1)$$

Fundamental Renewal Theorem

If $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$, $h > 0$ and $E(X_1) < +\infty$ then

$$\lim_{t \to \infty} (U(t + h) - U(t))= \frac{h}{E(X_1)}$$

Integral Renewal Theorem

If $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$ and $E(X_1) < +\infty$ then

$$\lim_{t \to \infty} \frac{U(t)}{t} = \frac{1}{E(X_1)}$$

Donsker invariance principle

If $E(X_1) = 0$, $0 < Var(X_1) < +\infty$ and $t \in [0; 1]$ then

$$\frac{S_{\lfloor nt \rfloor}}{\sqrt{n Var(X_1)}} \Rightarrow W(t)$$

where, $W(t)$ stands for Brownian motion.

Liggett invariance principle

If $E(X_1) = 0$, $0 < Var(X_1) < +\infty$, $t \in [0; 1]$ and $a > 0$ then

$$\frac{S_{\lfloor nt \rfloor}}{\sqrt{n Var(X_1)}} | S_n \in (-a; a] \Rightarrow B(t)$$

where, $B(t)$ stands for Brownian bridge.

Eagleheart invariance principle

If $E(X_1) = 0$, $0 < Var(X_1) < +\infty$ and $t \in [0; 1]$ then

$$\frac{S_{\lfloor nt \rfloor}}{\sqrt{n Var(X_1)}} | \min\{n > 0| S_n \leq 0\} > n \Rightarrow W^+(t)$$

where, $W^+(t)$ stands for Brownian meander.

Hopf lemma

If $E(X_1) < +\infty$, $p \in \mathbb{R}$ and $n \in \mathbb{N}$ then

$$E(X_1 ; \{max_{k \leq n} \frac{S_k}{k} > t\}) \geq tP(\{max_{k \leq n} \frac{S_k}{k} > t\})$$

He-Zhang-Zhang inequality

If $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$ and $EX_1 = 1$, then

$$P( \frac{S_n}{n} - 1 \geq \frac{1}{n}) \leq \frac{7}{8}$$

Van Zuijlen bounds

  1. If $P(X_1 = 1) = P(X_1 = -1) = 0.5$, then

$$P(|S_n| \leq \sqrt{n}) \geq 0.5$$

  1. If $X_1 \sim N(0, 1)$, then

$$P(|S_n| \leq \sqrt{n}) \geq 0.31$$

Elementary Renewal-Reward Theorem

Suppose $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$, $E(X_1) < +\infty$, $\{Y_n\}_{n = 1}^{\infty}$ is a sequence of i.i.d. random variables with finite expectation, then

$$\lim_{t \to \infty} \frac{E(\Sigma_{i = 1}^{\nu(t)}Y_i)}{t} = \frac{E(Y_1)}{E(X_1)}$$

Law of Large Numbers for Renewal-Reward processes

Suppose $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$, $E(X_1) < +\infty$, $\{Y_n\}_{n = 1}^{\infty}$ is a sequence of i.i.d. random variables with finite expectation, and $t \to +\infty$ then

$$\frac{\Sigma_{i = 1}^{\nu(t)}Y_i}{t} \to_{a.s.} \frac{E(Y_1)}{E(X_1)}$$

Renewal Equation

Suppose $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$, $E(X_1) < +\infty$, $t > 0$ and $P(X_1 \leq x) \in C^1[0; 1]$ then

$$E(\nu(t)) = P(X_1 \leq t) + \int_0^t E(\nu(t - s))\frac{\partial P(X_1 \leq s)}{\partial s}ds$$

Inspection Paradox

Suppose $P(X_1 > 0) = 1$, $x > 0$ and $t > 0$, then

$$P(X_{\nu(t) + 1} > x) \geq P(X_1 > x)$$

Local limit theorem

Suppose $A \subset \mathbb{Z}$ is finite and $P(X_1 \in A) = 1$. Then $\exists 0 < C_1 < C_2 < +\infty$, such that

$$\frac{C_1}{\sqrt{n}} \leq sup_{k \in \mathbb{Z}} P(S_n = k) \leq \frac{C_2}{\sqrt{n}}$$

Kurtosis Equality

Suppose $E(X_1^4)$ is finite. Then

$$\frac{E((S_n - nE(X_1))^4)}{(nVar(X_1))^2} - 3 = \frac{1}{n}(\frac{E((X_1 - E(X_1))^4)}{(Var(X_1))^2} - 3)$$

Erdos-Renyi counting inequality

Suppose $P(X_1 \geq 0) = 1$ and $P(X_1 > 0) > 0$, then

$$P(S_n > 0) \geq \frac{nP(X_1 = 0)}{1 + (n-1)P(X_1 = 0)}$$

Durrett Finite Moment Theorem

Suppose $E(X_1) = 0$ and

$$\frac{S_n}{n^{\frac{1}{p}}} \to_{a.s.} 0$$

then $E(|X_1|^p)<+\infty$

Cramer Theorem

If $\forall t \in \mathbb{R}$ $E[e^{tX_1}]<+\infty$, then

$$\lim_{n \to \infty} \frac{1}{n}\ln(P(S_n \geq nx)) = \inf_{t \in \mathbb{R}}(\ln(E[e^{tX_1}])-tx)$$

If you already know all these facts and want something more exotic, then sorry (however, if I find anything else, I will expand this list)

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    $\begingroup$ If $X_1$ has finite exponantial moment you can add Cramer theorem (more general and powerfull than Hoeffding inequality). With $\mathbb{E}[X_1]=0$ and some finite moment : you have all the nice theorems from Martingale such as the Doob's inequalities. $\endgroup$
    – RaphaelB4
    Jun 15, 2019 at 13:57
  • $\begingroup$ What about all those numerical constants in the Shevtsova inequalities? Are they (supposedly) close to optimal? $\endgroup$
    – Wolfgang
    Jun 23, 2021 at 19:22
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This is a large subject, but the following books are an excellent starting point; each of them has been cited thousands of times.

Chow, Yuan Shih, and Henry Teicher, 2012. Probability theory: independence, interchangeability, martingales. Springer.

Petrov, V.V., (1976, 2012). Sums of independent random variables (Vol. 82). Springer

Ledoux, Michel, and Michel Talagrand. Probability in Banach Spaces: isoperimetry and processes. Springer 2013.

Dembo, A. and Zeitouni, O. (1998, 2011). Large deviations techniques and applications. Springer Applications of Mathematics, 38.

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