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4 votes
2 answers
519 views

Cramér–Rao type bound for absolute estimation error

Let $\{X_1, X_2, \dotsc, X_n\}$ be independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables sampled from a common distribution with density $f_{\theta}(x)$, where $\theta$ is an unknown ...
1 vote
1 answer
216 views

Rademacher complexity of function class $(x,y) \mapsto 1[|yf(x)-\alpha| \ge \beta]$ in terms of $\alpha$, $\beta$, and Rademacher complexity of $F$

Let $X$ be a measurable space and let $P$ be a probability distribution on $X \times \{\pm 1\}$. Let $F$ be a function class on $X$, i.e., a collection of (measurable) functions from $X$ to $\mathbb R$...
1 vote
0 answers
53 views

The limit ratio of two Markov Chain Probability

Suppose there are two given SDE in $\mathbb{R}^d$: $$ \begin{align} \left\{ \begin{aligned} dX_t&=\begin{bmatrix}-\nabla V(X_t)+2\beta^{-1}v_F^\theta(X_t)\end{bmatrix}dt+\sqrt{2\beta^{-1}}dW_t,&...
2 votes
0 answers
84 views

Concentration result for self-normalized empirical process

In Theorem 1.1 of this paper by Bercu, Gassiat and Rio, a concentration result is derived for the 'self-normalized' empirical process. Specifically, suppose that $(X,X_n)_{n \ge 1}$ is a sequence of i....
0 votes
0 answers
73 views

Asymptotic stochastic ordering for weighted sum of i.i.d. random variables

Are you aware of any literature focusing on the conditions such that for two i.i.d. sequences of discrete r.v.'s $\{X_n\}$ and $\{Y_n\}$, \begin{equation} a_1X_1+a_2X_2+\ldots+a_nX_n\geq_1 a_1Y_1+...
91 votes
8 answers
16k views

Is there a natural random process that is rigorously known to produce Zipf's law?

Zipf's law is the empirical observation that in many real-life populations of $n$ objects, the $k^\text{th}$ largest object has size proportional to $1/k$, at least for $k$ significantly smaller than $...
2 votes
1 answer
187 views

Law of iterated logarithm for quadratic variation of Brownian motion

Let $(\Omega, \mathcal{F}, \mathbb{P})$ denote a probability space supporting a standard Brownian motion $B$. Let $\Pi=\{\pi_n : n \ge 0\}$ denote the sequence of dyadic uniform partitions of the ...
2 votes
1 answer
110 views

Lower bound on likelihood of binary outcomes

I am wondering about the following: does there exist a stochastic process $(X_n)_{n \ge 1}$ with values in $\{0,1\}$ on a probability space $(\Omega, \mathcal F, \mathbb P)$ such that for all $n \ge 1$...
2 votes
1 answer
150 views

Normalized concentration inequality for empirical CDF (iid sum)

Consider the empirical and population CDF, $$ F_n(t) = \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^n 1\{X_i \leq t\} \quad \mbox{and} \quad F(t) = \mathbb{E} [F_n(t)], $$ where above $X_1, \dots, X_n$ are iid, real-...
1 vote
0 answers
112 views

A high probability bound for a Rademacher process

Let $\{x_i(t)\}_{i=1}^n$ be i.i.d. Gaussian processes for $t \in [0, T]$ with \begin{align*} \mathbb{E}[x_i(t)] & = 0, \quad \forall i \in [1 : n], \ t \in [0, T] \\ \mathbb{E}[x_i(s) x_i(t)] &...
1 vote
0 answers
39 views

Characteristic function of a Dirichlet Process

Suppose $P \sim \text{DP}(\alpha,G) $ where $G \sim N(0,1)$ is the base measure and $\alpha > 0$ is the concentration parameter. The stick breaking representation says that $P$ can be expressed as \...
0 votes
2 answers
261 views

What mathematical formalism might be used to disprove natural selection, on the basis that there are too many independent genetic parameters? [closed]

I have nagging doubts that the random genetic mutation process of natural selection is sufficient to explain evolution, even when coupled with sexual selection (Darwin proposed that evolution is ...
4 votes
1 answer
258 views

When is $\prod_{i=0}^\infty (I-x_i x_i^T)=0$ for isotropic Gaussian $x_i$?

Suppose $x_i$ is sampled IID from isotropic zero-centered Gaussian random variable in $d$ dimensions with covariance $\Sigma=c*I$. When is the following true with probability 1? $$\prod_{i=0}^\infty (...
9 votes
1 answer
723 views

Popular mistakes in probability

$\DeclareMathOperator\Var{Var}\DeclareMathOperator\Bern{Bern}\DeclareMathOperator\Pois{Pois}$Question: What not-trivial mistakes do students often make when solving problems in probability theory, ...
0 votes
1 answer
177 views

Under which conditions Mean Square Continuity implies Sample Continuity for Gaussian Processes?

First, let us give the setting. Let $(\Omega, \Sigma, \mathbf{P})$ be a probability space, let $T$ be some interval of time, and let $X: T \times \Omega \rightarrow S$ be a stochastic process. By Mean ...
1 vote
1 answer
93 views

An inequality relating $\ell_1$ distance of input and output of a Markov krnel

Let $K$ be a Markov kernel from $\mathcal{X}$ to $\mathcal{Y}$, i.e., $K(\cdot|x)$ is a probability measure on $\mathcal{Y}$ for all $x\in \mathcal{X}$. Let $\mu$ and $\nu$ be two probability measures ...
1 vote
1 answer
199 views

Rademacher complexity for a family of bounded, nondecreasing functions?

Let $\{\phi_k\}_{k=1}^K$ be a family of functions mapping from an interval $[a, b]$ to $[-1, 1]$. That is, $\phi_k \colon[ a,b] \to [-1, 1]$ are nondecreasing maps on some finite interval $[a, b] \...
1 vote
1 answer
229 views

Gaussian width of intersection of cube and ball in high-dimensional euclidean space

Let $d$ be a large positive integer and fix $r \ge 0$. Set $S := B_2^n \cap [-r,r]^d$, where $B_2^d$ is the euclidean unit-ball in $\mathbb R^d$. Finally, let $\omega(S)$ be the Gaussian width of $S$, ...
1 vote
0 answers
83 views

Properties of max of many linear combinations of a multivariate normal vector and/or sum of top $k$ elements of a multivariate normal vector

Thank you in advance for your help! I am interested in studying the following probability: $$P\big[\max_{H \subset X,|H|=k} \sum_{i \in H} \mathbf{a}_i^T \mathbf{w} \ge 0 \big],$$ where $\mathbf{a}_i$ ...
0 votes
1 answer
82 views

WLLN for bootstrap means of stationary ergodic processes?

Setup:$\quad$ Suppose that $(X_n)$ is a stationary ergodic process with $E|X_1|<\infty$. Given $X^{(n)}=(X_1, \dots, X_n)$, select a standard Efron bootstrap subsample $(X_{n,1}^*, \dots, X_{n,m(n)}...
1 vote
1 answer
385 views

How fast does this Gaussian random walk move away from the origin?

Suppose $z_i$ are IID zero-centered $d$-dimensional Gaussian random variables with unit-trace covariance $\Sigma$ and $g(z_i)$ is the sum of its components. Consider the following random walk: $$x_s=\...
2 votes
0 answers
124 views

Rough path expected signature vs cumulant-generating function / characteristic function

What is the point of using rough path expected signature to characterize the law of а stochastic process when the cumulant generating function is known ($\log\mathbb{E}[e^{i\theta X(t)}]$)? Since an ...
3 votes
1 answer
532 views

What is a tensor product of random variables?

I am trying to understand the the following paper https://arxiv.org/pdf/1810.10971.pdf, in particular Example 2: If $ Y \sim N(0,1)$, the standard normal on $\mathbb{R}$, then $ \begin{align*} \Big( \...
4 votes
1 answer
239 views

Uniform inequality of the form $\text{Proba}(\sup_{v \in [-M,M]^k}|p^Tv-\hat{p}_n^Tv| \le \epsilon_n) \ge 1 - \delta$

Let $M > 0$, $k$ be a positive integer, and $\mathcal V:=[-M,M]^k$. Finally, let $p \in \Delta_k$, (where $\Delta_k$ is the $(k-1)$-dimensional probability simplex) and let $\hat{p}_n$ be an ...
3 votes
2 answers
319 views

Concentration inequality of joint event over time of a submartingale

Consider a discrete time submartingale $X_n$ with bounded difference $|X_n-X_{n-1}|\leq c$. With Azuma inequality we have the concentration of a single time event as $$ P(X_t-X_0 \leq -t) \leq exp\...
1 vote
1 answer
221 views

Large deviation for empirical median

I found this exercise while reading some notes on Large Deviation Principle. This exercise is at the end of the very first chapter, including Cramer's Theorem and essentially nothing more (no Sanov ...
1 vote
2 answers
277 views

Distribution of interarrival times for a special class of stochastic point processes

I am interested in Poisson-binomial stationary point processes (here on the real line) defined as follows. Let $t_k=k/\lambda$, with $k\in\mathbb{Z}$ and $\lambda>0$, $F_s(x)$ be a symmetric, ...
1 vote
1 answer
410 views

Occupation times for two-state Markov processes

Consider a two-state Markov process in continuous time, with states labelled $A$ and $B$. The transition rates for going from state $A$ to $B$, and state $B$ to $A$ are $\alpha$ and $\beta$ ...
0 votes
1 answer
142 views

Covering number of the conditional distribution function

Suppose $Y$ is a random variable in $\mathbb{R}^d$, and we want to find the covering number \begin{equation*} \mathcal{F} = \big\{ F_{Y|W} (y | W) : y \in \mathbb{R}^d \big\} \end{equation*} where ...
0 votes
1 answer
160 views

Probability to cross an envelopp for 1D random walk?

Imagine we have an evolving sequence composed of 1 and -1 (ex: -1-11-111...) where the probability to get -1 or 1 is 1/2. n is the lengh of my sequence. I can make an analogy with random walk: let ...
3 votes
0 answers
98 views

Probability measure on $\mathbb{R}^n$ with given marginals and given correlation matrix

In all what follows, let $\mathcal{P}(\mathbb{R}^n)$ denote the set of probability measures on $(\mathbb{R}^n, \mathcal{B}(\mathbb{R}^n))$ and $\mathcal{C}_n$ the set of $n \times n$ correlation ...
1 vote
0 answers
68 views

(Anti-)concentration of gap between largest and second largest component of multivariate random gaussian vector

Let $n$ be a large positive integer and let $Y=(Y_1,\ldots,Y_n)$ be a zero-centered random $n$-dmensional real vector with covariance matrix $\Sigma$, an $n$-by-$n$ positive definite matrix with ...
1 vote
0 answers
49 views

semi-parametric regression

Suppose the observation $(X_1, Y_1), \ldots, (X_n, Y_n)$ satisfies the following semi-parametric model $$Y_t = m(X_t, \alpha) + \sigma(X_t, \beta) U_t,$$ where $U_t$ is independent with $X_t$ with ...
2 votes
2 answers
206 views

non-homogeneous counting process

Consider a counting process $\{N(t), t\geq 0\}$ where the time distribution between any two consecutive events, say $k$ and $k+1$ has a Poisson rate $\lambda(k)$, which is an explicit function of $k$....
1 vote
0 answers
99 views

Covering number after projection

In these lecture notes on Statistical Learning Theory we find the following definitions for covering numbers: Definition. Let $(\mathcal{W}, d)$ be a metric space and $\mathcal{F} \subset \mathcal{W}$...
1 vote
1 answer
519 views

The integral of a Gaussian process on a unit sphere

Suppose there exist a zero-mean Gaussian process $\mathbb{G} f_u$ indexed by $u \in \mathcal{S}^{p - 1}$ with known covariance $\mathrm{E} \big[ \mathbb{G} f_u \mathbb{G} f_v \big]$ when both $u$ and $...
1 vote
1 answer
141 views

Central limit theorem for chi-squared random field on $\mathbb R^p$

Let $X:x \mapsto X(x)$ be a centered stationary Gaussian process on the $\Omega:=\mathbb R^p$, such that $X(x) \overset{d}{=}X(x')$ for all $x,x' \in \Omega$. Set $\sigma^2 := \mbox{Var}(X(0)) = \...
21 votes
3 answers
5k views

James-Stein phenomenon: What does it mean that a James-Stein estimator beats least squares estimator?

Background James-Stein estimator and Stein's phenomenon, as described in Wikipedia are rather counterintuitive and amazing. It is claimed that if one wants to estimate the mean $\Theta$ of Gaussian ...
11 votes
2 answers
78k views

Coin pusher game

While doing laundry at my local laundromat, I saw a coin pusher game. Below is a picture, and here is a video depicting how it works (disregard non-coins). Essentially, one has a distribution of ...
2 votes
1 answer
155 views

Kalman filter distribution of observation process

Let $(X_t,Y_t)$ be a pair of stochastic processes such that $$ \begin{aligned} dX_t =& A_t X_t dt + C_t dW_t,\\ dY_t = & H_t X_t dt + K_tdB_t \end{aligned} $$ for some non-random matrix-valued ...
1 vote
2 answers
302 views

how to derive stationary distribution of maximal entropy random walk

I was reading the paper 0810.4113v2, burda, which analyzed the stationary distribution maximal entropy random walk on the irregular lattice. I am confused on some of the steps. Description: The ...
1 vote
1 answer
259 views

Test for OU-Process

Suppose that I'm given a sample from time-series $(x_n)_{n=1}^N$ and want to decide if it comes from an OU process or not. Is there a (rigorous) test I can use? So far, everything I've seen is hand-...
0 votes
2 answers
251 views

Martingale optional stopping before a stopping time

Here’s an easy one, I hope: Suppose $\tau$ is a stopping time and $(M_t)$ is a martingale which together satisfy the hypotheses of the optional stopping theorem so that $\mathbb{E}[M_\tau]= \mathbb{E}...
2 votes
0 answers
109 views

Tightness of Hilbert-space-valued arrays

Let $\mathcal{H}$ be a separable Hilbert space. Assume we have some triangular array $W_{n,j}, j=1, \ldots ,n $ of $\mathcal{H}$-valued random elements with $\mathbb{E} \Vert W_{n,j} \Vert_{\mathcal{H}...
2 votes
0 answers
173 views

Weak convergence of $\mathcal{L}^2$ valued random variables

Consider two continuous functions $f,g: \mathbb{R}^{2} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ with $f(x,\cdot), g(x,\cdot) \in \mathcal{L}^2(\mathbb{R},\mathcal{B},\lambda)$ for all $x \in \mathbb{R}$ and a sequence ...
1 vote
1 answer
170 views

Stationary distribution of Markov Chain with departure

I have a Markov Chain of $N$ states. Such states represent the energy levels in a molecule. The states' connectivity is as follows: States $j\in\{0,\ldots,N\}$ transition to $k\in\{\max(j-M,0),...,\...
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

Convergence in distribution of products

Suppose that a sequence of random variables $Y_n$ convergence in $L^2$ to $Y$, i.e. $$ E|Y_n-Y|^2\to0\quad \text{as}\quad n\to\infty. $$ Moreover, there exist constants $c_0$ and $c_1$ such that $$ 0 &...
0 votes
1 answer
165 views

About another potential characterization of normal numbers

Normal numbers, in a nutshell, are real numbers that have a "uniform" distribution of digits in standard numeration systems (binary, decimal, and so on.) You can find a formal definition and ...
2 votes
1 answer
192 views

Upper confidence bound for Poisson process rate parameter

Admittedly, this is an elementary question for mathoverflow. However, I've had no real bites on math and stats.stackexchange so I'm cross-posting. I am interested in computing an upper confidence ...
4 votes
1 answer
839 views

A balls into bins problem with combinatorial constraints

We are given $m$ balls and $n$ bins, with $m \ge n$. Each bin can contain at most $c$ balls (we assume that $c$ is an even integer). In a sequential fashion, at each time step, one ball is placed into ...