Distribution and characteristic functions for correlated complex Wishart matrices

Let A(t) be a complex Wishart process defined in terms of the M×N complex Gaussian matrix X(t) by A(t)=X(t)X(t)^H. The covariance matrix of the columns of X(t) is Σ. If X(t), the underlying Gaussian process, is a correlated process over time, then we have dependence between samples of the Wishart process. In this paper, we study the joint statistics of the Wishart process at two points in time, t₁, t₂, where t₁<t₂. In particular, we derive the following results: the joint density of the elements of A(t₁), A(t₂), the joint density of the eigenvalues of Σ^-1A(t₁),Σ^-1A(t₂), the characteristic function of the elements of A(t₁), A(t₂), the characteristic function of the eigenvalues of Σ^-1A(t₁),Σ^-1A(t₂). In addition, we give the characteristic functions of the eigenvalues of a central and non-central complex Wishart, and some applications of the results in statistics, engineering and information theory are outlined.     

Bivariate distributions characterized by one family of conditionals and conditional percentile or mode functions

It is well known that full knowledge of all conditional distributions will typically serve to completely characterize a bivariate distribution. Partial knowledge will often suffice. For example, knowledge of the conditional distribution of X given Y and the conditional mean of Y given X is often adequate to determine the joint distribution of X and Y. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which a conditional percentile function or a conditional mode function (of Y given X), together with knowledge of the conditional distribution of X given Y will determine the joint distribution. Finally, using this methodology a new characterization of the classical bivariate normal distribution is given.     

An inverse first-passage problem for one-dimensional diffusions with random starting point

We consider an inverse first-passage time (FPT) problem for a homogeneous one-dimensional diffusion X(t), starting from a random position η. Let S(t) be an assigned boundary, such that P(η≥S(0))=1, and F an assigned distribution function. The problem consists of finding the distribution of η such that the FPT of X(t) below S(t) has distribution F. We obtain some generalizations of the results of Jackson et al., 2009, which refer to the case when X(t) is Brownian motion and S(t) is a straight line across the origin.     

On a continuous analogue of the stochastic difference equation Xn=ρXn-1+Bn

Let B₁, B₂, ... be a sequence of independent, identically distributed random variables, letX₀ be a random variable that is independent ofB_n forn?1, let ρ be a constant such that 0<ρ<1 and letX₁,X₂, ... be another sequence of random variables that are defined recursively by the relationshipsX_n=ρX_n-1+B_n. It can be shown that the sequence of random variablesX₁,X₂, ... converges in law to a random variableX if and only ifE[log⁺¦B₁¦]<∞. In this paper we let {B(t):0≦t<∞} be a stochastic process with independent, homogeneous increments and define another stochastic process {X(t):0?t<∞} that stands in the same relationship to the stochastic process {B(t):0?t<∞} as the sequence of random variablesX₁,X₂,...stands toB₁,B₂,.... It is shown thatX(t) converges in law to a random variableX ast →+∞ if and only ifE[log⁺¦B(1)¦]<∞ in which caseX has a distribution function of class L. Several other related results are obtained. The main analytical tool used to obtain these results is a theorem of Lukacs concerning characteristic functions of certain stochastic integrals.     

On the dependence between the extreme order statistics in the proportional hazards model

Let X₁,…,X_n be a random sample from an absolutely continuous distribution with non-negative support, and let Y₁,…,Y_n be mutually independent lifetimes with proportional hazard rates. Let also X₍₁₎<?<X_(n) and Y₍₁₎<?<Y_(n) be their associated order statistics. It is shown that the pair (X₍₁₎,X_(n)) is then more dependent than the pair (Y₍₁₎,Y_(n)), in the sense of the right-tail increasing ordering of Avérous and Dortet-Bernadet [LTD and RTI dependence orderings, Canad. J. Statist. 28 (2000) 151-157]. Elementary consequences of this fact are highlighted.     

Interacting Brownian particles and the Wigner law

Summary In this paper, we study interacting diffusing particles governed by the stochastic differential equationsdX _j (t)= _n dB _j (t) –D _jØ_n(X ₁,...,X _n)dt,j=1, 2,...,n. Here theB _jare independent Brownian motions in ^d , and Ø _n (X ₁,...,X _n)= _{n ij} V(X _iX _j) + _ni U(X ₁). The potentialV has a singularity at 0 strong enough to keep the particles apart, and the potentialU serves to keep the particles from escaping to infinity. Our interest is in the behaviour as the number of particles increases without limit, which we study through the empirical measure process. We prove tightness of these processes in the case ofd=1,V(x)=–log|x|,U(x)=x ²/2 where it is possible to prove uniqueness of the limiting evolution and deduce that a limiting measure-valued process exists. This process is deterministic, and converges to the Wigner law ast. Some information on the rates of convergence is derived, and the case of a Cauchy initial distribution is analysed completely.Supported by SERC grant number GR/H 00444     

Some central limit theorems for ℓ∞-valued semimartingales and their applications

Summary. This paper is devoted to the generalization of central limit theorems for empirical processes to several types of ℓ^∞(Ψ)-valued continuous-time stochastic processes t⇝X _t ⁿ =(X _t ^{n ,ψ}|ψ∈Ψ), where Ψ is a non-empty set. We deal with three kinds of situations as follows. Each coordinate process t⇝X _t ^{n ,ψ} is: (i) a general semimartingale; (ii) a stochastic integral of a predictable function with respect to an integer-valued random measure; (iii) a continuous local martingale. Some applications to statistical inference problems are also presented. We prove the functional asymptotic normality of generalized Nelson-Aalen's estimator in the multiplicative intensity model for marked point processes. Its asymptotic efficiency in the sense of convolution theorem is also shown. The asymptotic behavior of log-likelihood ratio random fields of certain continuous semimartingales is derived. Received: 6 May 1996 / In revised form: 4 February 1997     

The central limit theorem for sums of trimmed variables with heavy tails

Trimming is a standard method to decrease the effect of large sample elements in statistical procedures, used, e.g., for constructing robust estimators and tests. Trimming also provides a profound insight into the partial sum behavior of i.i.d. sequences. There is a wide and nearly complete asymptotic theory of trimming, with one remarkable gap: no satisfactory criteria for the central limit theorem for modulus trimmed sums have been found, except for symmetric random variables. In this paper we investigate this problem in the case when the variables are in the domain of attraction of a stable law. Our results show that for modulus trimmed sums the validity of the central limit theorem depends sensitively on the behavior of the tail ratio P(X>t)/P(|X|>t) of the underlying variable X as t→∞ and paradoxically, increasing the number of trimmed elements does not generally improve partial sum behavior.     

On the range of heterogeneous samples

Let R_n be the range of a random sample X₁,…,X_n of exponential random variables with hazard rate λ. Let S_n be the range of another collection Y₁,…,Y_n of mutually independent exponential random variables with hazard rates λ₁,…,λ_n whose average is λ. Finally, let r and s denote the reversed hazard rates of R_n and S_n, respectively. It is shown here that the mapping t?s(t)/r(t) is increasing on (0,∞) and that as a result, R_n=X_(n)−X₍₁₎ is smaller than S_n=Y_(n)−Y₍₁₎ in the likelihood ratio ordering as well as in the dispersive ordering. As a further consequence of this fact, X_(n) is seen to be more stochastically increasing in X₍₁₎ than Y_(n) is in Y₍₁₎. In other words, the pair (X₍₁₎,X_(n)) is more dependent than the pair (Y₍₁₎,Y_(n)) in the monotone regression dependence ordering. The latter finding extends readily to the more general context where X₁,…,X_n form a random sample from a continuous distribution while Y₁,…,Y_n are mutually independent lifetimes with proportional hazard rates.     

Lévy area for Gaussian processes: A double Wiener-Itô integral approach

Let {X₁(t)}_0≤t≤1 and {X₂(t)}_0≤t≤1 be two independent continuous centered Gaussian processes with covariance functions R₁ and R₂. We show that if the covariance functions are of finite p-variation and q-variation respectively and such that p⁻¹+q⁻¹>1, then the Lévy area can be defined as a double Wiener-Itô integral with respect to an isonormal Gaussian process induced by X₁ and X₂. Moreover, some properties of the characteristic function of that generalised Lévy area are studied.     

Linear combination of concomitants of order statistics with application to testing and estimation

Summary Let (X ₁,Y ₁), (X ₂,Y ₂),…, (X _n,Y _n) be i.i.d. as (X, Y). TheY-variate paired with therth orderedX-variateX _rn is denoted byY _rn and terms the concomitant of therth order statistic. Statistics of the form are considered. The asymptotic normality ofT _n is established. The asymptotic results are used to test univariate and bivariate normality, to test independence and linearity ofX andY, and to estimate regression coefficient based on complete and censored samples.     

Sharp estimates for the CDF of quadratic forms of MPE random vectors

In this paper we develop an efficient analytical expansion of the cumulative distribution function (cdf) XBX^t where X=(X₁,…,X_n+1) with n≥2, follows a multivariate power exponential distribution (MPE). Our approach provides a sharp estimate of the cumulative distribution function of a quadratic form of MPE, together with explicit error estimates.     

The product of two dependent random variables with regularly varying or rapidly varying tails

Let X and Y be two nonnegative and dependent random variables following a generalized Farlie-Gumbel-Morgenstern distribution. In this short note, we study the impact of a dependence structure of X and Y on the tail behavior of XY. We quantify the impact as the limit, as x→∞, of the quotient of Pr(XY>x) and Pr(X^∗Y^∗>x), where X^∗ and Y^∗ are independent random variables identically distributed as X and Y, respectively. We obtain an explicit expression for this limit when X is regularly varying or rapidly varying tailed.     

Multiple points of trajectories of multiparameter fractional Brownian motion

Consider 0<α<1 and the Gaussian process Y(t) on ℝ ^N with covariance E(Y(s)Y(t))=|t|^2α+|s|^2α−|t−s|^2α, where |t| is the Euclidean norm of t. Consider independent copies X ¹,…,X ^d of Y and␣the process X(t)=(X ¹(t),…,X ^d (t)) valued in ℝ ^d . When kN≤␣(k−1)αd, we show that the trajectories of X do not have k-multiple points. If N<αd and kN>(k−1)αd, the set of k-multiple points of the trajectories X is a countable union of sets of finite Hausdorff measure associated with the function ϕ(ɛ)=ɛ ^{k N /α−( k −1) d} (loglog(1/ɛ)) ^k . If N=αd, we show that the set of k-multiple points of the trajectories of X is a countable union of sets of finite Hausdorff measure associated with the function ϕ(ɛ)=ɛ ^d (log(1/ɛ) logloglog 1/ɛ) ^k . (This includes the case k=1.) Received: 20 May 1997 / Revised version: 15 May 1998     

Penultimate limiting forms in extreme value theory

Summary Let {X _n}_n≧1 be a sequence of independent, identically distributed random variables. If the distribution function (d.f.) ofM _n=max (X ₁,…,X _n), suitably normalized with attraction coefficients {α_n}_n≧1(α_n>0) and {b _n}_n≧1, converges to a non-degenerate d.f.G(x), asn→∞, it is of interest to study the rate of convergence to that limit law and if the convergence is slow, to find other d.f.'s which better approximate the d.f. of(M _n−b_n)/a_n thanG(x), for moderaten. We thus consider differences of the formF ⁿ(a_nx+b_n)−G(x), whereG(x) is a type I d.f. of largest values, i.e.,G(x)≡Λ(x)=exp (-exp(−x)), and show that for a broad class of d.f.'sF in the domain of attraction of Λ, there is a penultimate form of approximation which is a type II [Ф _α(x)=exp (−x^−α), x>0] or a type III [Ψ _α(x)= exp (−(−x)^α), x<0] d.f. of largest values, much closer toF ⁿ(a_nx+b_n) than the ultimate itself.     

Flexible modeling based on copulas in nonparametric median regression

Consider the model Y=m(X)+ε, where m(⋅)=med(Y|⋅) is unknown but smooth. It is often assumed that ε and X are independent. However, in practice this assumption is violated in many cases. In this paper we propose modeling the dependence between ε and X by means of a copula model, i.e. (ε,X)∼C_θ(F_ε(⋅),F_X(⋅)), where C_θ is a copula function depending on an unknown parameter θ, and F_ε and F_X are the marginals of ε and X. Since many parametric copula families contain the independent copula as a special case, the so-obtained regression model is more flexible than the ‘classical’ regression model.We estimate the parameter θ via a pseudo-likelihood method and prove the asymptotic normality of the estimator, based on delicate empirical process theory. We also study the estimation of the conditional distribution of Y given X. The procedure is illustrated by means of a simulation study, and the method is applied to data on food expenditures in households.     

Joint distribution of run statistics in partially exchangeable processes

Let {X_i}_i≥1 be an infinite sequence of recurrent partially exchangeable random variables with two possible outcomes as either “1” (success) or “0” (failure). In this paper we obtain the joint distribution of success and failure run statistics in {X_i}_i≥1. The results can be used to obtain the joint distribution of runs in ordinary Markov chains, exchangeable and independent sequences.     

Parameter estimation for first-order bifurcating autoregressive processes with Weibull innovations

We study the first-order bifurcating autoregressive process X_t=?X_⌊t/2⌋+?_t with Weibull innovations. Using point process technique, we estimate the model parameter ? and the tail index α in the Weibull distribution and obtain the joint limit distribution of estimators.     

On a “lack of memory” property

For two independent nonnegative random variablesX andY we say thatX is ageless relative toY if the conditional probability P[X> Y+x|X>Y] is defined and is equal to P[X>x] for allx>0. Suppose thatX is ageless relative to a nonlatticeY with P[Y=0]<P [Y<X]. We show that the only suchX is the exponential variable. As a corollary it follows that exponential variable is the only one which possesses the ageless property relative to a continuous variable. Research partially supported by NRC of Canada grants #A8057 and #T0500. Work partially completed while on leave at Division of Math. Stat., C.S.I.R.O., Australia.     

Local times for stochastic processes which are subordinate to Gaussian processes

Let X and Y be random vectors of the same dimension such that Y has a normal distribution with mean vector O and covariance matrix R. Let g(x), x≥0, be a bounded nonincreasing function. X is said to be g-subordinate to Y if |Ee^iu′X| ≤ g(u′Ru) for all real vectors u of the same dimension as X. This is used to define the g-subordination of a real stochastic process X(t), 0 ≤ t ≤ 1, to a Gaussian process Y(t), 0 ≤ t ≤ 1. It is shown that the basic local time properties of a given Gaussian process are shared by all the processes that age g-subordinate to it. It is shown in particular that certain random series, including some random Fourier series, are g-subordinate to Gaussian processes, and so have their local time properties.