Boundary Behavior of Harmonic Functions for Truncated Stable Processes

For any α∈(0,2), a truncated symmetric α-stable process in ℝ ^d is a symmetric Lévy process in ℝ ^d with no diffusion part and with a Lévy density given by c|x|^−d−α 1_{|x|<1} for some constant c. In (Kim and Song in Math. Z. 256(1): 139–173, [2007]) we have studied the potential theory of truncated symmetric stable processes. Among other things, we proved that the boundary Harnack principle is valid for the positive harmonic functions of this process in any bounded convex domain and showed that the Martin boundary of any bounded convex domain with respect to this process is the same as the Euclidean boundary. However, for truncated symmetric stable processes, the boundary Harnack principle is not valid in non-convex domains. In this paper, we show that, for a large class of not necessarily convex bounded open sets in ℝ ^d called bounded roughly connected κ-fat open sets (including bounded non-convex κ-fat domains), the Martin boundary with respect to any truncated symmetric stable process is still the same as the Euclidean boundary. We also show that, for truncated symmetric stable processes a relative Fatou type theorem is true in bounded roughly connected κ-fat open sets. The research of P. Kim is supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD, Basic Research Promotion Fund) (KRF-2007-331-C00037). The research of R. Song is supported in part by a joint US-Croatia grant INT 0302167.     

Improved confidence set estimators of a multivariate normal mean and generalizations

Summary LetX be the observed vector of thep-variate (p≧3) normal distribution with mean θ and covariance matrix equal to the identity matrix. Denotey ₊=max{0,y} for any real numbery. We consider the confidence set estimator of θ of the formC _δa,φ={θ:|θ−δ^a,φ(X)}≦c}, whereδ ^a,φ=[1−aφ({X})/{X}²]₊X is the positive part of the Baranchik (1970,Ann. Math. Statist.,41, 642–645) estimator. We provide conditions on ϕ(•) anda which guarantee thatC _δa.φ has higher coverage probability than the usual one, {θ:|θ−X|≦c}. This dominance result will be shown to hold for spherically symmetric distributions, which include the normal distribution,t-distribution and double exponential distribution. The latter result generalizes that of Hwang and Chen (1983,Technical Report, Dept. of Math., Cornell University).     

Regression of polynomial statistics on the sample mean and natural exponential families

A polynomial Q = Q(X ₁, …, X _n ) of degree m in independent identically distributed random variables with distribution function F is an unbiased estimator of a functional q(α ₁(F), …, α _m (F)), where q(u ₁, …, u _m ) is a polynomial in u ₁, …, u _m and α _j (F) is the jth moment of F (assuming the necessary moment of F exists). It is shown that the relation E(Q | X ₁ + … + X n) = 0 holds if and only if q(α ₁(θ), …, α _m (θ)) ≡ 0, where α _j (θ) is the jth moment of the natural exponential family generated by F. This result, based on the fact that X ₁ + … + X n is a complete sufficient statistic for a parameter θ in a sample from a natural exponential family of distributions F _θ(x) = ∫_−∞ ^x e ^θu−k(θ) dF(u), explains why the distributions appearing as solutions of regression problems are the same as solutions of problems for natural exponential families though, at the first glance, the latter seem unrelated to the former.     

Improving on the minimum risk equivariant estimator of a location parameter which is constrained to an interval or a half-interval

For location families with densitiesf ₀(x−θ), we study the problem of estimating θ for location invariant lossL(θ,d)=ρ(d−θ), and under a lower-bound constraint of the form θ≥a. We show, that for quite general (f ₀, ρ), the Bayes estimator δ _U with respect to a uniform prior on (a, ∞) is a minimax estimator which dominates the benchmark minimum risk equivariant (MRE) estimator. In extending some previous dominance results due to Katz and Farrell, we make use of Kubokawa'sIERD (Integral Expression of Risk Difference) method, and actually obtain classes of dominating estimators which include, and are characterized in terms of δ _U . Implications are also given and, finally, the above dominance phenomenon is studied and extended to an interval constraint of the form θ∈[a, b]. Research supported by NSERC of Canada.     

Asymptotic Behaviour of Trajectory Fitting Estimators for Certain Non-ergodic SDE

Suppose one observes a path of a stochastic processX = (X_t)_t≥0 driven by the equation dX_t=θ a(X_t)dt + dW_t, t≥0, θ ≥ 0 with a(x) = x or a(x) = |x|^α for some α ∈ [0,1) and given initial condition X ₀. If the true but unknown parameter θ₀ is positive then X is non-ergodic. It is shown that in this situation a trajectory fitting estimator for θ₀ is strongly consistent and has the same limiting distribution as the maximum likelihood estimator, but converges of minor order. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Some Extremal Functions in Fourier Analysis, III

We obtain the best approximation in L ¹(ℝ), by entire functions of exponential type, for a class of even functions that includes e ^−λ|x|, where λ>0, log |x| and |x| ^α , where −1<α<1. We also give periodic versions of these results where the approximating functions are trigonometric polynomials of bounded degree.     

Two point problems and analyticity of solutions of abstract parabolic equations

Fort ∈ [a, b], letA(t) be the unbounded operator inH ^0,p (G) associated with an elliptic-boundary value problem that satisfies Agmon’s conditions on the rays λ=±iτ, τ ≥0. Existence and uniqueness results are obtained for weak and strict solutions of two-point problems of the type (du/dt)−A(t) u(t) =f(t),E ₁(α)u (α)=u _α,E ₂ (β)u (β)=u _β. Here [α, β) χ- [a, b],E ₁ (α) andE ₂ (β) are spectral projections associated withA(α) andA(β) respectively, andA(α)E ₁ (α) and =A (β)E ₂ (β) are infinitesimal generators of analytic semigroups. WhenA(t) andf(t) are analytic in a convex, complex neighborhoodO of [a, b] we show that for someθ _i ,i=1,2, any solution ofdu/dt =A(t)u (t)=f(t) in [a, b] is analytic and satisfies the above equation in the setO∩{t; t ≠ a, t ≠ b, | arg (t −a) | <θ ₁, | arg (b −t) |θ ₂}. Research partially supported by N. N. F. grant at Brandeis University.     

Restricted sumsets and a conjecture of Lev

LetA, B, S be finite subsets of an abelian groupG. Suppose that the restricted sumsetC={α+b: α ∈A, b ∈B, and α − b ∉S} is nonempty and somec∈C can be written asa+b witha∈A andb∈B in at mostm ways. We show that ifG is torsion-free or elementary abelian, then |C|≥|A|+|B|−|S|−m. We also prove that |C|≥|A|+|B|−2|S|−m if the torsion subgroup ofG is cyclic. In the caseS={0} this provides an advance on a conjecture of Lev. This author is responsible for communications, and supported by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 10425103) and the Key Program of NSF (No. 10331020) in China.     

Potential theory of truncated stable processes

For any , a truncated symmetric α-stable process is a symmetric Lévy process in with a Lévy density given by for some constant c. In this paper we study the potential theory of truncated symmetric stable processes in detail. We prove a Harnack inequality for nonnegative harmonic functions of these processes. We also establish a boundary Harnack principle for nonnegative functions which are harmonic with respect to these processes in bounded convex domains. We give an example of a non-convex domain for which the boundary Harnack principle fails. The research of Panki Kim is supported by Research Settlement Fund for the new faculty of Seoul National University. The research of Renming Song is supported in part by a joint US-Croatia grant INT 0302167.     

A remark on polynomials and the transfinite diameter

The main result is the following theorem: LetE be the point set for which |Π _v=1 ⁿ (Z-Z _V)|<1. If the zerosz _ν (ν=1, …,n) belong to a bounded, closed and connected set whose transfinite diameter is 1−c (0<c<1), thenE contains a disk of positive radius ρ, dependent only onc.     

Exchangeable Gibbs partitions and Stirling triangles

For two collections of nonnegative and suitably normalized weights W = (W_j) and V = (V_n,k), a probability distribution on the set of partitions of the set {1, …, n} is defined by assigning to a generic partition {A_j, j ≤ k} the probability V_n,k , where |A_j| is the number of elements of A_j. We impose constraints on the weights by assuming that the resulting random partitions Π _n of [n] are consistent as n varies, meaning that they define an exchangeable partition of the set of all natural numbers. This implies that the weights W must be of a very special form depending on a single parameter α ∈ [− ∞, 1]. The case α = 1 is trivial, and for each value of α ≠ = 1 the set of possible V-weights is an infinite-dimensional simplex. We identify the extreme points of the simplex by solving the boundary problem for a generalized Stirling triangle. In particular, we show that the boundary is discrete for − ∞ ≤ α < 0 and continuous for 0 ≤ α < 1. For α ≤ 0 the extremes correspond to the members of the Ewens-Pitman family of random partitions indexed by (α,θ), while for 0 < α < 1 the extremes are obtained by conditioning an (α,θ)-partition on the asymptotics of the number of blocks of Π_n as n tends to infinity. Bibliography: 29 titles. __________ Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 325, 2005, pp. 83–102.     

Harnack Inequalities for some Lévy Processes

In this paper we prove Harnack inequality for nonnegative functions which are harmonic with respect to random walks in ℝ ^d . We give several examples when the scale invariant Harnack inequality does not hold. For any α ∈ (0,2) we also prove the Harnack inequality for nonnegative harmonic functions with respect to a symmetric Lévy process in ℝ ^d with a Lévy density given by $c|x|^{-d-\alpha}1_{\{|x|\leq 1\}}+j(|x|)1_{\{|x|>1\}}$c|x|^{-d-\alpha}1_{\{|x|\leq 1\}}+j(|x|)1_{\{|x|>1\}}, where 0 ≤ j(r) ≤ cr ^{− d − α} , ∀ r > 1, for some constant c. Finally, we establish the Harnack inequality for nonnegative harmonic functions with respect to a subordinate Brownian motion with subordinator with Laplace exponent ϕ(λ) = λ ^α/2ℓ(λ), λ > 0, where ℓ is a slowly varying function at infinity and α ∈ (0,2).     

Small fractional parts of additive forms

Letf(x)=θ₁ x ₁ ^k +...+θ _s x _s ^k be an additive form with real coefficients, and ∥α∥ = min {|α-u|:uεℤ} denote the distance fromα to the nearest integer. We show that ifθ ₁,…,θ _s , are algebraic ands = 4k then there are integersx ₁,…,x _s , satisfying l ≤x ₁,≤ N and ∥f(x)∥ ≤ N ^E , withE = − 1 + 2/e. Whens = λk, 1 ≤λ ≤ 2k, the exponentE may be replaced byλE/4, and if we drop the condition thatθ ₁,…,θ _s , be algebraic then the result holds for almost all values of θεℝ ^s . Whenk ≥ 6 is small a better exponent is obtained using Heath-Brown’s version of Weyl’s estimate.     

Characterizations of life distributions from percentile residual lifetimes

Summary An α-percentile residual life function does not uniquely determine a life distribution; however, a continuous life distribution can be uniquely determined by its α-percentile and β-percentile residual life functions if α and β satisfy a certain condition. Two characterizations in terms of percentle residual lifetimes are given for the Beta (1, θ,K), Exponential (λ) and Pareto (θ,K) family of distributions.     

A rate of convergence for the set compound estimation in a family of certain retracted distributions

Summary This paper is concerned with the set compound squared-error loss estimation problem. Here, the author obtains Lévy consistent estimate of the empiric distributionG _n of the parameters θ₁,...,θ_n for a more general family of retracted distributions on the interval [θ, θ+1) than the uniform on [θ, θ+1) as in R. Fox (1970,Ann. Math. Statist.,41, 1845–1852; 1978,Ann. Statist.,6, 846–853) and exhibits a decision procedure based on with a convergence rateO((n ⁻¹ logn)^1/4) for the mofified regret uniformly in (θ₁, θ₂, ..., θ_n ∈ Ωⁿ with bounded Ω. The author also gives a counterexample to the convergence of the modified regret for Ω=(−∞, ∞). This is part of the author's Ph. D. Thesis at Michigan State University.     

Accuracy of several multidimensional refinable distributions

Compactly supported distributions f₁,..., f_r on ℝ^d are fefinable if each f_i is a finite linear combination of the rescaled and translated distributions f_j(Ax−k), where the translates k are taken along a lattice Γ ⊂ ∝^d and A is a dilation matrix that expansively maps Γ into itself. Refinable distributions satisfy a refinement equation f(x)=Σ_k∈Λ c_k f(Ax−k), where Λ is a finite subset of Γ, the c_k are r×r matrices, and f=(f₁,...,f_r)^T. The accuracy of f is the highest degree p such that all multivariate polynomials q with degree(q)<p are exactly reproduced from linear combinations of translates of f₁,...,f_r along the lattice Γ. We determine the accuracy p from the matrices c_k. Moreover, we determine explicitly the coefficients y_α,i(k) such that x^α=Σ _i=1 ^r Σ_k∈Γy_α,i(k) fi(x+k). These coefficients are multivariate polynomials y_α,i(x) of degree |α| evaluated at lattice points k∈Γ.     

One-Sided Cauchy–Stieltjes Kernel Families

This paper continues the study of a kernel family which uses the Cauchy–Stieltjes kernel 1/(1−θ x) in place of the celebrated exponential kernel exp (θ x) of the exponential families theory. We extend the theory to cover generating measures with support that is unbounded on one side. We illustrate the need for such an extension by showing that cubic pseudo-variance functions correspond to free-infinitely divisible laws without the first moment. We also determine the domain of means, advancing the understanding of Cauchy–Stieltjes kernel families also for compactly supported generating measures.     

Systems of equations driven by stable processes

Let Z^j_t, j = 1, . . . , d, be independent one-dimensional symmetric stable processes of index α ∈ (0,2). We consider the system of stochastic differential equations where the matrix A(x)=(A_ij(x))1≤ i, j ≤ d is continuous and bounded in x and nondegenerate for each x. We prove existence and uniqueness of a weak solution to this system. The approach of this paper uses the martingale problem method. For this, we establish some estimates for pseudodifferential operators with singular state-dependent symbols. Let λ₂ > λ₁ > 0. We show that for any two vectors a, b∈ ℝ_d with |a|, |b| ∈ (λ₁, λ₂) and p sufficiently large, the L^p-norm of the operator whose Fourier multiplier is (|u · a|^α - |u · b|^α) / ∑_j=1^d |u_i|^α is bounded by a constant multiple of |a−b|^θ for some θ > 0, where u=(u₁ , . . . , u_d) ∈ ℝ^d. We deduce from this the L^p-boundedness of pseudodifferential operators with symbols of the form ψ(x,u)=|u · a(x)|^α / ∑_j=1^d |u_i|^α, where u=(u₁,...,u_d) and a is a continuous function on ℝ^d with |a(x)|∈ (λ₁, λ₂) for all x∈ ℝ^d. Research partially supported by NSF grant DMS-0244737. Research partially supported by NSF grant DMS-0303310.     

On the Riesz transform associated with the ultraspherical polynomials

We define and investigate the Riesz transform associated with the differential operatorL _λ f(θ)=−f"(θ)−2λ cot’θ. We prove that it can be defined as a principal value and that it is bounded onL ^P ([0, π],dm _λ (θ)),dm _λ(θ)=sin^2λ θdθ, for every 1<p<∞ and of weak type (1,1). The same boundedness properties hold for the maximal operator of the truncated operators. The speed of convergence of the truncated operators is measured in terms of the boundedness inL ^P (dm _λ ), 1<p<∞, and weak type (1,1) of the oscillation and ρ-variation associated to them. Also, a multiplier theorem is proved to get the boundedness of the conjugate function studied by Muckenhoupt and Stein for 1<p<∞ as a corollary of the results for the Riesz transform. Moreover, we find a condition on the weightv which is necessary and sufficient for the existence of a weightu such that the Riesz transform is bounded fromL ^P (v dm _λ ) intoL ^P (u dm _λ ). The authors were partially supported by RTN Harmonic Analysis and Related Problems contract HPRN-CT-2001-00273-HARP. The first and fourth authors were supported in part by KBN grant 1-P93A 018 26. The second and third authors were partially supported by BFM grant 2002-04013-C02-02.     

UNIFORM CONVERGENCE OF CESARO MEANS OF NEGATIVE ORDER OF DOUBLE TRIGONOMETRIC FOURIER SERIES

In this paper we prove that iff ∈ C([-π,π]2) and the function f is bounded partial p-variation for some p ∈ [1, ∞), then the double trigonometric Fourier series of a function f is uniformly (C;-α,-β) summable (α β＜ 1/p,α,β＞ 0) in the sense of Pringsheim. If α β≥ 1/p, then there exists a continuous function f0 of bounded partial double trigonometric Fourier series of fo diverge over cubes.