The ratio of the extreme to the sum in a random sequence

For X ₁ , X ₂ , ..., X _n a sequence of non-negative independent random variables with common distribution function F(t), X _(n) denotes the maximum and S _n denotes the sum. The ratio variate R _n  = X _(n) / S _n is a quantity arising in the analysis of process speedup and the performance of scheduling. O’Brien (J. Appl. Prob. 17:539–545, 1980) showed that as n → ∞, R _n →0 almost surely iff is finite. Here we show that, provided either (1) is finite, or (2) 1 − F (t) is a regularly varying function with index ρ < − 1, then . An integral representation for the expected ratio is derived, and lower and upper asymptotic bounds are developed to obtain the result. Since is often known or estimated asymptotically, this result quantifies the rate of convergence of the ratio’s expected value. The result is applied to the performance of multiprocessor scheduling.