A characterization of the multivariate normal distribution

Let X_j (j = 1,…,n) be i.i.d. random variables, and let Y′ = (Y₁,…,Y_m) and X′ = (X₁,…,X_n) be independently distributed, and A = (a_jk) be an n × n random coefficient matrix with a_jk = a_jk(Y) for j, k = 1,…,n. Consider the equation U = AX, Kingman and Graybill [Ann. Math. Statist.41 (1970)] have shown U ～ N(O,I) if and only if X ～ N(O,I). provided that certain conditions defined in terms of the a_jk are satisfied. The task of this paper is to delete the identical assumption on X₁,…,X_n and then generalize the results to the vector case. Furthermore, the condition of independence on the random components within each vector is relaxed, and also the question raised by the above authors is answered.     

Minimax and admissible minimax estimators of the mean of a multivariate normal distribution for unknown covariance matrix

Let X be a p-variate (p ≥ 3) vector normally distributed with mean μ and covariance Σ, and let A be a p × p random matrix distributed independent of X, according to the Wishart distribution W(n, Σ). For estimating μ, we consider estimators of the form δ = δ(X, A). We obtain families of Bayes, minimax and admissible minimax estimators with respect to the quadratic loss function (δ ? μ)′ Σ^?1(δ ? μ) where Σ is unknown. This paper extends previous results of the author [1], given for the case in which the covariance matrix of the distribution is of the form σ²I, where σ is known.     

Solution of a problem on the identification of parameters by the distribution of the maximum random variable: a multivariate normal case

In this paper we solve the problem of unique factorization of products ofn-variate nonsingular normal distributions with covariance matrices of the form , _ij =p _{i j} forij, = _i ² ,j=j,p0.     

Some conditional expectation identities for the multivariate normal

We give formulas for the conditional expectations of a product of multivariate Hermite polynomials with multivariate normal arguments. These results are extended to include conditional expectations of a product of linear combination of multivariate normals. A unified approach is given that covers both Hermite and modified Hermite polynomials, as well as polynomials associated with a matrix whose eigenvalues may be both positive and negative.     

On a characterization of the normal distribution by means of identically distributed linear forms

Let X₁, X₂,…, be independent, identically distributed random variables. Suppose that the linear forms L₁ = Σ_j=1^∞a_jX_j and L₂ = Σ_j=1^∞b_jX_j exist with probability one and are identically distributed; necessary and sufficient conditions assuring that X₁ is normally distributed are presented. The result is an extension of a theorem of Linnik (Ukrainian Math. J.5 (1953), 207–243, 247–290) concerning the case that the linear forms L₁ and L₂ have a finite number of nonvanishing components. This proof only makes use of elementary properties of characteristic functions and of meromorphic functions.     

Improved prediction for a multivariate normal distribution with unknown mean and variance

The prediction problem for a multivariate normal distribution is considered where both mean and variance are unknown. When the Kullback–Leibler loss is used, the Bayesian predictive density based on the right invariant prior, which turns out to be a density of a multivariate t-distribution, is the best invariant and minimax predictive density. In this paper, we introduce an improper shrinkage prior and show that the Bayesian predictive density against the shrinkage prior improves upon the best invariant predictive density when the dimension is greater than or equal to three.     

An inequality for the multivariate normal distribution

Herman Chernoff used Hermite polynomials to prove an inequality for the normal distribution. This inequality is useful in solving a variation of the classical isoperimetric problem which, in turn, is relevant to data compression in the theory of element identification. As the inequality is of interest in itself, we prove a multivariate generalization of it using a different argument.     

A note on characterizations of multivariate stable distributions

Several characterizations of multivariate stable distributions together with a characterization of multivariate normal distributions and multivariate stable distributions with Cauchy marginals are given. These are related to some standard characterizations of marcinkiewicz.Research supported, in part, by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Contract AFOSR 84-0113. Reproduction in whole or part is permitted for any purpose of the United States Government.     

A characterization of the multivariate normal distribution by using the hazard gradient

We give a general result to characterize a multivariate distribution from a relationship between the left truncated mean function and the hazard gradient function. This result allows us to obtain new characterizations of multivariate distributions. In particular, we show that, for the multivariate normal distribution, the simple relationship, obtained in standardized form by McGill (1992,Communications in Statistics. Theory Methods,21(11), 3053–3060), actually characterizes the multivariate normal distribution. Supported by Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia under grant BFM2000-0362.     

Definition and characterization of multivariate negative binomial distribution

The probability generating function (pgf) of an n-variate negative binomial distribution is defined to be [β(s₁,…,s_n)]^?k where β is a polynomial of degree n being linear in each s_i and k > 0. This definition gives rise to two characterizations of negative binomial distributions. An n-variate linear exponential distribution with the probability function h(x₁,…,x_n)$\text{exp}\text{(}\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{i=1}}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{θ}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{x}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)}\text{f(θ}{}_1\text{,…,θ}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{)}$ is negative binomial if and only if its univariate marginals are negative binomial. Let S_t, t = 1,…, m, be subsets of {s₁,…, s_n} with empty ∩_t=1^mS_t. Then an n-variate pgf is of a negative binomial if and only if for all s in S_t being fixed the function is of the form of the pgf of a negative binomial in other s's and this is true for all t.     

A new class of multivariate counting processes and its characterization

In this paper, we suggest a new class of multivariate counting processes which generalizes and extends the multivariate generalized Polya process recently studied in Cha and Giorgio [On a class of multivariate counting processes, Adv. Appl. Probab. 48 (2016), pp. 443–462]. Initially, we define this multivariate counting process by means of mixing. For further characterization of it, we suggest an alternative definition, which facilitates convenient characterization of the proposed process. We also discuss the dependence structure of the proposed multivariate counting process and other stochastic properties such as the joint distributions of the number of events in an arbitrary interval or disjoint intervals and the conditional joint distribution of the arrival times of different types of events given the number of events. The corresponding marginal processes are also characterized.     

Another characterization of multivariate normal distribution

We establish a characterization of the multivariate normal based on a maximal property relating Var[g(ζ)] and the gradient of g(·).     

A note on the Bayesian inference for generalized multivariate gamma distribution

In this paper, we show that the derivation of Lemma 3 of Das and Dey (2010) needs to be corrected by using a logical transformation, instead of the ad-hoc transformation which is partially motivated by its univariate equivalent transformation. The correct derivation is presented by two approaches.     

Testing for a multivariate generalized Pareto distribution

It has recently been shown by Rootzén and Tajvidi (Bernoulli, 12:917–930, 2006) that modelling exceedances of a random variable over a high threshold (peaks-over-threshold approach [POT]) can also in the multivariate setup be done rationally only by a multivariate generalized Pareto distribution (GPD). The selection of a proper threshold is, however, a crucial problem. The contribution of this paper is twofold: We develop first a non asymptotic and exact level-α test based on the single-sample t-test, which checks whether multivariate data are actually generated by a multivariate GPD. Secondly, this procedure is utilized for the derivation of a t-test based threshold selection rule in multivariate peaks-over-threshold models. The application to a hydrological data set illustrates this approach.      

A new construction for skew multivariate distributions

This paper considers a new approach to develop a very general class of skew multivariate distributions. The approach is based on a linear combination of an elliptically distributed random variable with a linear constraint. Using this approach two different classes of multivariate distributions are constructed based on original distribution. These new classes include different types of skew normal (type A and type B) and other skew elliptical distributions, exist in the literature. We also derive the moment generating function, marginal and conditional density of our proposed classes of distributions. Straightforward explanations are applied to demonstrate the relationships among previous approaches by others with our proposed class of skew distributions.     

On confidence sequences for the mean vector of a multivariate normal distribution

Let X₁, X₂,… be idd random vectors with a multivariate normal distribution N(μ, Σ). A sequence of subsets {R_n(a₁, a₂,…, a_n), n ≥ m} of the space of μ is said to be a (1 − α)-level sequence of confidence sets for μ if P(μ R_n(X₁, X₂,…, X_n) for every n ≥ m) ≥ 1 − α. In this note we use the ideas of Robbins Ann. Math. Statist. 41 (1970) to construct confidence sequences for the mean vector μ when Σ is either known or unknown. The constructed sequence R_n(X₁, X₂, …, X_n) depends on Mahalanobis' or Hotelling's according as Σ is known or unknown. Confidence sequences for the vector-valued parameter in the general linear model are also given.     

Minimax estimation of a multivariate normal mean under polynomial loss

Let X be an observation from a p-variate (p ≥ 3) normal random vector with unknown mean vector θ and known covariance matrix

. The problem of improving upon the usual estimator of θ, δ⁰(X) = X, is considered. An approach is developed which can lead to improved estimators, δ, for loss functions which are polynomials in the coordinates of (δ ? θ). As an example of this approach, the loss L(δ, θ) = |δ ? θ|⁴ is considered, and estimators are developed which are significantly better than δ⁰. When

is the identity matrix, these estimators are of the form $\text{δ(X) = (1 ? (}\text{b}\text{(d + |X|}{}^2\text{)}\text{))X}$.     

Some extension of Haldane's multivariate median and its application

Summary Some extension of Haldane's multivariate median is carried out by minimization principle of a specified distance function. Then, making use of the median, three types of measures of multivariate skewness are introduced and their asymptotic null distributions are obtained.     

Minimax multivariate empirical Bayes estimators under multicollinearity

In this paper we consider the problem of estimating the matrix of regression coefficients in a multivariate linear regression model in which the design matrix is near singular. Under the assumption of normality, we propose empirical Bayes ridge regression estimators with three types of shrinkage functions, that is, scalar, componentwise and matricial shrinkage. These proposed estimators are proved to be uniformly better than the least squares estimator, that is, minimax in terms of risk under the Strawderman's loss function. Through simulation and empirical studies, they are also shown to be useful in the multicollinearity cases.     

Minimax estimation of a multivariate normal mean under arbitrary quadratic loss

Let X be a p-variate (p ≥ 3) vector normally distributed with mean θ and known covariance matrix

. It is desired to estimate θ under the quadratic loss (δ ? θ)^tQ(δ ? θ), where Q is a known positive definite matrix. A broad class of minimax estimators for θ is developed.