Inequalities for sums of independent geometrical random variables

Summary We give a survey of known results regarding Schur-convexity of probability distribution functions. Then we prove that the functionF(p ₁,...,p_n;t)=P(X₁+...+X_n≤t) is Schur-concave with respect to (p ₁,...,p_n) for every realt, whereX _i are independent geometric random variables with parametersp _i. A generalization to negative binomial random variables is also presented.     

Probability inequalities for sums of weakly dependent random variables

Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Akademijos 4, 2600 Vilnius, Lithuania. Published in Lietuvos Matematikos Rinkinys, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 426–434, July–September, 1992.     

Some inequalities for strong mixing random variables with applications to density estimation

In this paper, we establish an inequality of the characteristic functions for strongly mixing random vectors, by which, an upper bound is provided for the supremum of the absolute value of the difference of two multivariate probability density functions based on strongly mixing random vectors. As its application, we consider the consistency and asymptotic normality of a kernel estimate of a density function under strong mixing. Our results generalize some known results in the literature.     

On the Kolmogorov inequalities for quadratic forms of dependent uniformly bounded random variables

Some Kolmogorov probability inequalities for quadratic forms and weighted quadratic forms of negative superadditive dependent (NSD) uniformly bounded random variables are provided. Using these inequalities, some complete convergence of randomized quadratic forms under some suitable conditions are evaluated. Moreover, various examples are presented in which the given conditions of our results are satisfied.     

Likelihood ratio orderings of spacings of heterogeneous exponential random variables

Let X₁,X₂,…,X_n be independent exponential random variables such that X_i has failure rate λ for i=1,…,p and X_j has failure rate λ^* for j=p+1,…,n, where p≥1 and q=n-p≥1. Denote by D_i:n(p,q)=X_i:n-X_i-1:n the ith spacing of the order statistics , where X_0:n≡0. It is shown that D_i:n(p,q)?_lrD_i+1:n(p,q) for i=1,…,n-1, and that if λ?λ^* then , and for i=1,…,n, where ?_lr denotes the likelihood ratio order. The main results are used to establish the dispersive orderings between spacings.     

On the transitivity of the comonotonic and countermonotonic comparison of random variables

A recently proposed method for the pairwise comparison of arbitrary independent random variables results in a probabilistic relation. When restricted to discrete random variables uniformly distributed on finite multisets of numbers, this probabilistic relation expresses the winning probabilities between pairs of hypothetical dice that carry these numbers and exhibits a particular type of transitivity called dice-transitivity. In case these multisets have equal cardinality, two alternative methods for statistically comparing the ordered lists of the numbers on the faces of the dice have been studied recently: the comonotonic method based upon the comparison of the numbers of the same rank when the lists are in increasing order, and the countermonotonic method, also based upon the comparison of only numbers of the same rank but with the lists in opposite order. In terms of the discrete random variables associated to these lists, these methods each turn out to be related to a particular copula that joins the marginal cumulative distribution functions into a bivariate cumulative distribution function. The transitivity of the generated probabilistic relation has been completely characterized. In this paper, the list comparison methods are generalized for the purpose of comparing arbitrary random variables. The transitivity properties derived in the case of discrete uniform random variables are shown to be generic. Additionally, it is shown that for a collection of normal random variables, both comparison methods lead to a probabilistic relation that is at least moderately stochastic transitive.     

Asymptotics for dependent Bernoulli random variables

This paper considers a sequence of Bernoulli random variables which are dependent in a way that the success probability of a trial conditional on the previous trials depends on the total number of successes achieved prior to the trial. The paper investigates almost sure behaviors for the sequence and proves the strong law of large numbers under weak conditions. For linear probability functions, the paper also obtains the strong law of large numbers, the central limit theorems and the law of the iterated logarithm, extending the results by James et al. (2008).     

Interpolation, correlation identities, and inequalities for infinitely divisible variables

We present an interpolation formula for the expectation of functions of infinitely divisible (i.d.) variables. This is then applied to study the association problem for i.d. vectors and to present new covariance expansions and correlation inequalities. Acknowledgements and Notes. The research of C. Houdré was supported in part by an NSF Mathematical Sciences Post-Doctoral Fellowship and by an NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship and by the NSF grant No. DMS-98032039. This research was completed while V. Pérez-Abreu was visiting the Georgia Institute of Technology.     

Exact inequalities for sums of asymmetric random variables, with applications

Let be independent identically distributed random variables each having the standardized Bernoulli distribution with parameter . Let if and . Let . Let f be such a function that f and f′′ are nondecreasing and convex. Then it is proved that for all nonnegative numbers one has the inequality where . The lower bound on m is exact for each . Moreover, is Schur-concave in . A number of corollaries are obtained, including upper bounds on generalized moments and tail probabilities of (super)martingales with differences of bounded asymmetry, and also upper bounds on the maximal function of such (super)martingales. Applications to generalized self-normalized sums and t-statistics are given.      

Effort associated with a class of random optimization methods

When differentiability is not assumed random procedures can be successfully used to estimate the extreme values of a given function. For a class of such algorithms we treat the problem of estimating the mean effort.Research partially supported by CNPq-Brazil.     

Critical fluctuations of sums of weakly dependent random vectors

Summary LetS _n be sums of iid random vectors taking values in a Banach space andF be a smooth function. We study the fluctuations ofS _n under the transformed measureP _n given byd P _n/d P=exp (nF(S _n/n))/Z _n. If degeneracy occurs then the projection ofS _n onto the degenerate subspace, properly centered and scaled, converges to a non-Gaussian probability measure with the degenerate subspace as its support. The projection ofS _n onto the non-degenerate subspace, scaled with the usual order converges to a Gaussian probability measure with the non-degenerate subspace as its support. The two projective limits are in general dependent. We apply this theory to the critical mean field Heisenberg model and prove a central limit type theorem for the empirical measure of this model.Supported by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (21–29833.90)     

Weak invariance principles for sums of dependent random functions

Motivated by problems in functional data analysis, in this paper we prove the weak convergence of normalized partial sums of dependent random functions exhibiting a Bernoulli shift structure.     

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.     

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.     

The mixing advantage for bounded random variables

Corresponding to n independent non-negative random variables X₁,…,X_n concentrated on a bounded interval set are values M₁,…,M_n, where each M_i is the expected value of the maximum of n independent copies of X_i. We obtain a sharp upper bound for the expected value of the maximum of X₁,…,X_n in terms of M₁,…,M_n. This inequality is sharp. A similar result is demonstrated for minima.     

A strong approximation for logarithmic averages of partial sums of random variables

LetS _n be the partial sums of -mixing stationary random variables and letf(x) be a real function. In this note we give sufficient conditions under which the logarithmic average off(S _n / _n ) converges almost surely to _– f(x)d(x). We also obtain strong approximation forH(n)= _k=1 ⁿ k ^–1 f(S _k /k)=logn _– f(x)d(x) which will imply the asymptotic normality ofH(n)/log^1/2 n. But for partial sums of i.i.d. random variables our results will be proved under weaker moment condition than assumed for -mixing random variables.     

A new discrete distribution with actuarial applications

A new discrete distribution depending on two parameters, α<1,α≠0 and 0<θ<1, is introduced in this paper. The new distribution is unimodal with a zero vertex and overdispersion (mean larger than the variance) and underdispersion (mean lower than the variance) are encountered depending on the values of its parameters. Besides, an equation for the probability density function of the compound version, when the claim severities are discrete is derived. The particular case obtained when α tends to zero is reduced to the geometric distribution. Thus, the geometric distribution can be considered as a limiting case of the new distribution. After reviewing some of its properties, we investigated the problem of parameter estimation. Expected frequencies were calculated for numerous examples, including short and long tailed count data, providing a very satisfactory fit.     

On the distribution of the (un)bounded sum of random variables

We propose a general treatment of random variables aggregation accounting for the dependence among variables and bounded or unbounded support of their sum. The approach is based on the extension to the concept of convolution to dependent variables, involving copula functions. We show that some classes of copula functions (such as Marshall-Olkin and elliptical) cannot be used to represent the dependence structure of two variables whose sum is bounded, while Archimedean copulas can be applied only if the generator becomes linear beyond some point. As for the application, we study the problem of capital allocation between risks when the sum of losses is bounded.