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What is the rate of convergence for $\textrm{sign}(\frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^{n}X_{i})$? ( $X_{i}$ are independent and identically distributed as $F$ satisfying the conditions for central limit theorem)

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    $\begingroup$ Why should it converge? Take for instance the case when the mean of the $X_i$'s is zero. $\endgroup$
    – Xi'an
    Commented Mar 7, 2020 at 11:59
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    $\begingroup$ @Xi'an is right--but if the mean of $F$ is nonzero, then the sign does converge and its rate of convergence is easily derived from the CLT. $\endgroup$
    – whuber
    Commented Mar 7, 2020 at 13:58
  • $\begingroup$ @whuber I read a paper which says this rate of convergence is faster than root n, but cannot see how. Can you provide more details on how to find its exact rate based on CLT? $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 8, 2020 at 19:18
  • $\begingroup$ @Xi'an Yes, this sign in the population is assumed nonzero. Thanks for pointing it out. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 8, 2020 at 19:20

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If $\mathbb{E}[X_i]=\mu<0$, with $\text{var}(X_i)=\sigma^2$, then \begin{align}\mathbb P(\bar X_n \ge 0)&=\mathbb P(\bar X_n \ge \mu-\sqrt{n}\mu\sigma/\sqrt{n}\sigma)\\ &=\mathbb P\left(\bar X_n \ge \mu-\frac{\sqrt{n}\mu}{\sigma}\underbrace{\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}}_{\text{sd}(\bar X_n)}\right)\\ &=\mathbb P\left(\frac{\sqrt{n}}{\sigma}\{\bar X_n - \mu\} \ge -\frac{\sqrt{n}\mu}{\sigma}\right)\\ &\le -\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}\mu}\dfrac{\exp\{-[\sqrt{n}\mu/\sigma]^2/2\}}{\sqrt{2\pi}}\qquad\text{for the Normal cdf, with $\mu<0$}\\ &=-\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}\mu}\dfrac{\exp\{-n\mu^2/2\sigma^2\}}{\sqrt{2\pi}}\end{align} So the rate of $\text{sign}(\bar X_n)$ not going to the right value is of order $$\exp\{-n\mu^2/2\sigma^2\}/\sqrt{n}$$ Note that the bound $$\mathbb P\left(\frac{\sqrt{n}}{\sigma}\{\bar X_n - \mu\} \ge -\frac{\sqrt{n}\mu}{\sigma}\right)\le -\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}\mu}\dfrac{\exp\{-[\sqrt{n}\mu/\sigma]^2/2\}}{\sqrt{2\pi}}$$ can be obtained as $$\mathbb P(X\ge x) =\int_x^\infty\phi(u)\,\text{d}u <\int_x^\infty\frac ux\phi(u)\,\text{d}u =\int_{\frac{x^2}{2}}^\infty\frac{e^{-v}}{x\sqrt{2\pi}}\,\text{d}v=-\biggl.\frac{e^{-v}}{x\sqrt{2\pi}}\biggr|_{\frac{x^2}{2}}^\infty=\frac{\phi(x)}{x}$$ when $X\sim\mathcal N(0,1)$.

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    $\begingroup$ How do you obtain the inequality on the third line? $\endgroup$
    – whuber
    Commented Mar 9, 2020 at 1:19
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    $\begingroup$ @whuber That's by tail probability bound for standard normal distribution. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 9, 2020 at 2:52
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    $\begingroup$ @TD888 I recognize that: but the standard Normal is only approximating the distribution of the standardized $\bar X_n,$ so quoting an approximation for the tail probability (Mills Ratio) is irrelevant unless one can also show that the standard Normal approximation is at least as good as Mills Ratio--and I don't see why that's generally the case. $\endgroup$
    – whuber
    Commented Mar 9, 2020 at 14:27
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    $\begingroup$ I'm still baffled Xi'an, because this answer seems to assume $X$ has a Normal distribution, whereas the question assumes only that it has some arbitrary distribution function $F$ with finite second moment. $\endgroup$
    – whuber
    Commented Mar 9, 2020 at 21:44
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    $\begingroup$ @whuber: Yes, I indeed gave the answer under the Normality assumption and have no clue on extending it to the general case. Since$$\mathbb P(X>0)$$ is asymptotically equivalent to$$\Phi(-\sqrt{n}\mu/\sigma)$$this should work for a larger number of cases, but I dunno under which conditions. $\endgroup$
    – Xi'an
    Commented Mar 10, 2020 at 4:55

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