Homestat.MEarXiv:2605.29388

Gaussian Differentially Private $e$-values: Construction, Threshold Calibration, and Multiple Testing

stat.ME2026-05v1license

Abstract

This paper develops a framework for differentially private ee-values under Gaussian differential privacy (μ\mu-GDP). We characterize the canonical noise mechanism, establishing that optimal multiplicative perturbation follows a Gaussian distribution. Using this distribution, we derive a globally sharp rejection threshold that strictly improves upon the standard Markov bound. Asymptotic analysis shows that in low-sensitivity regimes, the calibrated private test achieves a net power gain over the non-private baseline. For multiple testing, we introduce a recursive peeling algorithm that adaptively concentrates the privacy budget on the most promising hypotheses. This construction guarantees rigorous μ\mu-GDP and yields valid private ee-values compatible with standard multiple testing procedures. Simulations and a genome-wide association study confirm that the method controls the false discovery rate while improving upon naive all-noisy privatization and recovering power close to non-private benchmarks.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.29388,
  title  = {Gaussian Differentially Private $e$-values: Construction, Threshold Calibration, and Multiple Testing},
  author = {Qi Kuang and Bowen Gang and Yin Xia},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.29388},
  year   = {2026}
}