English

A tight Gaussian bound for weighted sums of Rademacher random variables

Probability 2015-06-02 v2

Abstract

Let ε1,,εn\varepsilon_1,\ldots,\varepsilon_n be independent identically distributed Rademacher random variables, that is P{εi=±1}=1/2\mathbb{P}\{\varepsilon_i=\pm1\}=1/2. Let Sn=a1ε1++anεnS_n=a_1\varepsilon_1+\cdots+a_n\varepsilon_n, where a=(a1,,an)Rn\mathbf{a}=(a_1,\ldots,a_n)\in\mathbb{R}^n is a vector such that a12++an21{a_1^2+\cdots+a_n^2\leq1}. We find the smallest possible constant cc in the inequality P{Snx}cP{ηx}forallxR,\mathbb{P}\{S_n\geq x\}\leq c\mathbb{P}\{\eta\geq x\}\qquad for all x\in \mathbb{R}, where ηN(0,1)\eta\sim N(0,1) is a standard normal random variable. This optimal value is equal to c=(4P{η2})13.178.c_*=\bigl(4\mathbb{P}\{\eta\geq\sqrt{2}\}\bigr)^ {-1}\approx3.178.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1307.3451,
  title  = {A tight Gaussian bound for weighted sums of Rademacher random variables},
  author = {Vidmantas Kastytis Bentkus and Dainius Dzindzalieta},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1307.3451},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.3150/14-BEJ603 in the Bernoulli (http://isi.cbs.nl/bernoulli/) by the International Statistical Institute/Bernoulli Society (http://isi.cbs.nl/BS/bshome.htm)