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Asymptotic Probabilities of Attaining the Maximum in Heterogeneous Gaussian Samples

Probability 2026-05-21 v1

Abstract

We study asymptotic probabilities of attaining the maximum in heterogeneous Gaussian samples. In the two-group setting, the first sample has variance 11 and size n1n_1, while the second has variance σ2>1\sigma^2>1 and size n2n_2. We investigate the probability that the maximum of the standard-variance group exceeds that of the high-variance group. Using the classical extreme-value normalization for Gaussian maxima together with a second-order comparison of the centering terms, we show that this probability admits a non-degenerate limit if and only if n1Cn2σ2(logn2)(σ21)/2n_1\sim C n_2^{\sigma^2}(\log n_2)^{-(\sigma^2-1)/2} as n1,n2n_1,n_2\to\infty for some C(0,)C\in(0,\infty). In that regime, the limit admits an integral representation. Outside the critical regime, the comparison necessarily degenerates to 00 or 11. We then extend the analysis to finitely many independent Gaussian groups and obtain a generalized integral representation for the limiting winning probabilities. The results provide a complete asymptotic classification for this maximum-comparison problem

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.21155,
  title  = {Asymptotic Probabilities of Attaining the Maximum in Heterogeneous Gaussian Samples},
  author = {Chunxu Zhang and Baiqi Miao and Tiantian Mao},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.21155},
  year   = {2026}
}