English

On choosing and bounding probability metrics

Probability 2007-05-23 v1

Abstract

When studying convergence of measures, an important issue is the choice of probability metric. In this review, we provide a summary and some new results concerning bounds among ten important probability metrics/distances that are used by statisticians and probabilists. We focus on these metrics because they are either well-known, commonly used, or admit practical bounding techniques. We summarize these relationships in a handy reference diagram, and also give examples to show how rates of convergence can depend on the metric chosen.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/0209021,
  title  = {On choosing and bounding probability metrics},
  author = {Alison L. Gibbs and Francis Edward Su},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0209021},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

To appear, International Statistical Review. Related work at http://www.math.hmc.edu/~su/papers.html