English

On the rate of convergence in de Finetti's representation theorem

Probability 2016-01-26 v1

Abstract

A consequence of de Finetti's representation theorem is that for every infinite sequence of exchangeable 0-1 random variables (Xk)k1(X_k)_{k\geq1}, there exists a probability measure μ\mu on the Borel sets of [0,1][0,1] such that Xˉn=n1i=1nXi\bar X_n = n^{-1} \sum_{i=1}^n X_i converges weakly to μ\mu. For a wide class of probability measures μ\mu having smooth density on (0,1)(0,1), we give bounds of order 1/n1/n with explicit constants for the Wasserstein distance between the law of Xˉn\bar X_n and μ\mu. This extends a recent result {by} Goldstein and Reinert \cite{goldstein2013stein} regarding the distance between the scaled number of white balls drawn in a P\'olya-Eggenberger urn and its limiting distribution. We prove also that, in the most general cases, the distance between the law of Xˉn\bar X_n and μ\mu is bounded below by 1/n1/n and above by 1/n1/\sqrt{n} (up to some multiplicative constants). For every δ[1/2,1]\delta \in [1/2,1], we give an example of an exchangeable sequence such that this distance is of order 1/nδ1/n^\delta.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1601.06606,
  title  = {On the rate of convergence in de Finetti's representation theorem},
  author = {Guillaume Mijoule and Giovanni Peccati and Yvik Swan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1601.06606},
  year   = {2016}
}