English

The sharp one-dimensional convex sub-Gaussian comparison constant

Probability 2026-04-06 v1

Abstract

Let XX be an integrable real random variable with mean zero and two-sided sub-Gaussian tail P(X>t)2et2/2\mathbb{P}(|X|>t)\le 2e^{-t^{2}/2} for all t0t\ge 0. We determine the smallest constant cc_\star such that XX is dominated in convex order by cGc_\star G, where GG is standard normal. Equivalently, c2c_\star^2 is the sharp one-dimensional convex sub-Gaussian comparison constant appearing in the \emph{Optimization Constants in Mathematics} repository~\cite{optimization-constants-repo}. We show that cc_\star is given by an explicit system of one-dimensional equations and is attained by an extremal distribution that saturates the tail constraint. Numerically, c2.30952c_\star \approx 2.30952 (so c25.33386c_\star^2 \approx 5.33386). We also determine the analogous sharp constant under a two-sided sub-exponential tail bound, with convex domination by a scaled Laplace law. Finally, we record two higher-dimensional consequences: a sequential tensorization principle for multivariate convex domination, and a dimension-free Gaussian comparator for the cone generated by convex ridge functions (the linear convex order).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.03170,
  title  = {The sharp one-dimensional convex sub-Gaussian comparison constant},
  author = {Damek Davis and Sam Power},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.03170},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:53:04.385Z