Related papers: Why minimax is not that pessimistic
A decision rule is epsilon-minimax if it is minimax up to an additive factor epsilon. We present an algorithm for provably obtaining epsilon-minimax solutions for a class of statistical decision problems. In particular, we are interested in…
For the problem of nonparametric estimation of signal in Gaussian noise we point out the strong asymptotically minimax estimators on maxisets for linear estimators (see \cite{ker93,rio}). It turns out that the order of rates of convergence…
We consider high-dimensional estimation problems where the number of parameters diverges with the sample size. General conditions are established for consistency, uniqueness, and asymptotic normality in both unpenalized and penalized…
In this paper, we establish minimax optimal rates of convergence for prediction in a semi-functional linear model that consists of a functional component and a less smooth nonparametric component. Our results reveal that the smoother…
The effect of measurement errors in discriminant analysis is investigated. Given observations $Z=X+\epsilon$, where $\epsilon$ denotes a random noise, the goal is to predict the density of $X$ among two possible candidates $f$ and $g$. We…
Virtually all machine learning tasks are characterized using some form of loss function, and "good performance" is typically stated in terms of a sufficiently small average loss, taken over the random draw of test data. While optimizing for…
Since Stein's 1956 seminal paper, shrinkage has played a fundamental role in both parametric and nonparametric inference. This article discusses minimaxity and adaptive minimaxity in nonparametric function estimation. Three interrelated…
The aim of this article is to overview the problem of mean square optimal estimation of linear functionals which depend on unknown values of periodically correlated stochastic process. Estimates are based on observations of this process and…
Stochastic programming models can lead to very large-scale optimization problems for which it may be impossible to enumerate all possible scenarios. In such cases, one adopts a sampling-based solution methodology in which case the…
It is well known that the minimax rates of convergence of nonparametric density and regression function estimation of a random variable measured with error is much slower than the rate in the error free case. Surprisingly, we show that if…
We consider the estimation of a scalar parameter, when two estimators are available. The first is always consistent. The second is inconsistent in general, but has a smaller asymptotic variance than the first, and may be consistent if an…
The first aim of this paper is to establish the weak convergence rate of nonlinear two-time-scale stochastic approximation algorithms. Its second aim is to introduce the averaging principle in the context of two-time-scale stochastic…
This paper addresses the problem of estimating a convex regression function under both the sup-norm risk and the pointwise risk using B-splines. The presence of the convex constraint complicates various issues in asymptotic analysis,…
This paper provides an overview of results and concepts in minimax robust hypothesis testing for two and multiple hypotheses. It starts with an introduction to the subject, highlighting its connection to other areas of robust statistics and…
In optimization problems, the quality of a candidate solution can be characterized by the optimality gap. For most stochastic optimization problems, this gap must be statistically estimated. We show that for risk-averse problems, standard…
In this paper a new family of minimum divergence estimators based on the Bregman divergence is proposed, where the defining convex function has an exponential nature. These estimators avoid the necessity of using an intermediate kernel…
A basic issue in both teaching of and practice of statistics is the interplay between modelling assumptions and inference performance. The general message conveyed is that stronger assumptions lead to better statistical performance of the…
We consider stochastic optimization problems with the dual tasks of (i) effectively finding the optimizer and (ii) reliably conducting statistical inference for the optimal objective function value. We find that classical simulation…
Lower bounds involving $f$-divergences between the underlying probability measures are proved for the minimax risk in estimation problems. Our proofs just use simple convexity facts. Special cases and straightforward corollaries of our…
This manuscript studies statistical properties of linear classifiers obtained through minimization of an unregularized convex risk over a finite sample. Although the results are explicitly finite-dimensional, inputs may be passed through…