Related papers: Some inequalities on Binomial and Poisson probabil…

The well-known "Janson's inequality" gives Poisson-like upper bounds for the lower tail probability \Pr(X \le (1-\eps)\E X) when X is the sum of dependent indicator random variables of a special form. We show that, for large deviations,…

We derive upper bounds on the tail conditional expectation of binomial and Poisson random variables. Those upper bounds are subsequently employed to the problem of obtaining non-asymptotic lower bounds on the probability that the…

Let $X$ be an integrable discrete random variable over $\{0, 1, 2, \ldots\}$ with $\mathbb{P}(X = i + 1) \leq \mathbb{P}(X = i)$ for all $i$. Then for any integer $a \geq 1$, $\mathbb{P}(X \leq a) \leq \mathbb{E}[X] / (2a - 1)$. Let $W$ be…

Let $\xi_1, \xi_2, \dots$ be i.i.d. non-negative random variables whose tail varies regularly with index $-1$, let $S_n$ be the sum and $M_n$ the largest of the first $n$ values. We clarify for which sequences $x_n\to\infty$ we have…

We give a comparison inequality that allows one to estimate the tail probabilities of sums of independent Banach space valued random variables in terms of those of independent identically distributed random variables. More precisely, let…

Two new information-theoretic methods are introduced for establishing Poisson approximation inequalities. First, using only elementary information-theoretic techniques it is shown that, when $S_n=\sum_{i=1}^nX_i$ is the sum of the (possibly…

We re-examine a lower-tail upper bound for the random variable $$X=\prod_{i=1}^{\infty}\min\left\{\sum_{k=1}^iE_k,1\right\},$$ where $E_1,E_2,\ldots\stackrel{iid}\sim\text{Exp}(1)$. This bound has found use in root-finding and seed-finding…

Let $\{\xi_n\}$ be a sequence of independent and identically distributed random variables. In this paper we study the comparison for two upper tail probabilities $\mathbb{P}\{\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}a_n|\xi_n|^p\geq r\}$ and…

The ratio $P(S_n=x)/P(Z_n=x)$ is investigated for three cases: (a) when $S_n$ is a sum of 1-dependent non-negative integer-valued random variables (rvs), satisfying some moment conditions, and $Z_n$ is Poisson rv; (b) when $S_n$ is a…

Let $X_1,\dots,X_n$ be independent nonnegative random variables (r.v.'s), with $S_n:=X_1+\dots+X_n$ and finite values of $s_i:=E X_i^2$ and $m_i:=E X_i>0$. Exact upper bounds on $E f(S_n)$ for all functions $f$ in a certain class…

We study the extent of independence needed to approximate the product of bounded random variables in expectation, a natural question that has applications in pseudorandomness and min-wise independent hashing. For random variables whose…

We say that a random integer variable $X$ is monotone if the modulus of the characteristic function of $X$ is decreasing on $[0,\pi]$. This is the case for many commonly encountered variables, e.g., Bernoulli, Poisson and geometric random…

We explore negative dependence and stochastic orderings, showing that if an integer-valued random variable $W$ satisfies a certain negative dependence assumption, then $W$ is smaller (in the convex sense) than a Poisson variable of equal…

Let $(S_0,S_1,...)$ be a supermartingale relative to a nondecreasing sequence of $\sigma$-algebras $H_{\le0},H_{\le1},...$, with $S_0\le0$ almost surely (a.s.) and differences $X_i:=S_i-S_{i-1}$. Suppose that $X_i\le d$ and $\mathsf…

Let $(\xi_i)_{i=1,...,n}$ be a sequence of independent and symmetric random variables. We consider the upper bounds on tail probabilities of self-normalized deviations $$ \mathbf{P} \Big( \max_{1\leq k \leq n} \sum_{i=1}^{k} |\xi_i|\big/…

We provide a lower bound on the probability that a binomial random variable is exceeding its mean. Our proof employs estimates on the mean absolute deviation and the tail conditional expectation of binomial random variables.

We give an elementary proof of the fact that a binomial random variable $X$ with parameters $n$ and $0.29/n \le p < 1$ with probability at least $1/4$ strictly exceeds its expectation. We also show that for $1/n \le p < 1 - 1/n$, $X$…

We give explicit bounds for the tail probabilities for sums of independent geometric or exponential variables, possibly with different parameters.

We establish upper and lower bounds with matching leading terms for tails of weighted sums of two-sided exponential random variables. This extends Janson's recent results for one-sided exponentials.

We consider random vectors $X$ that satisfy the equation in law $X=AX+B$, where $A$ is a given random diagonal matrix and $B$ a given random vector, both independent of $X$. It is well known by the works of Kesten and Goldie that the…