Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T10:23:06.619Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

PRESERVATION OF LOG-CONCAVITY UNDER CONVOLUTION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2017

Tiantian Mao
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics and Finance, School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui 230026, China E-mail: tmao@ustc.edu.cn; xiaww@mail.ustc.edu.cn; thu@ustc.edu.cn
Wanwan Xia
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics and Finance, School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui 230026, China E-mail: tmao@ustc.edu.cn; xiaww@mail.ustc.edu.cn; thu@ustc.edu.cn
Taizhong Hu
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics and Finance, School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui 230026, China E-mail: tmao@ustc.edu.cn; xiaww@mail.ustc.edu.cn; thu@ustc.edu.cn

Abstract

Log-concave random variables and their various properties play an increasingly important role in probability, statistics, and other fields. For a distribution F, denote by 𝒟F the set of distributions G such that the convolution of F and G has a log-concave probability mass function or probability density function. In this paper, we investigate sufficient and necessary conditions under which 𝒟F ⊆ 𝒟G, where F and G belong to a parametric family of distributions. Both discrete and continuous settings are considered.

MSC classification

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.An, M.Y. (1998). Logconcavity versus logconvexity: A complete characterization. Journal of Economic Theory 80: 350369.Google Scholar
2.Bagnoli, M. & Bergstrom, T. (2005). Log-concave probability and its applications. Economic Theory 26: 445469.Google Scholar
3.Bobkov, S. & Madiman, M. (2011). Concentration of the information in data with log-concave distributions. Annals of Probability 39: 15281543.Google Scholar
4.Dharmadhikari, S. & Joag-dev, K. (1988). Unimodality, convexity and applications. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
5.Efron, B. (1965). Increasing properties of Pólya frequency functions. Annals of Mathematical Statistics 36: 272279.Google Scholar
6.Fekete, M. (1912). Über ein problem von Laguerre. Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo 34: 89–100, 110120.Google Scholar
7.Finner, H. & Roters, M. (1993). Distribution functions and log-concavity. Communications in Statistics: Theory and Methods 22: 23812396.Google Scholar
8.Finner, H. & Roters, M. (1997). Log-concavity and inequalities for chi-square, F and Beta distributions with applications in multiple comparisons. Statistica Sinica 7: 771787.Google Scholar
9.Fradelizi, M., Madiman, M. & Wang, L. (2016). Optimal concentration of information content for log-concave densities. In Houdré, C., Mason, D.M., Reynaud-Bouret, P. & Rosiński, J. (eds.), High dimensional probability VII. Springer International Publishing Switzerland, pp. 4560.Google Scholar
10.Ibragimov, I.A. (1956). On the composition of unimodal distributions. Theory of Probability and Its Applications 1: 255260.Google Scholar
11.Johnson, O. & Goldschmidt, C. (2006). Preservation of log-concavity under summation. ESAIM: Probability and Statistics 10: 206215.Google Scholar
12.Kahn, J. & Neiman, M. (2010). Negative correlation and log-concavity. Random Structures and Algorithms 37: 271406.Google Scholar
13.Liggett, T.M. (1997). Ultra logconcave sequence and negative dependence. Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A 79: 315325.Google Scholar
14.Saumard, A. & Wellner, J.A. (2014). Log-concavity and strong log-concavity: A review. Statistics Surveys 8: 45114.Google Scholar
15.Sengupta, D. & Nanda, A.K. (1999). Log-concave and concave distributions in reliability. Naval Research Logistics 46: 419433.Google Scholar
16.Wang, Y. & Yeh, Y.-N. (2007). Log-concavity and LC-positivity. Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A 114: 195210.Google Scholar
17.Yu, Y. (2010). Relative log-concavity and a pair of triangle inequalities. Bernoulli 16: 459470.Google Scholar