Skip to content
nonconvexcard

The weak law needs only uncorrelatedness

ProofBeginner⏱ 15 minProbabilityllnchebyshevuncorrelated

Problem

Prove that if X1,X2,…X_1,X_2,\dots are uncorrelated with common mean μ\mu and variance at most σ2\sigma^2, then Xˉn→Pμ\bar X_n\xrightarrow{\P}\mu, with the explicit bound P(∣Xˉn−μ∣≥t)≤σ2/(nt2)\P(|\bar X_n-\mu|\ge t) \le \sigma^2/(nt^2). Then give an example of uncorrelated but dependent variables to show the hypothesis is genuinely weaker than independence.

Write a complete argument. Every inequality you use should be one you could state precisely.

Hints

Hints — 0 of 2 revealed

Solution

Opening this before you have a real attempt on paper is the fastest way to feel like you understand something you cannot reproduce.

Related problems

All problems
SolvedProblemFieldTypeDifficultyTime
Markov and Chebyshev are attainedHigh-Dim ProbabilityProofFoundation15 min
Separating the four modes of convergenceProbabilityProofIntermediate30 min
Why the CLT cannot be used for tail boundsProbabilityNumericalAdvanced30 min
Acceleration as an optimal polynomialAdvanced OptimizationProofGraduate1 hour