Jon A. Wellner - Böcker

This book is about estimation in situations where we believe we have enough knowledge to model some features of the data parametrically, but are unwilling to assume anything for other features.

High dimensional probability, in the sense that encompasses the topics rep­ resented in this volume, began about thirty years ago with research in two related areas: limit theorems for sums of independent Banach space valued random vectors and general Gaussian processes. An important feature in these past research studies has been the fact that they highlighted the es­ sential probabilistic nature of the problems considered. In part, this was because, by working on a general Banach space, one had to discard the extra, and often extraneous, structure imposed by random variables taking values in a Euclidean space, or by processes being indexed by sets in R or Rd. Doing this led to striking advances, particularly in Gaussian process theory. It also led to the creation or introduction of powerful new tools, such as randomization, decoupling, moment and exponential inequalities, chaining, isoperimetry and concentration of measure, which apply to areas well beyond those for which they were created. The general theory of em­ pirical processes, with its vast applications in statistics, the study of local times of Markov processes, certain problems in harmonic analysis, and the general theory of stochastic processes are just several of the broad areas in which Gaussian process techniques and techniques from probability in Banach spaces have made a substantial impact. Parallel to this work on probability in Banach spaces, classical proba­ bility and empirical process theory were enriched by the development of powerful results in strong approximations.

Originally published in 1986, this valuable reference provides a detailed treatment of limit theorems and inequalities for empirical processes of real-valued random variables. It also includes applications of the theory to censored data, spacings, rank statistics, quantiles, and many functionals of empirical processes, including a treatment of bootstrap methods, and a summary of inequalities that are useful for proving limit theorems.At the end of the Errata section, the authors have supplied references to solutions for 11 of the 19 Open Questions provided in the book’s original edition.

High dimensional probability, in the sense that encompasses the topics rep­ resented in this volume, began about thirty years ago with research in two related areas: limit theorems for sums of independent Banach space valued random vectors and general Gaussian processes. An important feature in these past research studies has been the fact that they highlighted the es­ sential probabilistic nature of the problems considered. In part, this was because, by working on a general Banach space, one had to discard the extra, and often extraneous, structure imposed by random variables taking values in a Euclidean space, or by processes being indexed by sets in R or Rd. Doing this led to striking advances, particularly in Gaussian process theory. It also led to the creation or introduction of powerful new tools, such as randomization, decoupling, moment and exponential inequalities, chaining, isoperimetry and concentration of measure, which apply to areas well beyond those for which they were created. The general theory of em­ pirical processes, with its vast applications in statistics, the study of local times of Markov processes, certain problems in harmonic analysis, and the general theory of stochastic processes are just several of the broad areas in which Gaussian process techniques and techniques from probability in Banach spaces have made a substantial impact. Parallel to this work on probability in Banach spaces, classical proba­ bility and empirical process theory were enriched by the development of powerful results in strong approximations.

This book provides an account of weak convergence theory, empirical processes, and their application to a wide variety of problems in statistics. The first part of the book presents a thorough treatment of stochastic convergence in its various forms. Part 2 brings together the theory of empirical processes in a form accessible to statisticians and probabilists. In Part 3, the authors cover a range of applications in statistics including rates of convergence of estimators; limit theorems for M− and Z−estimators; the bootstrap; the functional delta-method and semiparametric estimation. Most of the chapters conclude with “problems and complements.” Some of these are exercises to help the reader’s understanding of the material, whereas others are intended to supplement the text. This second edition includes many of the new developments in the field since publication of the first edition in 1996: Glivenko-Cantelli preservation theorems; new bounds on expectations ofsuprema of empirical processes; new bounds on covering numbers for various function classes; generic chaining; definitive versions of concentration bounds; and new applications in statistics including penalized M-estimation, the lasso, classification, and support vector machines. The approximately 200 additional pages also round out classical subjects, including chapters on weak convergence in Skorokhod space, on stable convergence, and on processes based on pseudo-observations.

This is a collection of papers by participants at High Dimensional Probability VI Meeting held from October 9-14, 2011 at the Banff International Research Station in Banff, Alberta, Canada. High Dimensional Probability (HDP) is an area of mathematics that includes the study of probability distributions and limit theorems in infinite-dimensional spaces such as Hilbert spaces and Banach spaces. The most remarkable feature of this area is that it has resulted in the creation of powerful new tools and perspectives, whose range of application has led to interactions with other areas of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. These include random matrix theory, nonparametric statistics, empirical process theory, statistical learning theory, concentration of measure phenomena, strong and weak approximations, distribution function estimation in high dimensions, combinatorial optimization, and random graph theory. The papers in this volume show that HDP theory continues to develop new tools, methods, techniques and perspectives to analyze the random phenomena. Both researchers and advanced students will find this book of great use for learning about new avenues of research.​

These include random matrix theory, nonparametric statistics, empirical process theory, statistical learning theory, concentration of measure phenomena, strong and weak approximations, distribution function estimation in high dimensions, combinatorial optimization, and random graph theory.

The title High Dimensional Probability is an attempt to describe the many trib­ utaries of research on Gaussian processes and probability in Banach spaces that started in the early 1970's. In each of these fields it is necessary to consider large classes of stochastic processes under minimal conditions. There are rewards in re­ search of this sort. One can often gain deep insights, even about familiar processes, by stripping away details that in hindsight turn out to be extraneous. Many of the problems that motivated researchers in the 1970's were solved. But the powerful new tools created for their solution, such as randomization, isoperimetry, concentration of measure, moment and exponential inequalities, chaining, series representations and decoupling turned out to be applicable to other important areas of probability. They led to significant advances in the study of empirical processes and other topics in theoretical statistics and to a new ap­ proach to the study of aspects of Levy processes and Markov processes in general. Papers on these topics as well as on the continuing study of Gaussian processes and probability in Banach are included in this volume.