Modified half-normal distribution
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
top
In probability theory and statistics, the modified half-normal distribution (MHN)cite-ref-sun-kong-and-pal-1-0[1]cite-ref-2[2]cite-ref-3[3]cite-ref-00949655-2022-2067853-4-0[4]cite-ref-5[5]cite-ref-6[6]cite-ref-7[7]cite-ref-8[8] is a three-parameter family of continuous probability distributions supported on the positive part of the real line. It can be viewed as a generalization of multiple families, including the half-normal distribution, truncated normal distribution, gamma distribution, and square root of the gamma distribution, all of which are special cases of the MHN distribution. Therefore, it is a flexible probability model for analyzing real-valued positive data. The name of the distribution is motivated by the similarities of its density function with that of the half-normal distribution.
In addition to being used as a probability model, MHN distribution also appears in Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)-based Bayesian procedures, including Bayesian modeling of the directional data,cite-ref-00949655-2022-2067853-4-1[4] Bayesian binary regression, and Bayesian graphical modeling.
In Bayesian analysis, new distributions often appear as a conditional posterior distribution; usage for many such probability distributions are too contextual, and they may not carry significance in a broader perspective. Additionally, many such distributions lack a tractable representation of its distributional aspects, such as the known functional form of the normalizing constant. However, the MHN distribution occurs in diverse areas of research, signifying its relevance to contemporary Bayesian statistical modeling and the associated computation.
The moments (including variance and skewness) of the MHN distribution can be represented via the FoxโWright Psi functions. There exists a recursive relation between the three consecutive moments of the distribution; this is helpful in developing an efficient approximation for the mean of the distribution, as well as constructing a moment-based estimation of its parameters.
Contents
โข Definitions
โข Properties
โข Moments
โข References
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
Definitions
The probability density function of the modified half-normal distribution is f ( x ) = 2 ฮฒ ฮฑ / 2 x ฮฑ โ 1 exp โก ( โ ฮฒ x 2 + ฮณ x ) ฮจ ( ฮฑ 2 , ฮณ ฮฒ ) for x > 0 {\displaystyle f(x)={\frac {2\beta ^{\alpha /2}x^{\alpha -1}\exp(-\beta x^{2}+\gamma x)}{\Psi \left({\frac {\alpha }{2}},{\frac {\gamma }{\sqrt {\beta }}}\right)}}{\text{ for }}x>0} where ฮจ ( ฮฑ 2 , ฮณ ฮฒ ) = 1 ฮจ 1 [ ( ฮฑ 2 , 1 2 ) ( 1 , 0 ) ; ฮณ ฮฒ ] {\displaystyle \Psi \left({\frac {\alpha }{2}},{\frac {\gamma }{\sqrt {\beta }}}\right)={}_{1}\Psi _{1}\left[{\begin{matrix}({\frac {\alpha }{2}},{\frac {1}{2}})\\(1,0)\end{matrix}};{\frac {\gamma }{\sqrt {\beta }}}\right]} denotes the FoxโWright Psi function.cite-ref-9[9]cite-ref-10[10]cite-ref-11[11] The connection between the normalizing constant of the distribution and the FoxโWright function in provided in Sun, Kong, Pal.cite-ref-sun-kong-and-pal-1-1[1]
The cumulative distribution function (CDF) is F MHN ( x โฃ ฮฑ , ฮฒ , ฮณ ) = 2 ฮฒ ฮฑ / 2 ฮจ ( ฮฑ 2 , ฮณ ฮฒ ) โ i = 0 โ ฮณ i 2 i ! ฮฒ โ ( ฮฑ + i ) / 2 ฮณ ( ฮฑ + i 2 , ฮฒ x 2 ) for x โฅ 0 , {\displaystyle F_{_{\text{MHN}}}(x\mid \alpha ,\beta ,\gamma )={\frac {2\beta ^{\alpha /2}}{\Psi \left({\frac {\alpha }{2}},{\frac {\gamma }{\sqrt {\beta }}}\right)}}\sum _{i=0}^{\infty }{\frac {\gamma ^{i}}{2i!}}\beta ^{-(\alpha +i)/2}\gamma \left({\frac {\alpha +i}{2}},\beta x^{2}\right){\text{ for }}x\geq 0,} where ฮณ ( s , y ) = โซ 0 y t s โ 1 e โ t d t {\displaystyle \gamma (s,y)=\int _{0}^{y}t^{s-1}e^{-t}\,dt} denotes the lower incomplete gamma function.
Properties
The modified half-normal distribution is an exponential family of distributions, and thus inherits the properties of exponential families.
Moments
Let X โผ MHN ( ฮฑ , ฮฒ , ฮณ ) {\displaystyle X\sim {\text{MHN}}(\alpha ,\beta ,\gamma )} . Choose a real value k โฅ 0 {\displaystyle k\geq 0} such that ฮฑ + k > 0 {\displaystyle \alpha +k>0} . Then the k {\displaystyle k} th moment is E ( X k ) = ฮจ ( ฮฑ + k 2 , ฮณ ฮฒ ) ฮฒ k / 2 ฮจ ( ฮฑ 2 , ฮณ ฮฒ ) . {\displaystyle E(X^{k})={\frac {\Psi \left({\frac {\alpha +k}{2}},{\frac {\gamma }{\sqrt {\beta }}}\right)}{\beta ^{k/2}\Psi \left({\frac {\alpha }{2}},{\frac {\gamma }{\sqrt {\beta }}}\right)}}.} Additionally, E ( X k + 2 ) = ฮฑ + k 2 ฮฒ E ( X k ) + ฮณ 2 ฮฒ E ( X k + 1 ) . {\displaystyle E(X^{k+2})={\frac {\alpha +k}{2\beta }}E(X^{k})+{\frac {\gamma }{2\beta }}E(X^{k+1}).} The variance of the distribution is Var โก ( X ) = ฮฑ 2 ฮฒ + E ( X ) ( ฮณ 2 ฮฒ โ E ( X ) ) . {\displaystyle \operatorname {Var} (X)={\frac {\alpha }{2\beta }}+E(X)\left({\frac {\gamma }{2\beta }}-E(X)\right).} The moment generating function of the MHN distribution is given as M X ( t ) = ฮจ ( ฮฑ 2 , ฮณ + t ฮฒ ) ฮจ ( ฮฑ 2 , ฮณ ฮฒ ) . {\displaystyle M_{X}(t)={\frac {\Psi \left({\frac {\alpha }{2}},{\frac {\gamma +t}{\sqrt {\beta }}}\right)}{\Psi \left({\frac {\alpha }{2}},{\frac {\gamma }{\sqrt {\beta }}}\right)}}.}
Modal characterization
Consider MHN ( ฮฑ , ฮฒ , ฮณ ) {\displaystyle {\text{MHN}}(\alpha ,\beta ,\gamma )} with ฮฑ > 0 {\displaystyle \alpha >0} , ฮฒ > 0 {\displaystyle \beta >0} , and ฮณ โ R {\displaystyle \gamma \in \mathbb {R} } .
โข If ฮฑ โฅ 1 {\displaystyle \alpha \geq 1} , then the probability density function of the distribution is log-concave.
โข If ฮฑ > 1 {\displaystyle \alpha >1} , then the mode of the distribution is located at ฮณ + ฮณ 2 + 8 ฮฒ ( ฮฑ โ 1 ) 4 ฮฒ . {\displaystyle {\frac {\gamma +{\sqrt {\gamma ^{2}+8\beta (\alpha -1)}}}{4\beta }}.}
โข If ฮณ > 0 {\displaystyle \gamma >0} and 1 โ ฮณ 2 8 ฮฒ โค ฮฑ < 1 {\displaystyle 1-{\frac {\gamma ^{2}}{8\beta }}\leq \alpha <1} , then the density has a local maximum at ฮณ + ฮณ 2 + 8 ฮฒ ( ฮฑ โ 1 ) 4 ฮฒ {\displaystyle {\frac {\gamma +{\sqrt {\gamma ^{2}+8\beta (\alpha -1)}}}{4\beta }}} and a local minimum at ฮณ โ ฮณ 2 + 8 ฮฒ ( ฮฑ โ 1 ) 4 ฮฒ . {\displaystyle {\frac {\gamma -{\sqrt {\gamma ^{2}+8\beta (\alpha -1)}}}{4\beta }}.}
โข The density function is gradually decreasing on R + {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} _{+}} and mode of the distribution does not exist, if either ฮณ > 0 {\displaystyle \gamma >0} , 0 < ฮฑ < 1 โ ฮณ 2 8 ฮฒ {\displaystyle 0<\alpha <1-{\frac {\gamma ^{2}}{8\beta }}} or ฮณ < 0 , ฮฑ โค 1 {\displaystyle \gamma <0,\alpha \leq 1} .
Additional properties involving mode and expected values
Let X โผ MHN ( ฮฑ , ฮฒ , ฮณ ) {\displaystyle X\sim {\text{MHN}}(\alpha ,\beta ,\gamma )} for ฮฑ โฅ 1 {\displaystyle \alpha \geq 1} , ฮฒ > 0 {\displaystyle \beta >0} , and ฮณ โ R {\displaystyle \gamma \in \mathbb {R} {}} , and let the mode of the distribution be denoted by X mode = ฮณ + ฮณ 2 + 8 ฮฒ ( ฮฑ โ 1 ) 4 ฮฒ . {\displaystyle X_{\text{mode}}={\frac {\gamma +{\sqrt {\gamma ^{2}+8\beta (\alpha -1)}}}{4\beta }}.}
If ฮฑ > 1 {\displaystyle \alpha >1} , then X mode โค E ( X ) โค ฮณ + ฮณ 2 + 8 ฮฑ ฮฒ 4 ฮฒ {\displaystyle X_{\text{mode}}\leq E(X)\leq {\frac {\gamma +{\sqrt {\gamma ^{2}+8\alpha \beta }}}{4\beta }}} for all ฮณ โ R {\displaystyle \gamma \in \mathbb {R} } . As ฮฑ {\displaystyle \alpha } gets larger, the difference between the upper and lower bounds approaches zero. Therefore, this also provides a high precision approximation of E ( X ) {\displaystyle E(X)} when ฮฑ {\displaystyle \alpha } is large.
On the other hand, if ฮณ > 0 {\displaystyle \gamma >0} and ฮฑ โฅ 4 {\displaystyle \alpha \geq 4} , then log โก ( X mode ) โค E ( log โก ( X ) ) โค log โก ( ฮณ + ฮณ 2 + 8 ฮฑ ฮฒ 4 ฮฒ ) . {\displaystyle \log(X_{\text{mode}})\leq E(\log(X))\leq \log \left({\frac {\gamma +{\sqrt {\gamma ^{2}+8\alpha \beta }}}{4\beta }}\right).} For all ฮฑ > 0 {\displaystyle \alpha >0} , ฮฒ > 0 {\displaystyle \beta >0} , and ฮณ โ R {\displaystyle \gamma \in \mathbb {R} } , Var ( X ) โค 1 2 ฮฒ {\displaystyle {\text{Var}}(X)\leq {\frac {1}{2\beta }}} . Also, the condition ฮฑ โฅ 4 {\displaystyle \alpha \geq 4} is a sufficient condition for its validity. The fact that X mode โค E ( X ) {\displaystyle X_{\text{mode}}\leq E(X)} implies the distribution is positively skewed.
Mixture representation
Let X โผ MHN โก ( ฮฑ , ฮฒ , ฮณ ) {\displaystyle X\sim \operatorname {MHN} (\alpha ,\beta ,\gamma )} . If ฮณ > 0 {\displaystyle \gamma >0} , then there exists a random variable V {\displaystyle V} such that V โฃ X โผ Poisson โก ( ฮณ X ) {\displaystyle V\mid X\sim \operatorname {Poisson} (\gamma X)} and X 2 โฃ V โผ Gamma โก ( ฮฑ + V 2 , ฮฒ ) {\displaystyle X^{2}\mid V\sim \operatorname {Gamma} \left({\frac {\alpha +V}{2}},\beta \right)} . On the contrary, if ฮณ < 0 {\displaystyle \gamma <0} then there exists a random variable U {\displaystyle U} such that U โฃ X โผ GIG ( 1 2 , 1 , ฮณ 2 X 2 ) {\displaystyle U\mid X\sim {\text{GIG}}\left({\frac {1}{2}},1,\gamma ^{2}X^{2}\right)} and X 2 โฃ U โผ Gamma ( ฮฑ 2 , ( ฮฒ + ฮณ 2 U ) ) {\displaystyle X^{2}\mid U\sim {\text{Gamma}}\left({\frac {\alpha }{2}},\left(\beta +{\frac {\gamma ^{2}}{U}}\right)\right)} , where GIG {\displaystyle {\text{GIG}}} denotes the generalized inverse Gaussian distribution.
References
cite-note-sun-kong-and-pal-11. โ citerefsunkongpal2021Sun, Jingchao; Kong, Maiying; Pal, Subhadip (22 June 2021). "The Modified-Half-Normal distribution: Properties and an efficient sampling scheme". Communications in Statistics - Theory and Methods. 52 (5): 1591โ1613. doi:10.1080/03610926.2021.1934700. ISSN 0361-0926. S2CID 237919587.
cite-note-22. โ citereftranguccichenzelner2023Trangucci, Rob; Chen, Yang; Zelner, Jon (2023). "Modeling racial/Ethnic differences in COVID-19 incidence with covariates subject to nonrandom missingness". The Annals of Applied Statistics. 17 (4). arXiv:2206.08161. doi:10.1214/22-AOAS1711. PPR533225.
cite-note-00949655-2022-2067853-44. โ citerefpalgaskins2022Pal, Subhadip; Gaskins, Jeremy (2 November 2022). "Modified Pรณlya-Gamma data augmentation for Bayesian analysis of directional data". Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation. 92 (16): 3430โ3451. doi:10.1080/00949655.2022.2067853. ISSN 0094-9655. S2CID 249022546.
cite-note-88. โ citeref-2021ะะพะฟะฐะฝะธัั, ะฎััะน (5 October 2021). "ะะะะะขะ ะฏะะะ ะกะขะะะ ะะะะะ ะะะะ ะะะะ ะะฆะะะะะะฃ ะะ ะะะะะะะขะะงะะะ ะ ะะะฃะะฏะขะะ ะะ". ะัะพะฑะปะตะผะธ ะฒะพะดะพะฟะพััะฐัะฐะฝะฝั, ะฒะพะดะพะฒัะดะฒะตะดะตะฝะฝั ัะฐ ะณัะดัะฐะฒะปัะบะธ (in Ukrainian) (36): 4โ10. doi:10.32347/2524-0021.2021.36.4-10. ISSN 2524-0021. S2CID 242771336.