Chernoff bounds for independent, non-identical Bernoulli trials #
Roadmap target FND-3. Source: M. Mitzenmacher and E. Upfal, Probability and Computing,
Cambridge University Press, 2005, Section 4.2.1: Theorem 4.4, bound (4.1) (upper tail),
Theorem 4.5, bounds (4.4) and (4.5) (lower tail), and Exercise 4.7 (the mean μ = 𝔼X may
be replaced by any μ_H ≥ μ in the upper tail and any μ_L ≤ μ in the lower tail).
Let X = ∑ᵢ Xᵢ be a sum of independent {0,1}-valued trials with P(Xᵢ = 1) = pᵢ and
μ = ∑ᵢ pᵢ. For μ_L ≤ μ ≤ μ_H:
P(X ≥ (1 + δ) μ_H) ≤ (e^δ / (1 + δ)^(1 + δ))^μ_H ≤ exp (-δ² μ_H / (2 + δ))forδ > 0;P(X ≤ (1 - δ) μ_L) ≤ (e^(-δ) / (1 - δ)^(1 - δ))^μ_L ≤ exp (-δ² μ_L / 2)for0 < δ < 1.
Taking μ_H = μ or μ_L = μ gives the bounds for the exact mean. Each bound is stated in
three settings, all on the finite product space ι → α (no measure theory):
- general:
ωis drawn from the independent productDistribution.independent Pof a familyP : ι → Distribution α, andXᵢ = Y i (ω i)for observablesY i : α → {0,1}, so thatpᵢ = (P i).expect (Y i); - Bernoulli coins:
ω : ι → Boolhas independent coordinatesω i ~ bernoulli (p i)andXcounts the heads among the coins of a finite setS(S = univis the textbook statement); - uniform rounds:
ω : ι → γis uniform (one independent uniform draw per agent, as inDynamics.Concentration), probabilities areavgof indicators andpᵢ = avg (Y i). This is the form produced byKernel.prob_ofStepfor one round of a dynamics.
Independent {0,1}-valued observables on a product distribution #
Chernoff upper tail, ratio form (Mitzenmacher–Upfal, Theorem 4.4, bound (4.1), with
an upper bound μH on the mean as in Exercise 4.7): if ω ~ independent P, every Y i is
{0,1}-valued and ∑ᵢ 𝔼[Y i] ≤ μH, then for δ > 0,
P(∑ᵢ Y i (ω i) ≥ (1 + δ) μH) ≤ (e^δ / (1 + δ)^(1 + δ))^μH.
Chernoff upper tail (Mitzenmacher–Upfal, Theorem 4.4 and Exercise 4.7, in the
closed form obtained from (4.1) by log (1 + δ) ≥ 2δ / (2 + δ)): if ω ~ independent P,
every Y i is {0,1}-valued and ∑ᵢ 𝔼[Y i] ≤ μH, then for δ > 0,
P(∑ᵢ Y i (ω i) ≥ (1 + δ) μH) ≤ exp (-δ² μH / (2 + δ)).
Chernoff lower tail, ratio form (Mitzenmacher–Upfal, Theorem 4.5, bound (4.4), with
a lower bound μL on the mean as in Exercise 4.7): if ω ~ independent P, every Y i is
{0,1}-valued and μL ≤ ∑ᵢ 𝔼[Y i], then for 0 < δ < 1,
P(∑ᵢ Y i (ω i) ≤ (1 - δ) μL) ≤ (e^(-δ) / (1 - δ)^(1 - δ))^μL.
Chernoff lower tail (Mitzenmacher–Upfal, Theorem 4.5, bound (4.5), with a lower
bound μL on the mean as in Exercise 4.7): if ω ~ independent P, every Y i is
{0,1}-valued and μL ≤ ∑ᵢ 𝔼[Y i], then for 0 < δ < 1,
P(∑ᵢ Y i (ω i) ≤ (1 - δ) μL) ≤ exp (-δ² μL / 2).
Independent Bernoulli coins #
The number of heads among the coins of S has mean ∑_{i ∈ S} pᵢ.
Chernoff upper tail for Bernoulli(pᵢ) coins, ratio form (Mitzenmacher–Upfal,
Theorem 4.4, bound (4.1), and Exercise 4.7): for independent coins ω i ~ bernoulli (p i),
a finite set S of coins with ∑_{i ∈ S} pᵢ ≤ μH and δ > 0, the number of heads in S
satisfies P(#heads ≥ (1 + δ) μH) ≤ (e^δ / (1 + δ)^(1 + δ))^μH.
Chernoff upper tail for Bernoulli(pᵢ) coins (Mitzenmacher–Upfal, Theorem 4.4 and
Exercise 4.7, closed form via log (1 + δ) ≥ 2δ / (2 + δ)): for independent coins
ω i ~ bernoulli (p i), a finite set S of coins with ∑_{i ∈ S} pᵢ ≤ μH and δ > 0,
P(#heads in S ≥ (1 + δ) μH) ≤ exp (-δ² μH / (2 + δ)).
Chernoff lower tail for Bernoulli(pᵢ) coins, ratio form (Mitzenmacher–Upfal,
Theorem 4.5, bound (4.4), and Exercise 4.7): for independent coins ω i ~ bernoulli (p i),
a finite set S of coins with μL ≤ ∑_{i ∈ S} pᵢ and 0 < δ < 1,
P(#heads in S ≤ (1 - δ) μL) ≤ (e^(-δ) / (1 - δ)^(1 - δ))^μL.
Chernoff lower tail for Bernoulli(pᵢ) coins (Mitzenmacher–Upfal, Theorem 4.5,
bound (4.5), and Exercise 4.7): for independent coins ω i ~ bernoulli (p i), a finite set
S of coins with μL ≤ ∑_{i ∈ S} pᵢ and 0 < δ < 1,
P(#heads in S ≤ (1 - δ) μL) ≤ exp (-δ² μL / 2).
Uniform rounds #
Chernoff upper tail for one uniform round, ratio form (Mitzenmacher–Upfal,
Theorem 4.4, bound (4.1), and Exercise 4.7): if ω : ι → γ is uniform, every Y i is
{0,1}-valued and ∑ᵢ avg (Y i) ≤ μH, then for δ > 0,
P(∑ᵢ Y i (ω i) ≥ (1 + δ) μH) ≤ (e^δ / (1 + δ)^(1 + δ))^μH.
Chernoff upper tail for one uniform round (Mitzenmacher–Upfal, Theorem 4.4 and
Exercise 4.7, closed form via log (1 + δ) ≥ 2δ / (2 + δ)): if ω : ι → γ is uniform,
every Y i is {0,1}-valued and ∑ᵢ avg (Y i) ≤ μH, then for δ > 0,
P(∑ᵢ Y i (ω i) ≥ (1 + δ) μH) ≤ exp (-δ² μH / (2 + δ)).
Chernoff lower tail for one uniform round, ratio form (Mitzenmacher–Upfal,
Theorem 4.5, bound (4.4), and Exercise 4.7): if ω : ι → γ is uniform, every Y i is
{0,1}-valued and μL ≤ ∑ᵢ avg (Y i), then for 0 < δ < 1,
P(∑ᵢ Y i (ω i) ≤ (1 - δ) μL) ≤ (e^(-δ) / (1 - δ)^(1 - δ))^μL.
Chernoff lower tail for one uniform round (Mitzenmacher–Upfal, Theorem 4.5,
bound (4.5), and Exercise 4.7): if ω : ι → γ is uniform, every Y i is {0,1}-valued
and μL ≤ ∑ᵢ avg (Y i), then for 0 < δ < 1,
P(∑ᵢ Y i (ω i) ≤ (1 - δ) μL) ≤ exp (-δ² μL / 2).