Let X and Y be random variables. The Ky Fan metric is defined as: d ( X ,

Tristian Velazquez

Tristian Velazquez

Answered question

2022-06-20

Let X and Y be random variables. The Ky Fan metric is defined as:
d ( X , Y ) := min { ϵ > 0 : P ( | X Y | > ϵ ) ϵ }
I want to show it is indeed a metric, for which I need to show that it satisfies triangle inequality.
Set d ( X , Y ) = ϵ 1 , d ( Y , Z ) = ϵ 2 ,and d ( Z , X ) = ϵ 3 .
I approached this by trying to show that ( ϵ 1 + ϵ 2 ) { ϵ > 0 : P ( | X Z | > ϵ ) ϵ }. But to show that, I had to show P ( | X Y | > ϵ 1 ) + P ( | Y Z | > ϵ 2 ) P ( | X Z | > ϵ 1 + ϵ 2 ), which I could not. Can you help in showing this?

Answer & Explanation

arhaitategr

arhaitategr

Beginner2022-06-21Added 13 answers

If | X Y | ϵ 1 and | Y Z | ϵ 2 , then we have | X Z | ϵ 1 + ϵ 2 .
Hence if | X Z | > ϵ 1 + ϵ 2 , then | X Y | > ϵ 1 or | Y Z | > ϵ 2 .
{ ω : | X ( ω ) Z ( ω ) | > ϵ 1 + ϵ 2 } { ω : | X ( ω ) Y ( ω ) | > ϵ 1 } { ω : | Y ( ω ) Z ( ω ) | > ϵ 2 }
Hence, by the union bound,
P ( | X Y | > ϵ 1 ) + P ( | Y Z | > ϵ 2 ) P ( | X Z | > ϵ 1 + ϵ 2 )

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