Generalised Exponential Kernels for Nonparametric Density Estimation

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Craig, Laura M., Barreto-Souza, Wagner
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Craig, Laura M.
Barreto-Souza, Wagner
author_facet Craig, Laura M.
Barreto-Souza, Wagner
contents This paper introduces a novel kernel density estimator (KDE) based on the generalised exponential (GE) distribution, designed specifically for positive continuous data. The proposed GE KDE offers a mathematically tractable form that avoids the use of special functions, for instance, distinguishing it from the widely used gamma KDE, which relies on the gamma function. Despite its simpler form, the GE KDE maintains similar flexibility and shape characteristics, aligning with distributions such as the gamma, which are known for their effectiveness in modelling positive data. We derive the asymptotic bias and variance of the proposed kernel density estimator, and formally demonstrate the order of magnitude of the remaining terms in these expressions. We also propose a second GE KDE, for which we are able to show that it achieves the optimal mean integrated squared error, something that is difficult to establish for the former. Through numerical experiments involving simulated and real data sets, we show that GE KDEs can be an important alternative and competitive to existing KDEs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_15731
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Generalised Exponential Kernels for Nonparametric Density Estimation
Craig, Laura M.
Barreto-Souza, Wagner
Methodology
This paper introduces a novel kernel density estimator (KDE) based on the generalised exponential (GE) distribution, designed specifically for positive continuous data. The proposed GE KDE offers a mathematically tractable form that avoids the use of special functions, for instance, distinguishing it from the widely used gamma KDE, which relies on the gamma function. Despite its simpler form, the GE KDE maintains similar flexibility and shape characteristics, aligning with distributions such as the gamma, which are known for their effectiveness in modelling positive data. We derive the asymptotic bias and variance of the proposed kernel density estimator, and formally demonstrate the order of magnitude of the remaining terms in these expressions. We also propose a second GE KDE, for which we are able to show that it achieves the optimal mean integrated squared error, something that is difficult to establish for the former. Through numerical experiments involving simulated and real data sets, we show that GE KDEs can be an important alternative and competitive to existing KDEs.
title Generalised Exponential Kernels for Nonparametric Density Estimation
topic Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.15731