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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.01335 |
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| _version_ | 1866914526198235136 |
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| author | Wang, Yuhao Oliveira, Roberto Imbuzeiro Gouleakis, Themis |
| author_facet | Wang, Yuhao Oliveira, Roberto Imbuzeiro Gouleakis, Themis |
| contents | We characterize the fundamental limits of high-dimensional mean testing under arbitrary truncation, where samples are drawn from the conditional distribution $P(\cdot \mid S)$ for an unknown truncation set $S$ that may hide up to an $\varepsilon$-fraction of the probability mass. For distributions with $p$-th directional moments of magnitude at most $ν_{P,p}$, truncation induces a bias of order $O(ν_{P,p}\varepsilon^{1-1/p})$. This bias creates a sharp information-theoretic detectability floor: when the signal $α$ falls below this threshold, the null and alternative hypotheses are indistinguishable even with infinite data. Above this floor, we prove that a simple second-order test achieving near-optimal sample complexity $n = O\!\left(\frac{\|Σ_P\|}{(α-4ν_{P,p}\varepsilon^{1-1/p})^2}\sqrt{d}\right)$. We further identify a structural escape from this finite-moment bias barrier. Under a directional median regularity assumption, truncation bias improves to linear order $O(\varepsilon)$. This reveals an intermediate regime in which estimation requires $Θ(d)$ samples for uniform recovery, while testing recovers the classical $Θ(\sqrt d)$ rate once truncation bias is eliminated. Together, our results provide a unified framework for mean testing under truncation, connecting finite-moment, sub-Gaussian, and median-regular structural regimes. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_01335 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Mean Testing under Truncation beyond Gaussian Wang, Yuhao Oliveira, Roberto Imbuzeiro Gouleakis, Themis Machine Learning Statistics Theory We characterize the fundamental limits of high-dimensional mean testing under arbitrary truncation, where samples are drawn from the conditional distribution $P(\cdot \mid S)$ for an unknown truncation set $S$ that may hide up to an $\varepsilon$-fraction of the probability mass. For distributions with $p$-th directional moments of magnitude at most $ν_{P,p}$, truncation induces a bias of order $O(ν_{P,p}\varepsilon^{1-1/p})$. This bias creates a sharp information-theoretic detectability floor: when the signal $α$ falls below this threshold, the null and alternative hypotheses are indistinguishable even with infinite data. Above this floor, we prove that a simple second-order test achieving near-optimal sample complexity $n = O\!\left(\frac{\|Σ_P\|}{(α-4ν_{P,p}\varepsilon^{1-1/p})^2}\sqrt{d}\right)$. We further identify a structural escape from this finite-moment bias barrier. Under a directional median regularity assumption, truncation bias improves to linear order $O(\varepsilon)$. This reveals an intermediate regime in which estimation requires $Θ(d)$ samples for uniform recovery, while testing recovers the classical $Θ(\sqrt d)$ rate once truncation bias is eliminated. Together, our results provide a unified framework for mean testing under truncation, connecting finite-moment, sub-Gaussian, and median-regular structural regimes. |
| title | Mean Testing under Truncation beyond Gaussian |
| topic | Machine Learning Statistics Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.01335 |