Finite cross entropy bounds countable information entropy

ID: finite-cross-entropy-bounds-countable-information-entropy

Let and be probability mass functions on a countable alphabet, with whenever . If the cross-entropy is finite, then is finite, , and . To avoid assuming the desired finiteness, first apply with to each positive . For a finite initial segment,
Zero coordinates satisfy this inequality too. Monotone convergence of the nonnegative information entropy summands and convergence of both total masses give . Both logarithmic sums are then finite, justifying their difference and the relative entropy identity. This supplies a rigorous route to the maximum entropy distribution on the nonnegative integers without presupposing finite information entropy for every competing law.

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