Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/undated/prelims/mathematics-iii-resit/9/b/i/solution

For this rate parametrization of the Laplace distribution, is its mean and median. By symmetry, , while has exponential distribution with rate , so
The integral follows by two applications of integration by parts. The central limit theorem therefore gives
With known and the supplied cutoff 2, an approximate 95% confidence interval is
This known-rate Laplace location confidence interval uses the sample mean; the later maximum-likelihood estimator of location need not be used to construct this valid asymptotic confidence interval.

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