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In a regular model let ${\ell }_N(\theta )$ be the log-likelihood, $U_N(\theta )=\nabla {\ell }_N(\theta )$ its score, $I_N(\theta )$ its total Fisher information, and $\hat{\theta }$ the unrestricted maximum-likelihood estimator. For a point null $\theta ={\theta }_0$ in a p-dimensional parameter space, the standard statistics areThese define the Wald test, score test and likelihood-ratio test. With an interior true parameter, increasing information, suitable differentiability and asymptotic normality, all have asymptotic chi-squared distribution with p degrees of freedom under the null. Observed information can replace expected information when it is asymptotically equivalent.

For q smooth independent restrictions $g(\theta )=0$, replace the Wald statistic by $g(\hat{\theta }{)}^T[G{I}_N(\hat{\theta }{)}^{-1}{G}^T{]}^{-1}g(\hat{\theta })$, where G is the derivative of g at the estimate; compare with chi-squared q. The likelihood-ratio statistic uses the difference between unrestricted and null-restricted maxima. The score statistic is computed at the restricted maximum and uses efficient information for the tested coordinates: with nuisance coordinates lambda this is $I_{\psi \psi }-I_{\psi \lambda }{I}_{\lambda \lambda }^{-1}{I}_{\lambda \psi }$. Inverting the acceptance inequalities for point nulls produces approximate coverage-$1-\alpha$ confidence regions; for example the Wald region consists of theta satisfying $(\hat{\theta }-\theta {)}^T{I}_N(\hat{\theta })(\hat{\theta }-\theta )\le {\chi }_{p,1-\alpha }^2$. Analogous score and likelihood-ratio inequalities give their confidence regions.

For the Poisson family, put $Y_{-1}=1$ to include the initial observation, and defineMultiplying the initial and conditional Poisson probabilities gives, on the supported observation sequences,The parameter-free term is ${\sum }_{i=0}^n[Y_i\log Y_{i-1}-\log (Y_i!)]$, interpreting $0\log 0$ as zero. A positive count after a zero preceding count is outside the support.

For $S_n>0$, strict concavity gives unconstrained maximum $\tilde{\theta }=S_n/T_n$, and the upper endpoint restriction givesThere is an endpoint qualification in the printed question. With probability $e^{-\theta }$, $Y_0=0$ and all later counts are zero. Then $S_n=0$, $T_n=1$ and the likelihood is $e^{-\theta }$, which has no maximum on the stated space $0<\theta \le 1$. The formula produces zero only as an extended estimate on the closure $[0,1]$. This is a likelihood supremum at an excluded boundary, and zero cannot be called an actual maximum in the original space.

The observed negative second derivative is $S_n/{\theta }^2$. Conditional expectation gives $\mathbb{E}{Y}_0=\theta$ and $\mathbb{E}{Y}_i=\theta \mathbb{E}{Y}_{i-1}={\theta }^{i+1}$. Therefore for $0<\theta <1$,This is the bounded information in a subcritical Poisson branching process. Observing more generations of one family does not provide unbounded information. Indeed $\mathbb{P}(Y_n>0)\le \mathbb{E}{Y}_n={\theta }^{n+1}\to 0$, and zero is absorbing, so extinction occurs at a finite generation almost surely. The total observed progeny $S_{\infty }$ is finite; eventually $S_n=S_{\infty }$, $T_n=1+S_{\infty }$, and the extended estimate equals $S_{\infty }/(1+S_{\infty })$, a discrete nondegenerate random variable rather than a consistent increasingly precise estimate.

Here is a direct proof of the failure of a chi-squared Wald limit which does not rely solely on the information bound. Under any interior null ${\theta }_0$, the event $Y_0=1$, $Y_1=0$ has probability ${\theta }_0{e}^{-2{\theta }_0}>0$ and forces every later count to be zero. On it the genuine constrained estimate is $1/2$ for every $n\ge 1$, so the usual expected-information Wald statistic isThus it has a persistent atom tending to $4(1/2-{\theta }_0{)}^2$. The fact that atoms obstruct a continuous distributional limit rules out a chi-squared limit, including when ${\theta }_0$ equals one half and that atom is at zero. Any definition adopted for the separate all-zero sample event leaves this positive-count counterexample intact. Hence the Wald statistic does not have the usual asymptotic chi-squared null law for this increasing observation horizon.