For a matrix of independent standard normal entries and , diagonal entries of have two-sided tails bounded by , while off-diagonal entries have tails bounded by . A union bound over diagonal entries and distinct off-diagonal entries controls their common entrywise maximum norm.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 205 4 Solution Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-03
The Bernstein concentration inequality for products of sub-Gaussian variables quoted in the course says that if each coordinate of the identically distributed pairs is sub-Gaussian with parameter , thenSince , this is the required bound. It follows by observing that a product of sub-Gaussian variables is sub-exponential and applying Bernstein's inequality to the independent centered products.
For any vector admissible in the definition of , one has . The entrywise maximum norm bound therefore impliesBy the definition of the compatibility constant, , and henceTaking the infimum proves . This is the stability of a compatibility constant under entrywise perturbation.
Put . Applying the product concentration bound with the stated and using gives, for every ,There are distinct entries in the symmetric matrix, so the union bound shows that the eventhas probability at least .
On , . Since by Cauchy-Schwarz, normalization of the sample columns givesChoosing one coordinate of in the infimum shows , so the assumed bound on is below one and, more precisely,The perturbation result now gives throughout , and therefore
Sparse norm preservation from entrywise Gram control Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
If has entrywise maximum norm at most , every vector supported on at most coordinates satisfies . Thus the squared norm distortion is at most on all such sparse vectors. Use the quadratic inequality at , where a ratio would be undefined.