The product large-deviation principle states that independent families satisfying large deviation principles at the same speed with good rate functions and have joint good rate function . The contraction principle for large deviations states that a continuous map sends such a principle to one with good rate function . Apply these results to and addition. The resulting infimal convolution is
For , the unconstrained stationary point is . Convexity gives the constrained minimum at , so
The two branches agree in value and first derivative at their junction. Both tails tend to infinity, giving a good rate function. This is the fixed exponential perturbation of a Gaussian empirical mean.
There is a reason to use the product large-deviation principle rather than invoke the supplied Gärtner–Ellis theorem without checking its hypotheses. The limiting scaled cumulant-generating function here is
At it is neither lower semicontinuous nor steep from the left: its left derivative tends to the finite value . Its Legendre-Fenchel transform still equals , but the stated Gärtner–Ellis theorem does not establish the full lower bound on the linear branch. The product large-deviation principle and contraction principle for large deviations do establish it. In the degenerate case , the answer is for , and infinity otherwise.