Han's entropy inequality 2026-09-24
For a random vector ,This is equivalent to Han's inequality for relative entropy after expansion against a product reference measure.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 208 2 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
First prove the chain rule for relative entropy. For two coordinates,Taking expectation under givesand iteration proves the chain rule for any finite product.
Write for the successive conditional distributions. Since is a product, the chain rule givesFor a fixed omitted coordinate , applying the chain rule in the remaining coordinate order givesThe convexity of Kullback-Leibler divergence implies that removing from the conditioning can only decrease each averaged conditional divergence. Summing over , each full conditional increment occurs for exactly the indices , and thereforewhich is the claimed inequality. Equivalently, this is Han's entropy inequality after expanding each divergence: the product-reference cross-entropy terms cancel because they are modular.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 208 2 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Define the tilted probability measure by ; this is normalized because . ThenLet average only coordinate , keeping fixed. The marginal density of relative to is , and henceMoreover,Substituting Han's inequality for relative entropy and rearranging gives the tensorization of entropy