Put and define the autoregressive polynomial and moving-average polynomial by
For a minimal, coprime ARMA representation, the usual simultaneous causality and invertibility root criteria for an ARMA model are
The autoregressive condition makes a stable one-sided filter and gives the causal second-order stationary process. The moving-average condition makes its inverse a stable one-sided filter, so the white noise can be reconstructed from present and past observations. If the two polynomials have a common factor, first use common factor cancellation in an ARMA model; necessary-and-sufficient root statements apply to the reduced noise-driven representation. Stationarity here is second-order stationarity; weak white noise alone does not assert strict stationarity of all finite-dimensional laws.
For , write , so . Expanding gives the Wold representation
In particular , for , and for . The coefficients are square-summable, so this series converges in mean square. Causality and invertibility identify the driver with the linear innovation process, justifying the Wold terminology. For , powers with exponent zero equal one and the formula reduces to the finite moving average.
To obtain the covariance equations, subtract and take covariance with . Orthogonality of the white noise and the causal expansion imply
Thus the innovation coefficients of an ARMA(1,q) process give the entire triangular system in one formula:
At , use , since the autocovariance of a real stationary process is symmetric. The terms are consequently at zero, at , and the intervening partial sums as required.
For , put and . The equations become
Substitution of the second into the first, followed by the geometric recursion, yields the autocovariance of a causal ARMA(1,1) process:
This includes : only lags survive, as for an MA(1) process.