Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 26 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write . Its Poisson distribution has mean , since the probability-generating functions of the independent summands multiply. DefineThe scaled cumulant-generating function isA Taylor expansion of the exponential, valid for each fixed because , givesThe remainder is . The limit is finite and differentiable on all of , hence satisfies the essential-smoothness hypotheses of the Gärtner–Ellis theorem. Its Legendre-Fenchel transform isThis proves the Poisson moderate deviation principle with large-deviation speed and a good rate function.
For an arbitrary open set , the lower bound uses and the upper bound uses . These infima agree: every point of the closure is a limit of points of and is finite and continuous. Thus the logarithmic probabilities of open sets for a continuous rate function give the stated logarithmic limit for every open , not just intervals. The empty-set case follows from the usual infinite-value conventions.