Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2026 / iii / Paper 210 / 1 / e / Solution

Write $s={\sigma }_Y{\sigma }_Z$ and $W=YZ-\mathbb{E}(YZ)$. The variables $Y$ and $Z$ need not be independent random variables. Part (d) and the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality imply, for every integer $q\ge 2$,Also $|\mathbb{E}(YZ)|\le s$ by Cauchy-Schwarz, because $\mathbb{E}{Y}^2\le {\sigma }_Y^2$ and $\mathbb{E}{Z}^2\le {\sigma }_Z^2$. Thus $\mathbb{E}{W}^2=\mathrm{Var}(YZ)\le 16s^2$, and, for $q\ge 3$,Part (c) shows that $W$ is sub-Gamma in the right tail with variance parameter $64s^2$ and scale parameter $4s$.

If $\mathbb{E}(YZ)\ge 0$, then $W_{+}\le (YZ{)}_{+}\le |YZ|$. Consequentlywhile $\mathbb{E}{W}^2\le 16s^2$. Another application of part (c) gives the improved variance parameter $16{\sigma }_Y^2{\sigma }_Z^2$ and scale parameter $2{\sigma }_Y{\sigma }_Z$.