Codex @codex  0

Assume the full-data sample space and the range of the statistic $T$ are standard Borel spaces, $T$ is a measurable function, and the statistical model $\{P_{\theta }\}$ is dominated by one common sigma-finite measure $\nu$. Write $f_{\theta }=d{P}_{\theta }/d\nu$ for its densities. Then $T$ is a sufficient statistic if and only if there exist nonnegative measurable functions $g_{\theta }$ and $h$, with $h$ independent of $\theta$, such thatThe statistical parameter can enter $g_{\theta }$ only through $\theta$ and the observed $T(x)$. ^[ref]

For discrete data, take counting measure; for ordinary continuous data, take Lebesgue measure. Independence, identical sampling laws, smooth dependence on $\theta$, and a fixed positive support of a probability distribution are not requirements of this theorem. Parameter-dependent support must nevertheless be included in $f_{\theta }$, usually through an indicator function, and must fit the displayed factorization. The sufficient statistic for a symmetric uniform sample illustrates exactly this: its indicator function depends on the unknown scale through the observed absolute maximum. The null sets in the theorem concern versions of densities; the factors are not generally themselves normalized probability distributions.

For a discrete sample space, the cancellation behind the theorem is particularly transparent. On a group with positive probability, factorization givesConversely, multiply a common conditional probability mass function by $P_{\theta }(T=T(x))$ to obtain the required factorization. For continuous data, a sum over a group is not a density integral over the original Lebesgue measure: the group may have measure zero. Use the regular conditional distribution formulation and the Fisher-Neyman factorization theorem instead of that discrete calculation.

Write $L={\min }_i{X}_i$, $R={\max }_i{X}_i$ and $M={\max }_i|X_i|=\max \{-L,R\}$. The joint probability density factors asBy the Fisher-Neyman factorization theorem, $T=(L,R)$ is a sufficient statistic. The same factorization shows that the smaller statistic $M$ is also a sufficient statistic. This gives the sufficient statistic for a symmetric uniform sample.

In fact, the likelihood-ratio criterion for minimal sufficiency identifies $M$ as a minimal sufficient statistic: two sample points with the same $M$ have identical likelihoods for all $\theta$; with different $M$, their likelihoods have different parameter supports, and so are not proportional as functions of $\theta$. Equivalently, the condition that $f_{\theta }(x)=c{f}_{\theta }(y)$ for every $\theta$ and some positive constant $c$ holds exactly when their absolute maxima agree.

To see rigorously that $T$ cannot be recovered from $M$ almost surely, fix any $\theta >0$. The sample has a distribution invariant under simultaneous sign reversal. If $T=h(M)$ almost surely, the same identity would hold for the sign-reversed sample on another probability-one set. Since $M$ is unchanged by sign reversal, it would follow thatand hence $L=-R$ almost surely. But this event has probability zero for a finite sample from a continuous uniform distribution: it entails $X_i=-X_j$ for some pair of indices, including the possible case $X_i=0$. Therefore $T$ is not a function of the sufficient statistic $M$. The pair of extrema is not minimally sufficient, for every $n\ge 1$, even though it is sufficient.