Gaussian characterization by independent sum and difference Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-20
Here take iid, centered with variance one, and with finite moment-generating functions at all real arguments. Independence of their sum and difference gives . Dividing the positive and negative argument identities shows satisfies the symmetry step of dyadic rigidity of a moment-generating function, hence is even. The identity becomes , and the unit-variance expansion then forces . The uniqueness theorem for moment-generating functions identifies the standard normal distribution. This is a precise sufficient-hypothesis version; the displayed implication is understood with those stated assumptions.
Write for the cumulant-generating function in the question's parametrization. Multiplying the density by replaces in the decaying part of its exponent by . For , the remaining integral is the normalizing integral for an Inverse Gaussian distribution with parameters . Comparing the two normalizing constants gives
In particular , so the mean parameter used in the more usual Inverse Gaussian distribution notation is ; it must not be confused with the present parameter .
First compute the cumulant-generating function of the sample average, as requested. Independence gives
This is exactly the cumulant-generating function of an Inverse Gaussian distribution with parameters . The uniqueness theorem for moment-generating functions therefore identifies that law. Scaling and including the density Jacobian gives
Equivalently, the inverse Gaussian sum closure is in the parametrization of this question. Its mean is and its variance is , in agreement with addition of independent means and variances.
For a general continuous iid sample with cumulant-generating function , finite near zero, set and choose a real saddle in the interior of the finite moment domain satisfying . With , the saddlepoint density approximation for the sum is
Under the usual smooth nonlattice conditions, at a fixed interior the true density has this leading expression times . This is a relative density approximation; the leading expression is not automatically an exactly normalized probability density in every model.
One way to understand the statistical saddlepoint approximation is through exponential tilting. The tilted one-observation density is , with mean and variance . Undoing this tilt for the sum multiplies its tilted density at by . At , is exactly the tilted mean of the sum. A local version of the central limit theorem gives tilted density there approximately . Multiplying these two factors gives the displayed saddlepoint density approximation. Higher local expansion terms produce the stated relative error order.
For the Inverse Gaussian distribution, differentiation gives
Thus for every the saddle exists, with
At this saddle,
Substitution into the saddlepoint density approximation gives precisely the exact density already found for . Therefore
This exact saddlepoint density of an inverse Gaussian sum is stronger than a relative claim: the leading formula is exact and needs no renormalization.
For the final distribution, both tails decay polynomially. Any positive exponential tilt makes the positive tail nonintegrable, and any negative tilt makes the negative tail nonintegrable. Its moment-generating function is therefore infinite away from zero, leaving no open interval on which to form the cumulant-generating function and solve a saddle equation. Here polynomial tails prevent exponential tilting, so the conventional saddlepoint density approximation is unavailable. A finite mean and variance, and even an ordinary central limit theorem, do not supply the missing exponential moments.
Let and . Since they are independent, applying the product rule for moment-generating functions to gives
All factors are finite and strictly positive for every real by the stated hypothesis. Applying the same identity to and dividing yields , or
The centered unit-variance Taylor expansion from part (ii) gives and the same expansion for . Consequently .
For the first step of dyadic rigidity of a moment-generating function, take logarithms, which are allowed because . For each fixed and every integer ,
Since , the right side tends to zero: it is . Thus for every , and the moment-generating function is even.
The original identity now becomes . Iterating this time with the correct fourth-power scaling gives
Near zero, , so the right side tends to . Therefore
This is the moment-generating function of a standard normal variable. By the uniqueness theorem for moment-generating functions, each of and has the standard normal distribution. The proof establishes the Gaussian characterization by independent sum and difference directly from the two functional identities and the first two moments.
For the exponential distribution of mean , . Substitution into the geometric-sum moment-generating function gives
This is the moment-generating function of an exponential distribution with rate . By the uniqueness theorem for moment-generating functions, the geometric sum of exponential variables therefore has probability density function
Its expected value is , agreeing with in the random sum of independent claims formula.
For every , the scalar is normal with mean and variance . The moment-generating function of a normal distribution therefore gives
Thus and determine the moment-generating function on all of . By the uniqueness theorem for moment-generating functions, they uniquely determine the probability distribution of .