Cross Modality of the Extended Binomial Sums

Abstract

For a family of probability functions (or a probability kernel), cross modality occurs when every likelihood maximum matches a mode of the distribution. This implies existence of simultaneous maxima on the modal ridge of the family. The paper explores the property for extended Bernoulli sums, which are random variables representable as a sum of independent Poisson and any number (finite or infinite) of Bernoulli random variables with variable success probabilities. We show that the cross modality holds for many subfamilies of the class, including power series distributions derived from entire functions with totally positive series expansion. A central role in the study is played by the extended Darroch's rule \cite{Darroch, Pitman}, which originally localised the mode of Poisson-binomial distribution in terms of the mean. We give different proofs and geometric interpretation to the extended rule and point at other modal properties of extended Bernoulli sums, in particular discuss stability of the mode in the context of a transport problem.