Majorizing Measures for Canonical Processes with Log-Concave Tails

Abstract

Let $Y_1,\ldots,Y_n$ be independent symmetric random variables with log-concave tails. We give a dimension-free characterization of the expected supremum of the canonical process $X_x=\sum_{i=1}^n x_iY_i$ without any $Δ_2$ or regular-growth assumption on the coordinate tails. The characterization is governed by scale-dependent intrinsic costs determined directly by the convex tail potentials. It has an information-theoretic rate-distortion formulation as well as two equivalent majorizing-measure formulations on the original index set, one multiscale and one based on a single probability measure. More strongly, the comparison holds for every prescribed law of the index. In particular, the Gaussian majorizing-measure theorem of Talagrand and the Bernoulli theorem of Bednorz-Latała are recovered from the same formula, through quadratic and truncated quadratic costs, respectively. The new geometry is necessary: once the $Δ_2$ growth condition is removed, the usual chaining functional based on increment moments can exceed the expected supremum by an unbounded factor. The proof is based on a uniform convex-order truncation principle for symmetric exponentials and a dyadic decomposition of the tail slopes that transfers simultaneously the random process and its intrinsic cost, with universal constants.