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Aleksey S. Polunchenko

Publications and source records attributed to Aleksey S. Polunchenko.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

More On the Quasi-Stationary Distribution of the Shiryaev--Roberts Diffusion

We consider the classical Shiryaev--Roberts martingale diffusion, $(R_t)_{t\ge0}$, restricted to the interval $[0,A]$, where $A>0$ is a preset absorbing boundary. We take yet another look at the well-known phenomenon of quasi-stationarity (time-invariant probabilistic behavior, conditional on no absorbtion hitherto) exhibited by the diffusion in the temporal limit, as $t\to+\infty$, for each $A>0$. We obtain new upper- and lower-bounds for the quasi-stationary distribution's probability density function (pdf), $q_{A}(x)$; the bounds vary in the trade-off between simplicity and tightness. The bounds imply directly the expected result that $q_{A}(x)$ converges to the pdf, $h(x)$, of the diffusion's stationary distribution, as $A\to+\infty$; the convergence is pointwise, for all $x\ge0$. The bounds also yield an explicit upperbound for the gap between $q_{A}(x)$ and $h(x)$ for a fixed $x$. By virtue of integration the bounds for the pdf $q_{A}(x)$ translate into new bounds for the corresponding cumulative distribution function (cdf), $Q_{A}(x)$. All of our results are established explicitly, using certain latest monotonicity properties of the modified Bessel $K$ function involved in the exact closed-form formula for $q_{A}(x)$ recently obtained by Polunchenko (2017). We conclude with a discussion of potential applications of our results in quickest change-point detection: our bounds allow for a very accurate performance analysis of the so-called randomized Shiryaev--Roberts--Pollak change-point detection procedure.

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On the Convergence Rate of the Quasi- to Stationary Distribution for the Shiryaev-Roberts Diffusion

For the classical Shiryaev--Roberts martingale diffusion considered on the interval $[0,A]$, where $A>0$ is a given absorbing boundary, it is shown that the rate of convergence of the diffusion's quasi-stationary cumulative distribution function (cdf), $Q_{A}(x)$, to its stationary cdf, $H(x)$, as $A\to+\infty$, is no worse than $O(\log(A)/A)$, uniformly in $x\ge0$. The result is established explicitly, by constructing new tight lower- and upper-bounds for $Q_{A}(x)$ using certain latest monotonicity properties of the modified Bessel $K$ function involved in the exact closed-form formula for $Q_{A}(x)$ recently obtained by Polunchenko (2017).

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Analytic Evaluation of the Fractional Moments for the Quasi-Stationary Distribution of the Shiryaev Martingale on an Interval

We consider the quasi-stationary distribution of the classical Shiryaev diffusion restricted to the interval $[0,A]$ with absorption at a fixed $A>0$. We derive analytically a closed-form formula for the distribution's fractional moment of an {\em arbitrary} given order $s\in\mathbb{R}$; the formula is consistent with that previously found by Polunchenko and Pepelyshev (2018) for the case of $s\in\mathbb{N}$. We also show by virtue of the formula that, if $s<1$, then the $s$-th fractional moment of the quasi-stationary distribution becomes that of the exponential distribution (with mean $1/2$) in the limit as $A\to+\infty$; the limiting exponential distribution is the stationary distribution of the reciprocal of the Shiryaev diffusion.

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A Note on the Quasi-Stationary Distribution of the Shiryaev Martingale on the Positive Half-Line

We obtain a closed-form formula for the quasi-stationary distribution of the classical Shiryaev martingale diffusion considered on the positive half-line $[A,+\infty)$ with $A>0$ fixed; the state space's left endpoint is assumed to be the killing boundary. The formula is obtained analytically as the solution of the appropriate singular Sturm-Liouville problem; the latter was first considered in Section 7.8.2 of Collet et al. (2013), but has heretofore remained unsolved.

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Comparative Performance Analysis of the Cumulative Sum Chart and the Shiryaev-Roberts Procedure for Detecting Changes in Autocorrelated Data

We consider the problem of quickest change-point detection where the observations form a first-order autoregressive (AR) process driven by temporally independent standard Gaussian noise. Subject to possible change are both the drift of the AR(1) process ($μ$) as well as its correlation coefficient ($λ$), both known. The change is abrupt and persistent, and is of known magnitude, with $\vertλ\vert<1$ throughout. For this scenario, we carry out a comparative performance analysis of the popular Cumulative Sum (CUSUM) chart and its less well-known but worthy competitor -- the Shiryaev-Roberts (SR) procedure. Specifically, the performance is measured through Pollak's Supremum (conditional) Average Delay to Detection (SADD) constrained to a pre-specified level of the Average Run Length (ARL) to false alarm. Particular attention is drawn to the sensitivity of each procedure's SADD and ARL with respect to the value of $λ$ before and after the change. The performance is studied through the solution of the respective integral renewal equations obtained via Monte Carlo simulations. The simulations are designed to estimate the sought performance metrics in an unbiased and asymptotically strongly consistent manner, and to within a prescribed proportional closeness (also asymptotically). Our extensive numerical studies suggest that both the CUSUM chart and the SR procedure are asymptotically second-order optimal, even though the CUSUM chart is found to be slightly better than the SR procedure, irrespective of the model parameters. Moreover, the existence of a worst-case post-change correlation parameter corresponding to the poorest detectability of the change for a given ARL to false alarm is established as well. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time the performance of the SR procedure is studied for autocorrelated data.

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Asymptotic Near-Minimaxity of the Randomized Shiryaev-Roberts-Pollak Change-Point Detection Procedure in Continuous Time

For the classical continuous-time quickest change-point detection problem it is shown that the randomized Shiryaev-Roberts-Pollak procedure is asymptotically nearly minimax-optimal (in the sense of Pollak 1985) in the class of randomized procedures with vanishingly small false alarm risk. The proof is explicit in that all of the relevant performance characteristics are found analytically and in a closed form. The rate of convergence to the (unknown) optimum is elucidated as well. The obtained optimality result is a one-order improvement of that previously obtained by Burnaev et al. (2009) for the very same problem.

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On the Quasi-Stationary Distribution of the Shiryaev-Roberts Diffusion

We consider the diffusion $(R_t^r)_{t\ge0}$ generated by the equation $dR_t^r=dt+μR_t^r dB_t$ with $R_0^r\triangleq r\ge0$ fixed, and where $μ\neq0$ is given, and $(B_t)_{t\ge0}$ is standard Brownian motion. We assume that $(R_t^r)_{t\ge0}$ is stopped at $\mathcal{S}_A^r\triangleq\inf\{t\ge0\colon R_t^r=A\}$ with $A>0$ preset, and obtain a closed-from formula for the quasi-stationary distribution of $(R_t^r)_{t\ge0}$, i.e., the limit $Q_A(x)\triangleq\lim_{t\to+\infty}\Pr(R_t^r\le x|\mathcal{S}_A^r>t)$, $x\in[0,A]$. Further, we also prove $Q_A(x)$ to be unimodal for any $A>0$, and obtain its entire moment series. More importantly, the pair $(\mathcal{S}_A^r,R_t^r)$ with $r\ge0$ and $A>0$ is the well-known Generalized Shiryaev-Roberts change-point detection procedure, and its characteristics for $r\sim Q_A(x)$ are of particular interest, especially when $A>0$ is large. In view of this circumstance we offer an order-three large-$A$ asymptotic approximation of $Q_A(x)$ valid for all $x\in[0,A]$. The approximation is rather accurate even if $A$ is lower than what would be considered "large" in practice.

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Asymptotic Exponentiality of the First Exit Time of the Shiryaev-Roberts Diffusion with Constant Positive Drift

We consider the first exit time of a Shiryaev-Roberts diffusion with constant positive drift from the interval $[0,A]$ where $A>0$. We show that the moment generating function (Laplace transform) of a suitably standardized version of the first exit time converges to that of the unit-mean exponential distribution as $A\to+\infty$. The proof is explicit in that the moment generating function of the first exit time is first expressed analytically and in a closed form, and then the desired limit as $A\to+\infty$ is evaluated directly. The result is of importance in the area of quickest change-point detection, and its discrete-time counterpart has been previously established - although in a different manner - by Pollak and Tartakovsky (2009).

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Optimal Design of the Shiryaev-Roberts Chart: Give Your Shiryaev-Roberts a Headstart

We offer a numerical study of the effect of headstarting on the performance of a Shiryaev-Roberts (SR) chart set up to control the mean of a normal process. The study is a natural extension of that previously carried out by Lucas and Crosier for the CUSUM scheme in their seminal 1982 paper published in Technometrics. The Fast Initial Response (FIR) feature exhibited by a headstarted CUSUM turns out to be also characteristic of an SR chart (re-)started off a nonzero initial score. However, our main result is the observation that a FIR SR with a carefully designed {\em optimal} headstart is not just faster to react to an initial out-of-control situation, it is nearly {\em the} fastest {\em uniformly}, i.e., assuming the process under surveillance is equally likely to go out of control effective any sample number. The performance improvement is the greater, the fainter the change. We explain the optimization strategy, and tabulate the optimal initial score, control limit, and the corresponding "worst possible" out-of-control Average Run Length (ARL), considering mean-shifts of diverse magnitudes and a wide range of levels of the in-control ARL.

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A Note on Efficient Performance Evaluation of the Cumulative Sum Chart and the Sequential Probability Ratio Test

We establish a simple connection between certain in-control characteristics of the CUSUM Run Length and their out-of-control counterparts. The connection is in the form of paired integral (renewal) equations. The derivation exploits Wald's likelihood ratio identity and the well-known fact that the CUSUM chart is equivalent to repetitive application of Wald's SPRT. The characteristics considered include the entire Run Length distribution and all of the corresponding moments, starting from the zero-state ARL. A particular practical benefit of our result is that it enables the in- and out-of-control characteristics of the CUSUM Run Length to be computed concurrently. Moreover, due to the equivalence of the CUSUM chart to a sequence of SPRTs, the ASN and OC functions of an SPRT under the null and under the alternative can all be computed simultaneously as well. This would double up the efficiency of any numerical method one may choose to devise to carry out the actual computations.

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Exact Distribution of the Generalized Shiryaev-Roberts Stopping Time Under the Minimax Brownian Motion Setup

We consider the quickest change-point detection problem where the aim is to detect the onset of a pre-specified drift in "live"-monitored standard Brownian motion; the change-point is assumed unknown (nonrandom). The object of interest is the distribution of the stopping time associated with the Generalized Shryaev-Roberts (GSR) detection procedure set up to "sense" the presence of the drift in the Brownian motion under surveillance. Specifically, we seek the GSR stopping time's survival function (the tail probability that no alarm is triggered by the GSR procedure prior to a given point in time), and distinguish two scenarios: (a) when the drift never sets in (pre-change regime) and (b) when the drift is in effect ab initio (post-change regime). Under each scenario, we obtain a closed-form formula for the respective survival function, with the GSR statistic's (deterministic) nonnegative headstart assumed arbitrarily given. The two formulae are found analytically, through direct solution of the respective Kolmogorov forward equation via the Fourier spectral method to achieve separation of the spacial and temporal variables. We then exploit the obtained formulae numerically and characterize the pre- and post-change distributions of the GSR stopping time depending on three factors: (a) magnitude of the drift, (b) detection threshold, and (c) the GSR statistic's headstart.

math.ST↗

An Analytic Expression for the Distribution of the Generalized Shiryaev-Roberts Diffusion

We consider the quickest change-point detection problem where the aim is to detect the onset of a pre-specified drift in "live"-monitored standard Brownian motion; the change-point is assumed unknown (nonrandom). The topic of interest is the distribution of the Generalized Shryaev-Roberts (GSR) detection statistic set up to "sense" the presence of the drift. Specifically, we derive a closed-form formula for the transition probability density function (pdf) of the time-homogeneous Markov diffusion process generated by the GSR statistic when the Brownian motion under surveillance is "drift-free", i.e., in the pre-change regime; the GSR statistic's (deterministic) nonnegative headstart is assumed arbitrarily given. The transition pdf formula is found analytically, through direct solution of the respective Kolmogorov forward equation via the Fourier spectral method to achieve separation of the spacial and temporal variables. The obtained result generalizes the well-known formula for the (pre-change) stationary distribution of the GSR statistic: the latter's stationary distribution is the temporal limit of the distribution sought in this work. To conclude, we exploit the obtained formula numerically and briefly study the pre-change behavior of the GSR statistic versus three factors: (a) drift-shift magnitude, (b) time, and (c) the GSR statistic's headstart.

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Real-time financial surveillance via quickest change-point detection methods

We consider the problem of efficient financial surveillance aimed at "on-the-go" detection of structural breaks (anomalies) in "live"-monitored financial time series. With the problem approached statistically, viz. as that of multi-cyclic sequential (quickest) change-point detection, we propose a semi-parametric multi-cyclic change-point detection procedure to promptly spot anomalies as they occur in the time series under surveillance. The proposed procedure is a derivative of the likelihood ratio-based Shiryaev-Roberts (SR) procedure; the latter is a quasi-Bayesian surveillance method known to deliver the fastest (in the multi-cyclic sense) speed of detection, whatever be the false alarm frequency. We offer a case study where we first carry out, step by step, statistical analysis of a set of real-world financial data, and then set up and devise (a) the proposed SR-based anomaly-detection procedure and (b) the celebrated Cumulative Sum (CUSUM) chart to detect structural breaks in the data. While both procedures performed well, the proposed SR-derivative, conforming to the intuition, seemed slightly better.

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On Robustness of the Shiryaev-Roberts Procedure for Quickest Change-Point Detection under Parameter Misspecification in the Post-Change Distribution

The gist of the quickest change-point detection problem is to detect the presence of a change in the statistical behavior of a series of sequentially made observations, and do so in an optimal detection-speed-vs.-"false-positive"-risk manner. When optimality is understood either in the generalized Bayesian sense or as defined in Shiryaev's multi-cyclic setup, the so-called Shiryaev-Roberts (SR) detection procedure is known to be the "best one can do", provided, however, that the observations' pre- and post-change distributions are both fully specified. We consider a more realistic setup, viz. one where the post-change distribution is assumed known only up to a parameter, so that the latter may be "misspecified". The question of interest is the sensitivity (or robustness) of the otherwise "best" SR procedure with respect to a possible misspecification of the post-change distribution parameter. To answer this question, we provide a case study where, in a specific Gaussian scenario, we allow the SR procedure to be "out of tune" in the way of the post-change distribution parameter, and numerically assess the effect of the "mistuning" on Shiryaev's (multi-cyclic) Stationary Average Detection Delay delivered by the SR procedure. The comprehensive quantitative robustness characterization of the SR procedure obtained in the study can be used to develop the respective theory as well as to provide a rational for practical design of the SR procedure. The overall qualitative conclusion of the study is an expected one: the SR procedure is less (more) robust for less (more) contrast changes and for lower (higher) levels of the false alarm risk.

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Optimal Design and Analysis of the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average Chart for Exponential Data

We study optimal design of the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) chart by a proper choice of the smoothing factor and the initial value (headstart) of the decision statistic. The particular problem addressed is that of quickest detection of an abrupt change in the parameter of a discrete-time exponential model. Both pre- and post-change parameter values are assumed known, but the change-point is not known. For this change-point detection scenario, we examine the performance of the conventional one-sided EWMA chart with respect to two optimality criteria: Pollak's minimax criterion associated with the maximal conditional expected delay to detection and Shiryaev's multi-cyclic setup associated with the stationary expected delay to detection. Using the integral-equations approach, we derive the exact closed-form formulae for all of the required performance measures. Based on these formulae we find the optimal smoothing factor and headstart by solving the corresponding two bivariate constraint optimization problems. Finally, the performance of the optimized EWMA chart is compared against that of the Shiryaev--Roberts--$r$ procedure in the minimax setting, and against that of the original Shiryaev--Roberts procedure in the multi-cyclic setting. The main conclusion is that the EWMA chart, when fully optimized, turns out to be a very competitive procedure, with performance nearly indistinguishable from that of the known-to-be-best Shiryaev--Roberts--$r$ and Shiryaev--Roberts procedures.

stat.AP↗

An Exact Formula for the Average Run Length to False Alarm of the Generalized Shiryaev-Roberts Procedure for Change-Point Detection under Exponential Observations

We derive analytically an exact closed-form formula for the standard minimax Average Run Length (ARL) to false alarm delivered by the Generalized Shiryaev-Roberts (GSR) change-point detection procedure devised to detect a shift in the baseline mean of a sequence of independent exponentially distributed observations. Specifically, the formula is found through direct solution of the respective integral (renewal) equation, and is a general result in that the GSR procedure's headstart is not restricted to a bounded range, nor is there a "ceiling" value for the detection threshold. Apart from the theoretical significance (in change-point detection, exact closed-form performance formulae are typically either difficult or impossible to get, especially for the GSR procedure), the obtained formula is also useful to a practitioner: in cases of practical interest, the formula is a function linear in both the detection threshold and the headstart, and, therefore, the ARL to false alarm of the GSR procedure can be easily computed.

stat.ME↗

Efficient Performance Evaluation of the Generalized Shiryaev--Roberts Detection Procedure in a Multi-Cyclic Setup

We propose a numerical method to evaluate the performance of the emerging Generalized Shiryaev--Roberts (GSR) change-point detection procedure in a "minimax-ish" multi-cyclic setup where the procedure of choice is applied repetitively (cyclically) and the change is assumed to take place at an unknown time moment in a distant-future stationary regime. Specifically, the proposed method is based on the integral-equations approach and uses the collocation technique with the basis functions chosen so as to exploit a certain change-of-measure identity and the GSR detection statistic's unique martingale property. As a result, the method's accuracy and robustness improve, as does its efficiency since using the change-of-measure ploy the Average Run Length (ARL) to false alarm and the Stationary Average Detection Delay (STADD) are computed simultaneously. We show that the method's rate of convergence is quadratic and supply a tight upperbound on its error. We conclude with a case study and confirm experimentally that the proposed method's accuracy and rate of convergence are robust with respect to three factors: (a) partition fineness (coarse vs. fine), (b) change magnitude (faint vs. contrast), and (c) the level of the ARL to false alarm (low vs. high). Since the method is designed not restricted to a particular data distribution or to a specific value of the GSR detection statistic's headstart, this work may help gain greater insight into the characteristics of the GSR procedure and aid a practitioner to design the GSR procedure as needed while fully utilizing its potential.

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