Abstract
We study concentration inequalities for Lipschitz functions on graphs by estimating the optimal constant in exponential moments of subgaussian type. This is illustrated on various graphs and related to various graph constants. We also settle, in the affirmative, a question of Talagrand on a deviation inequality for the discrete cube.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
[A-B-S] N. Alon, R. Boppana and J. Spencer,An asymptotic isoperimetric inequality, Geometric and Functional Analysis8 (1998), 411–436.
[A-M-S] S. Aida, T. Masuda and I. Shigekawa,Logarithmic Sobolev inequalities and exponential integrability, Journal of Functional Analysis126 (1994), 83–101.
[A-M] D. Amir and V. D. Milman,Unconditional and symmetric sets in n-dimensional normed spaces, Israel Journal of Mathematics37 (1980), 3–20.
[B] S. G. Bobkov,On deviations from medians, Manuscript (1998)
[B-G] S. G. Bobkov and F. Götze,Exponential integrability and transportation cost related to logarithmic transportation inequalities, Journal of Functional Analysis163 (1999), 1–28.
[B-H1] S. G. Bobkov and C. Houdré,Variance of Lipschitz functions and an isoperimetric problem for a class of product measures, Bernoulli2 (1996), 249–255.
[B-H2] S. G. Bobkov and C. Houdré,Characterization of Gaussian measures in terms of the isoperimetric properties of half-spaces, Zap. Nauchn. Semin. S.-Petersburg. Otdel. Mat. Inst. im. V.A. Steklova RAN228 (1996) 31–38 (in Russian). English translation: Journal of Mathematical Sciences (New York)93 (1999), 270–275.
[BHT] S. G. Bobkov, C. Houdré and P. Tetali,The subguassian constant and concentration inaqualities, Expanded version available at http://www.math.gatech.edu/~tetali/PUBLIS/BHT_SUB_full.tex
[B-L] S. G. Bobkov and M. Ledoux,Poincaré's inequalities and Talagrand's concentration phenomenon for the exponential distribution, Probability Theory and Related Fields107 (1997), 383–400.
[B-L1] B. Bollobás and I. Leader,An isoperimetric inequality on the discrete torus, SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics3 (1990), 32–37.
[B-L2] B. Bollobás and I. Leader,Compressions and isoperimetric inequalities, Journal of Combinatorial Theory (Series A)56 (1991), 47–62.
[B-L3] B. Bollobás and I. Leader,Isoperimetric inequalities and fractional set systems, Journal of Combinatorial Theory (Series A)56 (1991), 63–74.
[D-SC] P. Diaconis and L. Saloff-Coste,Logarithmic Sobolev inequalities for finite Markov chains, The Annals of Applied Probability6 (1996), 695–750.
[Ha1] L. H. Harper,Optimal numberings and isoperimetric problems on graphs, Journal of Combinatorial Theory1 (1966), 385–393.
[Ha2] L. H. Harper,On an isoperimetric problem for Hamming graphs., Proceedings of the Conference on Optimal Discrete Structures and Algorithms—ODSA '97 (Rostock), Discrete and Applied Mathematics95 (1999), no. 1-3, 285–309.
W. Hoeffding,Probability inequalities for sums of bounded random variables, Journal of the American Statistical Association58 (1963), 13–30.
C. Houdré,Mixed and isoperimetric estimates on the Log-Sobolev constants of graphs and Markov chains, Combinatorica21 (2001), 489–513.
[H-T] C. Houdré and P. Tetali,Concentration of measure for products of Markov kernels via functional inequalities, Combinatorics, Probability and Computing10 (2001), 1–28.
[J-S] K. Jogdeo and S. M. Samuels,Monotone convergence of binomial probabilities and a generalization of Ramanujan's equation, American Mathematical Society39 (1968), 1191–1195.
[K] V. M. Karakhanyan,A discrete isoperimetric problem on a multidimensional torus. (Russian), Akademii Nauk Armyan. SSR Doklady74 (1982), 61–65.
[L] M. Ledoux,Concentration of measure and logarithmic Sobolev inequalities, Séminaire de Probabilités, XXXIII Lecture Notes in Mathematics1709, Springer, Berlin, 1999, pp. 120–216.
[M] B. Maurey,Construction de suites symétriques, Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris, Série A-B288 (1979), A679–681.
[McD] C. McDiarmid,On the method of bounded differences, inSurveys in Combinatorics, London Mathematicsl Society Lecture Notes, Vol. 141, Cambridge University Press, 1989, pp. 148–188.
[M-S] V. D. Milman and G. Schechtman,Asymptotic theory of finite dimensional normed spaces, Lecture Notes in Mathematics1200, Springer, Berlin, 1986.
[P] G. Pisier,Probabilistic methods in the geometry of Banach spaces, inProbability and Analysis, Varenna (Italy) 1985, Lecture Notes in Mathematics1206, Springer, Berlin, 1986, pp. 167–241.
[R] O. Riordan,An ordering on the even discrete torus, SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics11 (1998), 110–127.
[S] L. Saloff-Coste,Lectures on finite Markov chains, Ecole d'Eté de Probabilités de St-Flour (1996), Lecture Notes in Mathematics1665, Springer, Berlin, 1997, pp. 301–413.
[S-T] M. Sammer and P. Tetali,Concentration on the discrete torus using transportation, submitted (2005).
[Sc] G. Schechtman,Lévy type inequalities for a class of metric spaces, inMartingale Theory in Harmonic Analysis and Banach Spaces, Lecture Notes in Mathematics939, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1981, pp. 211–215.
[St] S. Stoyanov,Isoperimetric and Related Constants for Graphs and Markov chains, Ph.D. thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2001.
[Ta1] M. Talagrand,Concentration of measure and isoperimetric inequalities in product spaces, Publications Mathématiques de l'Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques81 (1995), 73–205.
[Ta2] M. Talagrand,Isoperimetry and integrability of the sum of independent Banach space valued random variables, Annals of Probability17 (1989), 1546–1570.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Research supported in part by NSF Grant No. DMS-0405587 and by EPSRC Visiting Fellowship.
Research supported in part by NSF Grant No. DMS-9803239, DMS-0100289.
Research supported in part by NSF Grant No. DMS-0401239.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bobkov, S.G., Houdré, C. & Tetali, P. The subgaussian constant and concentration inequalities. Isr. J. Math. 156, 255–283 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02773835
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02773835