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I found a nice problem recently, but could not come up with a solution:

Find all functions $f:\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}\to\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$ such that for all $0< \lambda < 1$, if $X\sim G(\lambda)$, then there exists $0<\mu < 1$ with $f(X) \sim G(\mu)$.

Thanks to the answers below, I was able to understand how to solve it!

Spoiler: the solutions are all the functions $f_d:x\mapsto \lfloor x/d\rfloor$ for a fixed $d\geq 1$.

Noomkwah
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  • I'm not sure that your argument might lead you somewhere, since you assume (not without loss of generality) that $\lambda\rightarrow1$, leaving aside the fact that $f(n) = \lfloor{n/d}\rfloor$ cannot be the final solution, because it is (still) self-referential with respect to $f$, since $d:=\min f^{-1}(1)$. I'm afraid that your problem is near from impossible to solve; functions of random variables are very hard to handle in general, apart from linear combinations of stable distributions $-$ even the mere expression $\alpha X$ is not geometrically distributed anymore ! – Abezhiko Dec 31 '22 at 15:49
  • @Matija, I just edited my question to delete this mistake. Hopefully, now it's ok. Abezhiko, the function $f$ is supposed to verify "$X\sim G(\lambda);\Rightarrow;\exists 0<\mu< 1,; f(X)\sim G(\mu)$" for all $0<\lambda < 1$, so how is assuming $\lambda \to 1$ a loss of generality? Moreover, when I say "$f(n) = \lfloor n/d\rfloor$", I mean "for all $d\geq 1, ;f:n\mapsto \lfloor n/d\rfloor$ is a solution." – Noomkwah Dec 31 '22 at 16:59
  • @Abezhiko but I agree with you: this problem is hard :( – Noomkwah Dec 31 '22 at 17:45
  • @KeryannMassin If you take $\lambda\rightarrow1$, you study an asymptotic behaviour and the result doesn't hold $\forall\lambda\in(0,1)$, unless you can prove that it doesn't break the chain of implications; in that case, the limit would be legitimate (i.e. "without loss of generality") if you were able to rescale the parameter of the geometric distribution at will $-$ which would allow to choose $\lambda$, e.g. near 1, because we would also be able to rescale it back at any time. But we don't know how to do it, since it's what we are looking for. Moreover, $X = G(1)$ doesn't exist. – Abezhiko Dec 31 '22 at 20:06
  • @KeryannMassin As for $f(n) = \lfloor n/d \rfloor$ $\forall d \ge 1$ doesn't work, since you can find $\mu$ from the equation e.g. $P(f(X)=2)=P(X=4)+P(X=5)=\lambda(1-\lambda)^3+\lambda(1-\lambda)^4=\mu(1-\mu)^2$ for $d=k=2$, but then the result won't satisfy the same equation for other values of $d$ and $k$. Moreover, the solution $f$ must depend on $\lambda$, otherwise there is no link between $G(\lambda)$ and $G(\mu)$; it would mean that you can generate $G(\mu)$ from any geometric distribution in the same manner, without taking into account its parameter. – Abezhiko Dec 31 '22 at 20:15
  • @KeryannMassin However, it seems that it is possible to generate a geometric distribution from the minimum of several geometric laws : cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometric_distribution#Related_distributions – Abezhiko Dec 31 '22 at 20:17
  • @Abezhiko: Not sure that you are correct: $\mu$ can depend on f and $\lambda$. So for instance $f(x)=x$ would be ok. – PhoemueX Dec 31 '22 at 21:12
  • By curiosity, where did you find this interesting problem? – Davide Giraudo Jan 10 '23 at 14:25
  • I thought about it some more, and I think what happened is that someone told me about the problem " find all $f$ such that $X\sim \mathrm{Poisson}(\lambda);\Rightarrow; f(X)\sim \mathrm{Poisson}(\mu)$", and I just misunderstood what he had said back then, thinking it was a geometric law instead of a Poisson distribution... So it came from my mind lol – Noomkwah Jan 10 '23 at 14:38
  • That problem is also interesting. Did you solve it? – Davide Giraudo Jan 10 '23 at 15:44

2 Answers2

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Let $f$ be a function such that for each $\lambda\in (0,1)$, if $X\sim\mathcal G(\lambda)$, then there exists $\mu\in (0,1)$ such that $f(X)\sim\mathcal G(\mu)$.

First of all, $f$ should satisfy $f\left(\mathbb Z_{\geqslant 0}\right)=\mathbb Z_{\geqslant 0}$ because $\mathbb P(f(X)=k)=\mathbb P(f^{-1}(\{k\}))$ is positive for each $k$ and $X$ satisfying a geometric distribution.

For $j,k\in\mathbb Z_{\geqslant 0}$, define $a_{k,j}=\begin{cases}1&\mbox{if }f(j)=k\\ 0&\mbox{otherwise} \end{cases}$, $a_{k,-1}=0$ and $I_k=f^{-1}(\{k\})$.

  1. We observe that if $X\sim\mathcal G(\lambda)$, then $f(X)\sim\mathcal G(\mu(\lambda))$ where $$ \mu(\lambda)=\sum_{j\in I_0}(1-\lambda)^j\lambda. $$ Indeed, $\mu(\lambda)=\mathbb P(f(X)=0)=\mathbb P(X\in I_0)$.

  2. It will be more convenient to write $\mu(1-\lambda)$ as a power series, namely, $$ \mu(1-\lambda)=\sum_{j\in I_0}\lambda^j-\sum_{j\in I_0}\lambda^{j+1} =\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}\left(a_{0,j}-a_{0,j-1}\right)\lambda^j. $$

  3. By definition of geometric distribution with parameter $\mu(1-\lambda)$, we derive that for each $k\geqslant 0$ and each $\lambda\in (0,1)$,
    $$\tag{*} \left(1-\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}\left(a_{0,j}-a_{0,j-1}\right)\lambda^j\right)^k \sum_{j=0}^{\infty}\left(a_{0,j}-a_{0,j-1}\right)\lambda^j =\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}\left(a_{k,j}-a_{k,j-1}\right)\lambda^j. $$ Note that all the involved series are convergent since $0\leqslant a_{k,j}\leqslant 1$ and $0<\lambda<1$.

  4. Let us look first at the constant coefficient, which can be obtained by letting $\lambda\to 0$. We get that for each $k\geqslant 0$, $$ \left(1-a_{0,0}\right)^ka_{0,0}=a_{k,0} $$ If $a_{0,0}=0$, we would get that $a_{k,0}=0$ for each $k\geqslant 0$ but since the sets $I_k$ are disjoint and their union is $\mathbb Z_{\geqslant 0}$, we should have $\sum_{k\geqslant 0}a_{k,0}=1$ hence we get $a_{0,0}=1$ hence $f(0)=0$.

  5. Let us now update $(*)$. Separating the index $j=0$ in the two sums of the left hand side, we derive that for each $k\geqslant 1$ and each $\lambda\in (0,1)$,
    $$\tag{**} \left(-\sum_{j=1}^{\infty}\left(a_{0,j}-a_{0,j-1}\right)\lambda^j\right)^k \left(1+\sum_{j=1}^{\infty}\left(a_{0,j}-a_{0,j-1}\right)\lambda^j\right) =\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}\left(a_{k,j}-a_{k,j-1}\right)\lambda^j. $$

  6. Notice that in the left hand side of $(**)$, the lowest degree in $\lambda$ is $k$ hence we should have for $0\leqslant j\leqslant k-1$ that $a_{k,j}-a_{k,j-1}=0$, and since $a_{j,-1}=0$, $a_{k,0}=a_{k,1}=\dots=a_{k,k-1}=0$ or in other words, $j<k$ implies that $f(j)\neq k$ hence $f(j)\leqslant j$.

  7. Looking now at the coefficient in front of $\lambda^k$, we get that $(1-a_{0,1})^k=a_{k,k}$. If $f(1)=1$, then $f(k)=k$ for all $k$.

  8. Suppose that $f(1)\neq 1$. By 6, we have $f(1)=0$. Let $d$ be the smallest natural number such that $f(d)\neq 0$, that is, $a_{0,d}=0$ and $a_{0,j }=1$ for $j<d$. Looking now at the coefficient in front of $\lambda^j$, $0\leqslant j\leqslant j_0k$, we find that $f(dk)=k$.

  9. Define $b_{k,j}=a_{k,j}-a_{k,j-1}$ and $c_j$ by $c_0=0$ and $c_j=-b_{0,j}$ for $j \geqslant 1$. Since $-\sum_{j=1}^{\infty}\left(a_{0,j}-a_{0,j-1}\right)\lambda^j=\sum_{j=0}^\infty c_j\lambda^j$, for $k=1$ in $(**)$, recognizing a Cauchy product between power series, we get that \begin{align} b_{1,j}&=\sum_{i=0}^j b_{0,i}c_{j-i}\\ &=-\sum_{i=0}^{j-1} b_{0,i}b_{0,j-i}\\ &=-b_{0,j}-\sum_{i=1}^{j-1} b_{0,i}b_{0,j-i}\\ &=-b_{0,j}-\sum_{i=1}^{j-1} b_{0,i}\mathbf{1}_{i\geqslant d}b_{0,j-i}\mathbf{1}_{j-i\geqslant d} \end{align} where we used in the last equality that $b_{0,i}=0$ if $1\leqslant i<d$. We thus got $$\tag{1} b_{1,j}=-b_{0,j}-\mathbf{1}_{j\geqslant 2d}\sum_{i=d}^{j-d} b_{0,i}b_{0,j-i} $$

We will now prove by induction on $\ell\geqslant 1$ that $b_{0,d+\ell}=0$.

  • For $\ell=1$, we use (1) with $j=2d+1$ in order to derive that $$ b_{1,2d+1}=-b_{0,2d+1}-2b_{0,d}b_{0,d+1}. $$ Since $f(d)=1$ and $f(d-1)=0$, we get that $b_{0,d}=a_{0,d}-a_{0,d-1}=-1$ hence $$ b_{1,2d+1}+b_{0,2d+1} =2b_{0,d+1}.$$

Since $$ b_{1,2d+1}+b_{0,2d+1}=\mathbf{1}_{f(2d+1)\in\{0,1\}}-\mathbf{1}_{f(2d)\in\{0,1\}}\in \{-1,0,1\}, $$ this forces $b_{0,d+1}$ to be equal to $0$.

  • Suppose now that $b_{0,d+1}=\dots=b_{0,d+\ell-1}=0$ for some $\ell\geqslant 2$ and let us show that $b_{0,d+\ell}=0$. Applying (1) with $j=2d+\ell$, we derive that $$ b_{1,2d+\ell}=-b_{0,2d+\ell}-\sum_{i=d}^{d+\ell}b_{0,i}b_{0,2d+\ell -i}. $$ The terms with index $i$ such that $d+1\leqslant i\leqslant d+\ell-1$ vanish by the induction assumption hence it remains only the terms with index $d$ and $d+\ell$, which gives $$ b_{1,2d+\ell}=-b_{0,2d+\ell}-2b_{0,d}b_{0,d+\ell}. $$ Using again $b_{0,d}=-1$, we get that $$ \mathbf{1}_{f(2d+\ell)\in\{0,1\}}-\mathbf{1}_{f(2d\ell-1)\in\{0,1\}}=2b_{0,d+\ell} $$ and similarly as before, this forces $b_{0,d+\ell}=0$.
  1. Going back to (**), we can drastically simplify the left hand side by $$ \left(-\sum_{j=1}^{d}\left(a_{0,j}-a_{0,j-1}\right)\lambda^j\right)^k \left(1+\sum_{j=1}^{d}\left(a_{0,j}-a_{0,j-1}\right)\lambda^j\right) =\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}\left(a_{k,j}-a_{k,j-1}\right)\lambda^j. $$ and since $a_{0,j}-a_{j-1}=0$ for $1\leqslant j\leqslant d-1$, we get $$ \lambda^{dk} \left(1-\lambda^d\right) =\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}\left(a_{k,j}-a_{k,j-1}\right)\lambda^j $$ hence identifying the coefficient in $dk$ and $d(k+1)$ gives that $f(k)=\lfloor k/d\rfloor$, where $\lfloor x\rfloor$ is the unique integer for which $\lfloor x\rfloor\leqslant x<\lfloor x\rfloor+1$.

  2. It remains to check that any function of the form $f(k)=\lfloor k/d\rfloor $ for $d\geqslant 1$ does the job. First, $I_0=\{0,\dots,d-1\}$ hence $\mu(\lambda)=1-(1-\lambda)^{d}$ and if $\ell$ is a non-negative integer, \begin{align} \mathbb P(f(X)=\ell)&=\mathbb P(d\ell\leqslant X\leqslant d\ell+d-1)\\ &=\sum_{j=d\ell}^{d\ell+d-1}(1-\lambda)^j\lambda&\\ &=(1-\lambda)^{d\ell}\sum_{j=0}^{ d-1}(1-\lambda)^j\lambda&\\ &=(1-\lambda)^{d\ell}\left(1-(1-\lambda)^{d}\right) \\ &=(1-\mu(\lambda))^{ \ell}\mu(\lambda)&. \end{align}

Davide Giraudo
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Below are only proofs of the known results from the question, which is a characterization of all non-decreasing $f$.

For $\lambda\in[0,1]$ let $G(\lambda)$ denote the geometric distribution, that is the distribution of the number of failures before the first success in a Bernoulli trial given by $$\mathbb P(X_\lambda=k)=(1-\lambda)^{k}\lambda$$ for $k\in\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}$, where $X_\lambda\sim G(\lambda)$. Let $\mathcal F=\{f:\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}\rightarrow\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}: \forall\lambda\in(0,1)\exists\mu\in(0,1)\,f(X_\lambda)\sim G(\mu)\}$. For $f\in\mathcal F$ and $\lambda\in(0,1)$ let $\mu_\lambda\in(0,1)$ be such that $f(X_\lambda)\sim G(\mu_\lambda)$. Notice that $\mu_\lambda=\mathbb P(f(X_\lambda)=0)=\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(0)}(1-\lambda)^k\lambda$ is determined by $f$ and $\lambda$.

Claim 1: Each $f\in\mathcal F$ is surjective.

Proof: For $k\in\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}$ we have $\mathbb P(X_\lambda\in f^{-1}(k))=\mathbb P(f(X_\lambda)=k)=\mathbb P(X_{\mu_\lambda}=k)>0$ and hence $f^{-1}(k)\neq\emptyset$.

Claim 2: For $f\in\mathcal F$ we have $f(0)=0$ and $\mu_\lambda\ge\lambda$, where $f(X_\lambda)\sim G(\mu_\lambda)$ for $\lambda\in(0,1)$.

Proof: We have $(1-\mu_\lambda)^{f(0)}\mu_\lambda=\mathbb P(f(X_\lambda)=f(0))\ge\mathbb P(X_\lambda=0)=\lambda$. For $a\in\mathbb R_{\ge 0}$ and $g:[0,1]\rightarrow[0,1]$, $x\mapsto (1-x)^ax$ we have $g'(x)=(1-x)^a-a(1-x)^{a-1}x$ and thus a unique maximum at $x=\frac{1}{a+1}$, yielding $(1-\frac{1}{f(0)+1})^{f(0)}\frac{1}{f(0)+1}\ge (1-\mu_\lambda)^{f(0)}\mu_\lambda\ge\lambda$. Since this holds for all $\lambda\in(0,1)$, we have $1\ge(1-\frac{1}{f(0)+1})^{f(0)}\ge f(0)+1$, thereby $f(0)\le 0$ and hence $f(0)=0$. Substituting this in the first inequality gives $\mu_\lambda\ge\lambda$.

Claim 3: Let $d=\inf\{k\in\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}:f(k)=1\}$ for $f\in\mathcal F$. Then we have $d\in\mathbb Z_{>0}$ and $\lim_{\lambda\rightarrow 1}\frac{1-\mu_\lambda}{(1-\lambda)^d}=1$.

Proof: We have $d<\infty$ by Claim 1 and $d>0$ by Claim 2, so $d\in\mathbb Z_{>0}$. Further, we have $(1-\mu_\lambda)\mu_\lambda=\mathbb P(f(X_\lambda)=1)=\mathbb P(X_\lambda\in f^{-1}(1))=(1-\lambda)^d\lambda\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(1)}(1-\lambda)^{k-d}$, which yields $$ \frac{1-\mu_\lambda}{(1-\lambda)^d}=\frac{\lambda}{\mu_\lambda}\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(1)}(1-\lambda)^{k-d}. $$ Using the geometric series we have $1\le\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(1)}(1-\lambda)^{k-d}\le\frac{1}{\lambda}$, and further $\lambda\le\mu_\lambda\le 1$ using Claim 2, so we indeed obtain $\lim_{\lambda\rightarrow 1}\frac{1-\mu_\lambda}{(1-\lambda)^d}=1$.

Claim 4: For $f\in\mathcal F$ and $n\in\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}$ we have $dn=\min\{k\in\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}:f(k)=n\}$.

Proof: Notice that $m(n)=\min\{k\in\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}:f(k)=n\}$ is well-defined by Claim 1, that we have $m(0)=0$ by Claim 2, and that $m(1)=d$ trivially holds, so let $n\in\mathbb Z_{>1}$. Notice that \begin{align*} (1-\mu_\lambda)^{n}\mu_\lambda &=\mathbb P(f(X_\lambda)=n)=\mathbb P(X_\lambda\in f^{-1}(n))=\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(n)}(1-\lambda)^k\lambda\\ &=(1-\lambda)^{m(n)}\lambda\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(n)}(1-\lambda)^{k-m(n)}. \end{align*} As before, we have $1\le\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(n)}(1-\lambda)^{k-m(n)}\le\frac{1}{\lambda}$, so with Claim 2 and Claim 3 we have $\lim_{\lambda\rightarrow 1}(1-\lambda)^{dn-m(n)}=1$ since \begin{align*} (1-\lambda)^{dn-m(n)} &=\left(\frac{(1-\lambda)^d}{1-\mu_\lambda}\right)^n \frac{\lambda\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(n)}(1-\lambda)^{k-m(n)}}{\mu_\lambda}\frac{(1-\mu_\lambda)^n\mu_\lambda}{(1-\lambda)^{m(n)}\lambda\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(n)}(1-\lambda)^{k-m(n)}}\\ &=\left(\frac{(1-\lambda)^d}{1-\mu_\lambda}\right)^n \frac{\lambda\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(n)}(1-\lambda)^{k-m(n)}}{\mu_\lambda}. \end{align*} Since $dn-m(n)$ does not depend on $\lambda$, this implies that $dn=m(n)$.

Now, we restrict to non-decreasing functions. Let $\mathcal F_+=\{f\in\mathcal F:\forall n\le n'\,f(n)\le f(n')\}$.

Claim 5: For $d\in\mathbb Z_{>0}$ let $f_d:\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}\rightarrow\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}$, $k\mapsto\lfloor\frac{k}{d}\rfloor$. We have $\mathcal F_+=\{f_d:d\in\mathbb Z_{>0}\}$.

Proof: Let $f\in\mathcal F_+$ and $d\in\mathbb Z_{>0}$ as defined in Claim 3. Since $f$ is non-decreasing, Claim 4 directly implies $f=f_d$. Conversely, for $d\in\mathbb Z_{>0}$ the map $f_d$ is clearly non-decreasing. We further have $\mu_\lambda=\sum_{k=0}^{d-1}(1-\lambda)^k\lambda=1-(1-\lambda)^d$. Further, we have $\mathbb P(f(X_\lambda)=n)=\sum_{k=dn}^{d(n+1)-1}(1-\lambda)^k\lambda=(1-\lambda)^{dn}\mu_\lambda=(1-\mu_\lambda)^n\mu_\lambda$ and thus $f(X_\lambda)\sim G(\mu_\lambda)$.

Matija
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  • Great detailed answer ! – Abezhiko Dec 31 '22 at 21:46
  • Thanks! Since the proof entirely relies on approximating $\lambda=0$ and $\lambda=1$, it would be interesting to look at the following question. Do there exist $0<a<b<1$ such that the following holds? There exists a function $f:\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}\rightarrow\mathbb Z_{>0}$ such that $f$ is not the identity and for all $\lambda\in[a,b]$ there exists $\mu\in(0,1)$ with $f(X_\lambda)\sim G(\mu)$. Then, only Claim 1 carries over. Alternatively, one may try to characterize all functions for given $\lambda$ (and even $\mu$). – Matija Jan 01 '23 at 10:04
  • As $(1-\mu_\lambda)^n\mu_\lambda=\lambda\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(n)}(1-\lambda)^k$, we have $\mu_\lambda=\lambda\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(0)}(1-\lambda)^k$ so $\mu_{\lambda} = \lambda \frac{\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(n)}(1-\lambda)^k}{1-\color{red}{\lambda}\sum_{k\in f^{-1}(0)}(1-\lambda)^k}$ no? I might be wrong, but isn't $f:n\to \lfloor n/7\rfloor$ also a solution (with $\mu = 1 - (1-\lambda)^7$? – Noomkwah Jan 01 '23 at 12:49
  • Exactly, that's the missing $\lambda$... I think I can fix it, I'll also check your example, hopefully in the next few hours. – Matija Jan 01 '23 at 12:56
  • Ok I see! Take your time, and happy new year :) – Noomkwah Jan 01 '23 at 12:57
  • Happy new year! I updated the answer, now I'm unfortunately only able to reconcile your already established results. I'll think about it some more, hopefully I can contribute some sort of result for non-monotonous maps. – Matija Jan 01 '23 at 18:37