Center-Outward Distribution Functions, Quantiles, Ranks, and Signs in $\mathbb{R}^d$ (1806.01238v3)

Abstract: Univariate concepts as quantile and distribution functions involving ranks and signs, do not canonically extend to $\mathbb{R}^d, d\geq 2$. Palliating that has generated an abundant literature. Chapter 1 shows that, unlike the many definitions that have been proposed so far, the measure transportation-based ones introduced in Chernozhukov et al. (2017) enjoy all the properties that make univariate quantiles and ranks successful tools for semiparametric statistical inference. We therefore propose a new center-outward definition of multivariate distribution and quantile functions, along with their empirical counterparts, for which we obtain a Glivenko-Cantelli result. Our approach is geometric and, contrary to the Monge-Kantorovich one in Chernozhukov et al. (2017), does not require any moment assumptions. The resulting ranks and signs are strictly distribution-free, and maximal invariant under the action of a data-driven class of (order-preserving) transformations generating the family of absolutely continuous distributions; that property is the theoretical foundation of the semiparametric efficiency preservation property of ranks. The corresponding quantiles are equivariant under the same transformations. The empirical proposed distribution functions are defined at observed values only. A continuous extension to the entire $\mathbb{R}^d$, yielding continuous empirical quantile contours while preserving the monotonicity and Glivenko-Cantelli features is desirable. Such extension requires solving a nontrivial problem of smooth interpolation under cyclical monotonicity constraints. A complete solution of that problem is given in Chapter 2; we show that the resulting distribution and quantile functions are Lipschitz, and provide a sharp lower bound for the Lipschitz constants. A numerical study of empirical center-outward quantile contours and their consistency is conducted.