Gumbel convergence of the maximum of convoluted half-normally distributed random variables

Abstract: In this note, we establish the convergence in distribution of the maxima of i.i.d. random variables to the Gumbel distribution with the associated normalizing sequences for several examples that are related to the normal distribution. Motivated by tests for jumps in high-frequency data, our main interest is in the half-normal distribution and the sum or difference of two independent half-normally distributed random variables. Since the half-normal distribution is neither stable nor symmetric, these examples are non-obvious generalizations. It is shown that the sum and difference of two independent half-normally distributed random variables and other examples yield distributions with tail behaviours that relate to the normal case. It turns out that the Gumbel convergence for all such distributions can be proved following similar steps. We illustrate the results in Monte Carlo simulations.