New Methods for Multivariate Normal Moments

Multivariate normal moments are foundational for statistical methods. The derivation and simplification of these moments are critical for the accuracy of various statistical estimates and analyses. Normal moments are the building blocks of the Hermite polynomials, which in turn are the building bloc...

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Main Author: Christopher Stroude Withers
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Stats
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-905X/8/2/46
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author Christopher Stroude Withers
author_facet Christopher Stroude Withers
author_sort Christopher Stroude Withers
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description Multivariate normal moments are foundational for statistical methods. The derivation and simplification of these moments are critical for the accuracy of various statistical estimates and analyses. Normal moments are the building blocks of the Hermite polynomials, which in turn are the building blocks of the Edgeworth expansions for the distribution of parameter estimates. Isserlis (1918) gave the bivariate normal moments and two special cases of trivariate moments. Beyond that, convenient expressions for multivariate variate normal moments are still not available. We compare three methods for obtaining them, the most powerful being the differential method. We give simpler formulas for the bivariate moment than that of Isserlis, and explicit expressions for the general moments of dimensions 3 and 4.
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spelling doaj-art-a1e3d3689eb14cdcafe5ae0b622a5bb52025-08-20T03:29:44ZengMDPI AGStats2571-905X2025-06-01824610.3390/stats8020046New Methods for Multivariate Normal MomentsChristopher Stroude Withers0Callaghan Innovation (Formerly Industrial Research Ltd.), 101 Allington Road, Wellington 6012, New ZealandMultivariate normal moments are foundational for statistical methods. The derivation and simplification of these moments are critical for the accuracy of various statistical estimates and analyses. Normal moments are the building blocks of the Hermite polynomials, which in turn are the building blocks of the Edgeworth expansions for the distribution of parameter estimates. Isserlis (1918) gave the bivariate normal moments and two special cases of trivariate moments. Beyond that, convenient expressions for multivariate variate normal moments are still not available. We compare three methods for obtaining them, the most powerful being the differential method. We give simpler formulas for the bivariate moment than that of Isserlis, and explicit expressions for the general moments of dimensions 3 and 4.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-905X/8/2/46multivariate normalmomentsHermite polynomialsIsserlisSoper
spellingShingle Christopher Stroude Withers
New Methods for Multivariate Normal Moments
Stats
multivariate normal
moments
Hermite polynomials
Isserlis
Soper
title New Methods for Multivariate Normal Moments
title_full New Methods for Multivariate Normal Moments
title_fullStr New Methods for Multivariate Normal Moments
title_full_unstemmed New Methods for Multivariate Normal Moments
title_short New Methods for Multivariate Normal Moments
title_sort new methods for multivariate normal moments
topic multivariate normal
moments
Hermite polynomials
Isserlis
Soper
url https://www.mdpi.com/2571-905X/8/2/46
work_keys_str_mv AT christopherstroudewithers newmethodsformultivariatenormalmoments