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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +layout: proof |
| 3 | +mathjax: true |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +author: "Joram Soch" |
| 6 | +affiliation: "BCCN Berlin" |
| 7 | +e_mail: "joram.soch@bccn-berlin.de" |
| 8 | +date: 2024-11-22 11:39:58 |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +title: "The geometric mean of independent log-normal random variables is a log-normal random variable" |
| 11 | +chapter: "Probability Distributions" |
| 12 | +section: "Univariate continuous distributions" |
| 13 | +topic: "Log-normal distribution" |
| 14 | +theorem: "Geometric mean of independent log-normals " |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +sources: |
| 17 | + - authors: "Probability Fact" |
| 18 | + year: 2022 |
| 19 | + title: "The geometric mean of independent log-normal random variables has a log-normal distribution" |
| 20 | + in: "X" |
| 21 | + pages: "retrieved on 2024-11-22" |
| 22 | + url: "https://x.com/ProbFact/status/1592989704646848512" |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +proof_id: "P480" |
| 25 | +shortcut: "lognorm-geomind" |
| 26 | +username: "JoramSoch" |
| 27 | +--- |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +**Theorem:** Let $X_1, \ldots, X_n$ be [independent](/D/ind) [random variables](/D/rvar) following [log-normal distributions](/D/lognorm): |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +$$ \label{eq:X-lognorm} |
| 33 | +X_i \sim \ln \mathcal{N}(\mu_i, \sigma_i^2), \; i = 1, \ldots, n \; . |
| 34 | +$$ |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +Then, the [geometric mean](/D/mean-geom) of these random variables also follows a [log-normal distribution](/D/lognorm): |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +$$ \label{eq:Z-lognorm} |
| 39 | +Z = \sqrt[n]{\prod_{i=1}^n X_i} \sim \mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2) |
| 40 | +$$ |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +where the [log-normal](/D/lognorm) parameters are given by |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +$$ \label{eq:Z-lognorm-para} |
| 45 | +\mu = \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^n \mu_i |
| 46 | +\quad \text{and} \quad |
| 47 | +\sigma^2 = \frac{1}{n^2} \sum_{i=1}^n \sigma_i^2 \; . |
| 48 | +$$ |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +**Proof:** A random variable [follows a log-normal distribution, if and only if its natural logarithm follows a normal distribution](/D/lognorm): |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +$$ \label{eq:lognorm-norm} |
| 54 | +X \sim \ln \mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2) |
| 55 | +\quad \Leftrightarrow \quad |
| 56 | +\ln X \sim \mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2) \; . |
| 57 | +$$ |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +Thus, from \eqref{eq:X-lognorm}, we have |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +$$ \label{eq:Y-norm} |
| 62 | +Y_i = \ln X_i \sim \mathcal{N}(\mu_i, \sigma_i^2) |
| 63 | +$$ |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +and from \eqref{eq:Z-lognorm}, we have |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +$$ \label{eq:ln-Z} |
| 68 | + \ln Z |
| 69 | += \ln \left( \sqrt[n]{\prod_{i=1}^n X_i} \right) |
| 70 | += \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^n \ln X_i |
| 71 | += \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^n Y_i \; . |
| 72 | +$$ |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +This means that the logarithm of the geometric mean of independent [log-normal](/D/lognorm) random variables is the arithmetic mean of independent [normal](/D/norm) random variables. This average, like any [linear combination of independent normal random variables, is again normally distributed](/P/norm-lincomb). Thus, combining \eqref{eq:ln-Z} and \eqref{eq:Y-norm}, we have: |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +$$ \label{eq:ln-Z-norm} |
| 77 | + \ln Z |
| 78 | += \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^n Y_i |
| 79 | +\sim \mathcal{N}\left( \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^n \mu_i, \, \frac{1}{n^2} \sum_{i=1}^n \sigma_i^2 \right) \; . |
| 80 | +$$ |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +If a random variable [follows a normal distribution, then its exponential follows a log-normal distribution with the same parameters]: |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +$$ \label{eq:norm-lognorm} |
| 85 | +Y \sim \mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2) |
| 86 | +\quad \Leftrightarrow \quad |
| 87 | +\exp(Y) \sim \ln \mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2) \; . |
| 88 | +$$ |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +Thus, from \eqref{eq:ln-Z-norm}, we have |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +$$ \label{eq:Z-lognorm-qed} |
| 93 | + Z |
| 94 | += \exp(\ln Z) |
| 95 | +\sim \ln \mathcal{N}\left( \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^n \mu_i, \, \frac{1}{n^2} \sum_{i=1}^n \sigma_i^2 \right) |
| 96 | +$$ |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | +which is equivalent to \eqref{eq:Z-lognorm} and \eqref{eq:Z-lognorm-para}. |
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