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In this paper, we study the asymptotic distribution of some U-statistics whose entries are functions of empirical moments computed from non-overlapping consecutive blocks of an underlying weakly dependent process. The length of these blocks converges to infinity, and thus we consider U-statistics of triangular arrays. We establish asymptotic normality of such U-statistics. The results can be used to construct tests for changes of higher order moments.

We investigate the power of some common change-point tests as a function of the location of the change-point. The test statistics are maxima of weighted U-statistics, with the CUSUM test and the Wilcoxon change-point test as special examples. We study the power under local alternatives, where we vary both the location of the change-point and the magnitude of the change. We quantify in which way weighted versions of the tests are more powerful when the change occurs near the beginning or the end of the time interval, while losing power against changes in the center.

We present a test for independence of two strictly stationary time series based on a bootstrap procedure for the distance covariance. Our test detects any kind of dependence between the two time series within an arbitrary maximum lag $L$. In simulation studies, our test outperforms alternative testing procedures. In proving the validity of the underlying bootstrap procedure, we generalise bounds for the Wasserstein distance between an empirical measure and its marginal distribution under the assumption of $\alpha$-mixing. Previous results of this kind only existed for i.i.d. processes.

We apply the concept of distance covariance for testing independence of two long-range dependent time series. As test statistic we propose a linear combination of empirical distance cross-covariances. We derive the asymptotic distribution of the test statistic, and we show consistency against arbitrary alternatives. The asymptotic theory developed in this paper is based on a novel non-central limit theorem for stochastic processes with values in an $L^2$-Hilbert space. This limit theorem is of general theoretical interest which goes beyond the context of this article. Subject to the dependence in the data, the standardization and the limit distributions of the proposed test statistic vary. Since the limit distributions are unknown, we propose a subsampling procedure to determine the critical values for the proposed test, and we provide a proof for the validity of subsampling. In a simulation study, we investigate the finite-sample behavior of our test, and we compare its performance to tests based on the empirical cross-covariances. As an application of our results we analyze the cross-dependencies between mean monthly discharges of three rivers.

In this article, we show that the recently introduced ordinal pattern dependence fits into the axiomatic framework of general multivariate dependence measures, i.e., measures of dependence between two multivariate random objects. Furthermore, we consider multivariate generalizations of established univariate dependence measures like Kendall's $\tau$, Spearman's $\rho$ and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Among these, only multivariate Kendall's $\tau$ proves to take the dynamical dependence of random vectors stemming from multidimensional time series into account. Consequently, the article focuses on a comparison of ordinal pattern dependence and multivariate Kendall's $\tau$ in this context. To this end, limit theorems for multivariate Kendall's $\tau$ are established under the assumption of near-epoch dependent data-generating time series. We analyze how ordinal pattern dependence compares to multivariate Kendall's $\tau$ and Pearson's correlation coefficient on theoretical grounds. Additionally, a simulation study illustrates differences in the kind of dependencies that are revealed by multivariate Kendall's $\tau$ and ordinal pattern dependence.

We consider the empirical two-sample $U$-statistic with strictly $\beta$-mixing strictly stationary data and inverstigate its convergence in Skorohod spaces. We then provide an application of such convergence.

We investigate the large-sample behavior of change-point tests based on weighted two-sample U-statistics, in the case of short-range dependent data. Under some mild mixing conditions, we establish convergence of the test statistic to an extreme value distribution. A simulation study shows that the weighted tests are superior to the non-weighted versions when the change-point occurs near the boundary of the time interval, while they loose power in the center.

We present a novel approach to test for heteroscedasticity of a non-stationary time series that is based on Gini's mean difference of logarithmic local sample variances. In order to analyse the large sample behaviour of our test statistic, we establish new limit theorems for U-statistics of dependent triangular arrays. We derive the asymptotic distribution of the test statistic under the null hypothesis of a constant variance and show that the test is consistent against a large class of alternatives, including multiple structural breaks in the variance. Our test is applicable even in the case of non-stationary processes, assuming a locally stationary mean function. The performance of the test and its comparatively low computation time are illustrated in an extensive simulation study. As an application, we analyse Google Trends data, monitoring the relative search interest for the topic "global warming."

We analyze the ordinal structure of long-range dependent time series. To this end, we use so called ordinal patterns which describe the relative position of consecutive data points. We provide two estimators for the probabilities of ordinal patterns and prove limit theorems in different settings, namely stationarity and (less restrictive) stationary increments. In the second setting, we encounter a Rosenblatt distribution in the limit. We prove more general limit theorems for functions with Hermite rank 1 and 2. We derive the limit distribution for an estimation of the Hurst parameter $H$ if it is higher than 3/4. Thus, our theorems complement results for lower values of $H$ which can be found in the literature. Finally, we provide some simulations that illustrate our theoretical results., Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures

Given an iid sequence of pairs of stochastic processes on the unit interval we construct a measure of independence for the components of the pairs. We define distance covariance and distance correlation based on approximations of the component processes at finitely many discretization points. Assuming that the mesh of the discretization converges to zero as a suitable function of the sample size, we show that the sample distance covariance and correlation converge to limits which are zero if and only if the component processes are independent. To construct a test for independence of the discretized component processes we show consistency of the bootstrap for the corresponding sample distance covariance/correlation., Comment: 41 pages, original article

We construct a least squares estimator for the drift parameters of a fractional Ornstein Uhlenbeck process with periodic mean function and long range dependence. For this estimator we prove consistency and asymptotic normality. In contrast to the classical fractional Ornstein Uhlenbeck process without periodic mean function the rate of convergence is slower depending on the Hurst parameter $H$, namely $n^{1-H}$.

We present a robust test for change-points in time series which is based on the two-sample Hodges-Lehmann estimator. We develop new limit theory for a class of statistics based on the two-sample U-quantile processes, in the case of short range dependent observations. Using this theory we can derive the asymptotic distribution of our test statistic under the null hypothesis. We study the finite sample properties of our test via a simulation study and compare the test with the classical CUSUM test and a test based on the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney statistic.

We study subsampling estimators for the limit variance \[ \sigma^2=Var(X_1)+2 \sum_{k=2}^\infty Cov(X_1,X_k) \] of partial sums of a stationary stochastic process $(X_k)_{k\geq 1}$. We establish $L_2$-consistency of a non-overlapping block resampling method. Our results apply to processes that can be represented as functionals of strongly mixing processes. Motivated by recent applications to rank tests, we also study estimators for the series $Var(F(X_1))+2 \sum_{k=2}^\infty Cov(F(X_1),F(X_k))$, where $F$ is the distribution function of $X_1$. Simulations illustrate the usefulness of the proposed estimators and of a mean squared error optimal rule for the choice of the block length.

We propose new concepts in order to analyze and model the dependence structure between two time series. Our methods rely exclusively on the order structure of the data points. Hence, the methods are stable under monotone transformations of the time series and robust against small perturbations or measurement errors. Ordinal pattern dependence can be characterized by four parameters. We propose estimators for these parameters, and we calculate their asymptotic distributions. Furthermore, we derive a test for structural breaks within the dependence structure. All results are supplemented by simulation studies and empirical examples. For three consecutive data points attaining different values, there are six possibilities how their values can be ordered. These possibilities are called ordinal patterns. Our first idea is simply to count the number of coincidences of patterns in both time series, and to compare this with the expected number in the case of independence. If we detect a lot of coincident patterns, this means that the up-and-down behavior is similar. Hence, our concept can be seen as a way to measure non-linear `correlation'. We show in the last section, how to generalize the concept in order to capture various other kinds of dependence., Comment: 32 pages, 11 figures

Motivated by some common-change point tests, we investigate the asymptotic distribution of the U-statistic process $U_n(t)=\sum_{i=1}^{[nt]}\sum_{j=[nt]+1}^n h(X_i,X_j)$, $0\leq t\leq 1$, when the underlying data are long-range dependent. We present two approaches, one based on an expansion of the kernel $h(x,y)$ into Hermite polynomials, the other based on an empirical process representation of the U-statistic. Together, the two approaches cover a wide range of kernels, including all kernels commonly used in applications.

We study the behavior of the empirical distribution function of iterates of intermittent maps in the Hilbert space of square inegrable functions with respect to Lebesgue measure. In the long-range dependent case, we prove that the empirical distribution function, suitably normalized, converges to a degenerate stable process, and we give the corresponding almost sure result. We apply the results to the convergence of the Wasserstein distance between the empirical measure and the invariant measure. We also apply it to obtain the asymptotic distribution of the corresponding Cram\'er-von-Mises statistic., Comment: 20 pages

We study the detection of change-points in time series. The classical CUSUM statistic for detection of jumps in the mean is known to be sensitive to outliers. We thus propose a robust test based on the Wilcoxon two-sample test statistic. The asymptotic distribution of this test can be derived from a functional central limit theorem for two-sample U-statistics. We extend a theorem of Csorgo and Horvath to the case of dependent data.

We investigate the power of the CUSUM test and the Wilcoxon change-point test for a shift in the mean of a process with long-range dependent noise. We derive analytiv formulas for the power of these tests under local alternatives. These results enable us to calculate the asymptotic relative efficiency (ARE) of the CUSUM test and the Wilcoxon change point test. We obtain the surprising result that for Gaussian data, the ARE of these two tests equals 1, in contrast to the case of i.i.d. noise when the ARE is known to be $3/\pi$.

We investigate the convergence in distribution of sequential empirical processes of dependent data indexed by a class of functions F. Our technique is suitable for processes that satisfy a multiple mixing condition on a space of functions which differs from the class F. This situation occurs in the case of data arising from dynamical systems or Markov chains, for which the Perron--Frobenius or Markov operator, respectively, has a spectral gap on a restricted space. We provide applications to iterative Lipschitz models that contract on average., Comment: Also available on http://ejp.ejpecp.org/article/view/3216. Note that the content of this version is identical to the one publisheb by "Electronic Journal of Probability". However, due to the use of different LaTeX-classes, the page number may differ

In this paper we investigate the problem of detecting a change in the drift parameters of a generalized Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process which is defined as the solution of $dX_t=(L(t)-\alpha X_t) dt + \sigma dB_t$, and which is observed in continuous time. We derive an explicit representation of the generalized likelihood ratio test statistic assuming that the mean reversion function $L(t)$ is a finite linear combination of known basis functions. In the case of a periodic mean reversion function, we determine the asymptotic distribution of the test statistic under the null hypothesis.

A CUSUM type test for constant correlation that goes beyond a previously suggested correlation constancy test by considering Spearman's rho in arbitrary dimensions is proposed. Since the new test does not require the existence of any moments, the applicability on usually heavy-tailed financial data is greatly improved. The asymptotic null distribution is calculated using an invariance principle for the sequential empirical copula process. The limit distribution is free of nuisance parameters and critical values can be obtained without bootstrap techniques. A local power result and an analysis of the behavior of the test in small samples is provided.

For a bivariate time series $((X_i,Y_i))_{i=1,...,n}$ we want to detect whether the correlation between $X_i$ and $Y_i$ stays constant for all $i = 1,...,n$. We propose a nonparametric change-point test statistic based on Kendall's tau and derive its asymptotic distribution under the null hypothesis of no change by means a new U-statistic invariance principle for dependent processes. The asymptotic distribution depends on the long run variance of Kendall's tau, for which we propose an estimator and show its consistency. Furthermore, assuming a single change-point, we show that the location of the change-point is consistently estimated. Kendall's tau possesses a high efficiency at the normal distribution, as compared to the normal maximum likelihood estimator, Pearson's moment correlation coefficient. Contrary to Pearson's correlation coefficient, it has excellent robustness properties and shows no loss in efficiency at heavy-tailed distributions. We assume the data $((X_i,Y_i))_{i=1,...,n}$ to be stationary and P-near epoch dependent on an absolutely regular process. The P-near epoch dependence condition constitutes a generalization of the usually considered $L_p$-near epoch dependence, $p \ge 1$, that does not require the existence of any moments. It is therefore very well suited for our objective to efficiently detect changes in correlation for arbitrarily heavy-tailed data.

We study weak convergence of empirical processes of dependent data $(X_i)_{i\geq0}$, indexed by classes of functions. Our results are especially suitable for data arising from dynamical systems and Markov chains, where the central limit theorem for partial sums of observables is commonly derived via the spectral gap technique. We are specifically interested in situations where the index class ${\mathcal{F}}$ is different from the class of functions $f$ for which we have good properties of the observables $(f(X_i))_{i\geq0}$. We introduce a new bracketing number to measure the size of the index class ${\mathcal{F}}$ which fits this setting. Our results apply to the empirical process of data $(X_i)_{i\geq0}$ satisfying a multiple mixing condition. This includes dynamical systems and Markov chains, if the Perron-Frobenius operator or the Markov operator has a spectral gap, but also extends beyond this class, for example, to ergodic torus automorphisms., Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.3150/13-BEJ525 the Bernoulli (http://isi.cbs.nl/bernoulli/) by the International Statistical Institute/Bernoulli Society (http://isi.cbs.nl/BS/bshome.htm)

We establish a multivariate empirical process central limit theorem for stationary $\R^d$-valued stochastic processes $(X_i)_{i\geq 1}$ under very weak conditions concerning the dependence structure of the process. As an application we can prove the empirical process CLT for ergodic torus automorphisms. Our results also apply to Markov chains and dynamical systems having a spectral gap on some Banach space of functions. Our proof uses a multivariate extension of the techniques introduced by Dehling, Durieu and Voln\'y \cite{DehDurVol09} in the univariate case. As an important technical ingredient, we prove a $(2p)$th moment bound for partial sums in multiple mixing systems., Comment: to be published in Stochastic Processes and their Applications

The law of the iterated logarithm for partial sums of weakly dependent processes was intensively studied by Walter Philipp in the late 1960s and 1970s. In this paper, we aim to extend these results to nondegenerate U-statistics of data that are strongly mixing or functionals of an absolutely regular process., Comment: typos corrrected

The asymptotic normality of U-statistics has so far been proved for iid data and under various mixing conditions such as absolute regularity, but not for strong mixing. We use a coupling technique introduced in 1983 by Bradley to prove a new generalized covariance inequality similar to Yoshihara's. It follows from the Hoeffding-decomposition and this inequality that U-statistics of strongly mixing observations converge to a normal limit if the kernel of the U-statistic fulfills some moment and continuity conditions. The validity of the bootstrap for U-statistics has until now only been established in the case of iid data (see Bickel and Freedman). For mixing data, Politis and Romano proposed the circular block bootstrap, which leads to a consistent estimation of the sample mean's distribution. We extend these results to U-statistics of weakly dependent data and prove a CLT for the circular block bootstrap version of U-statistics under absolute regularity and strong mixing. We also calculate a rate of convergence for the bootstrap variance estimator of a U-statistic and give some simulation results., Comment: 20 pages, typos corrected

We present a new technique for proving empirical process invariance principle for stationary processes $(X_n)_{n\geq 0}$. The main novelty of our approach lies in the fact that we only require the central limit theorem and a moment bound for a restricted class of functions $(f(X_n))_{n\geq 0}$, not containing the indicator functions. Our approach can be applied to Markov chains and dynamical systems, using spectral properties of the transfer operator. Our proof consists of a novel application of chaining techniques.