A note on quadratic forms of stationary functional time series under mild conditions

We study distributional properties of a quadratic form of a stationary functional time series under mild moment conditions. As an important application, we obtain consistency rates of estimators of spectral density operators and prove joint weak convergence to a vector of complex Gaussian random operators. Weak convergence is established based on an approximation of the form via transforms of Hilbert-valued martingale difference sequences. As a side-result, the distributional properties of the long-run covariance operator are established

Locally Stationary Functional Time Series

The literature on time series of functional data has focused on processes of which the probabilistic law is either constant over time or constant up to its second-order structure. Especially for long stretches of data it is desirable to be able to weaken this assumption. This paper introduces a framework that will enable meaningful statistical inference of functional data of which the dynamics change over time. We put forward the concept of local stationarity in the functional setting and establish a class of processes that have a functional time-varying spectral representation. Subsequently, we derive conditions that allow for fundamental results from nonstationary multivariate time series to carry over to the function space. In particular, time-varying functional ARMA processes are investigated and shown to be functional locally stationary according to the proposed definition. As a side-result, we establish a Cram\'er representation for an important class of weakly stationary functional processes. Important in our context is the notion of a time-varying spectral density operator of which the properties are studied and uniqueness is derived. Finally, we provide a consistent nonparametric estimator of this operator and show it is asymptotically Gaussian using a weaker tightness criterion than what is usually deemed necessary

A note on Herglotz's theorem for time series on function spaces

In this article, we prove Herglotz's theorem for Hilbert-valued time series. This requires the notion of an operator-valued measure, which we shall make precise for our setting. Herglotz's theorem for functional time series allows to generalize existing results that are central to frequency domain analysis on the function space. In particular, we use this result to prove the existence of a functional Cram{\'e}r representation of a large class of processes, including those with jumps in the spectral distribution and long-memory processes. We furthermore obtain an optimal finite dimensional reduction of the time series under weaker assumptions than available in the literature. The results of this paper therefore enable Fourier analysis for processes of which the spectral density operator does not necessarily exist

A note on Herglotz’s theorem for time series on function spaces

In this article, we prove Herglotz’s theorem for Hilbert-valued time series. This requires the notion of an operator-valued measure, which we shall make precise for our setting. Herglotz’s theorem for functional time series allows to generalize existing results that are central to frequency domain analysis on the function space. In particular, we use this result to prove the existence of a functional Cramér representation of a large class of processes, including those with jumps in the spectral distribution and long-memory processes. We furthermore obtain an optimal finite dimensional reduction of the time series under weaker assumptions than available in the literature. The results of this paper therefore enable Fourier analysis for processes of which the spectral density operator does not necessarily exist

Pivotal tests for relevant differences in the second order dynamics of functional time series

Motivated by the need to statistically quantify differences between modern (complex) data-sets which commonly result as high-resolution measurements of stochastic processes varying over a continuum, we propose novel testing procedures to detect relevant differences between the second order dynamics of two functional time series. In order to take the between-function dynamics into account that characterize this type of functional data, a frequency domain approach is taken. Test statistics are developed to compare differences in the spectral density operators and in the primary modes of variation as encoded in the associated eigenelements. Under mild moment conditions, we show convergence of the underlying statistics to Brownian motions and construct pivotal test statistics. The latter is essential because the nuisance parameters can be unwieldy and their robust estimation infeasible, especially if the two functional time series are dependent. Besides from these novel features, the properties of the tests are robust to any choice of frequency band enabling also to compare energy contents at a single frequency. The finite sample performance of the tests are verified through a simulation study and are illustrated with an application to fMRI data

Pivotal tests for relevant differences in the second order dynamics of functional time series

Motivated by the need to statistically quantify differences between modern (complex) datasets which commonly result as high-resolution measurements of stochastic processes varying over a continuum, we propose novel testing procedures to detect relevant differences between the second order dynamics of two functional time series. In order to take the between-function dynamics into account that characterize this type of functional data, a frequency domain approach is taken. Test statistics are developed to compare differences in the spectral density operators and in the primary modes of variation as encoded in the associated eigenelements. Under mild moment conditions, we show convergence of the underlying statistics to Brownian motions and obtain pivotal test statistics via a self-normalization approach. The latter is essential because the nuisance parameters can be unwieldly and their robust estimation infeasible, especially if the two functional time series are dependent. Besides from these novel features, the properties of the tests are robust to any choice of frequency band enabling also to compare energy contents at a single frequency. The finite sample performance of the tests are verified through a simulation study and are illustrated with an application to fMRI data

A general framework to quantify deviations from structural assumptions in the analysis of nonstationary function-valued processes

We present a general theory to quantify the uncertainty from imposing structural assumptions on the second-order structure of nonstationary Hilbert space-valued processes, which can be measured via functionals of time-dependent spectral density operators. The second-order dynamics are well-known to be elements of the space of trace-class operators, the latter is a Banach space of type 1 and of cotype 2, which makes the development of statistical inference tools more challenging. A part of our contribution is to obtain a weak invariance principle as well as concentration inequalities for (functionals of) the sequential time-varying spectral density operator. In addition, we introduce deviation measures in the nonstationary context, and derive estimators that are asymptotically pivotal. We then apply this framework and propose statistical methodology to investigate the validity of structural assumptions for nonstationary response surface data, such as low-rank assumptions in the context of time-varying dynamic fPCA and principle separable component analysis, deviations from stationarity with respect to the square root distance, and deviations from zero functional canonical coherency

A statistical framework for analyzing shape in a time series of random geometric objects

We introduce a new framework to analyze shape descriptors that capture the geometric features of an ensemble of point clouds. At the core of our approach is the point of view that the data arises as sampled recordings from a metric space-valued stochastic process, possibly of nonstationary nature, thereby integrating geometric data analysis into the realm of functional time series analysis. We focus on the descriptors coming from topological data analysis. Our framework allows for natural incorporation of spatial-temporal dynamics, heterogeneous sampling, and the study of convergence rates. Further, we derive complete invariants for classes of metric space-valued stochastic processes in the spirit of Gromov, and relate these invariants to so-called ball volume processes. Under mild dependence conditions, a weak invariance principle in $D([0,1]\times [0,\mathscr{R}])$ is established for sequential empirical versions of the latter, assuming the probabilistic structure possibly changes over time. Finally, we use this result to introduce novel test statistics for topological change, which are distribution free in the limit under the hypothesis of stationarity.Comment: Submission versio