Lens data depth and median

Abstract

We define the lens depth (LD) function LD(t; F) of a vector t∈R ^d with respect to a distribution function F to be the probability that t is contained in a random hyper-lens formed by the intersection of two closed balls centred at two i.i.d observations from F. We show that LD is a statistical depth function and explore its properties, including affine invariance, symmetry, maximality at the centre and monotonicity. We define the sample LD and investigate its uniform consistency, asymptotic normality and computational complexity in high-dimensional settings. We define the lens median (LM), a multivariate analogue of the univariate median, as the point where the LD is maximised. The sample LM is the vector that is covered by the most number of hyper-lenses formed between any two sample observations. We state its asymptotic consistency and normality and examine its breakdown point and relative efficiency. The sample LM is robust and efficient for estimating the centre of a unimodal distribution. A comparison of LD and LM to existing data depth functions and medians in terms of computational complexity, robustness, efficiency and breakdown point is presented.

Keywords:

• data depth
• hyper-lens
• U-statistic
• high dimension
• distribution function

Acknowledgements

We thank an anonymous referee and the associate editor for their comments that led to an improved manuscript.