stat.MLMay 28, 2026

Improved Distribution Estimation in ℓ∞\ell_\infty

Authors: Doron Cohen, Aryeh Kontorovich, Yonatan Livshitz

Organizations: Department of Computer Science, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

Abstract

We present improved bounds for estimating discrete probability distributions under the ℓ∞\ell_\infty norm. These include minimax bounds in expectation and high-probability tail bounds. We resolve some of the open questions posed in Kontorovich and Painsky (JMLR, 2025) -- including a fully empirical version of the tightest risk bound they presented and identifying the form of the worst-case extremal distribution. Encouraging empirical results are reported as well.

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