cs.ITSep 14, 2026

Zero-SNR Analyticity of the Scalar MMSE Is Equivalent to Gaussianity

Authors: Yixing Zhang

Abstract

Let Ys=sX+ZY_s=\sqrt{s}X+Z, where ZZ is standard Gaussian and independent of the real random variable XX. We prove that, under the square-exponential moment condition EeβX2<\mathbb{E}e^{βX^2}<\infty for some β>0β>0, the scalar minimum mean-square error mmseX(s)\operatorname{mmse}_X(s) is analytic at zero signal-to-noise ratio if and only if XX is Gaussian, with constant random variables included as degenerate Gaussians. The proof converts estimation in the Gaussian channel into a backward heat flow acting on the moment-generating function M(z)=EezXM(z)=\mathbb{E}e^{zX}. Under the stated tail condition, every non-Gaussian input forces MM to have a nonzero complex zero. We show that each zero cluster produces a finite singularity in its localized Borel transform at the action ξ=z02/2ξ=z_0^2/2. After removing the action scale, the Borel coefficients have a nonzero n1/2n^{-1/2} prefactor for a simple zero. A zero of multiplicity m2m\geq 2 splits according to the roots of a Hermite polynomial and instead contributes a prefactor nm/2erm2nn^{-m/2}e^{r_m\sqrt{2n}}. A finite-disc localization and relative-cycle continuation argument then show that at least one such singularity survives in the full Borel transform. Thus, for every non-Gaussian input in the stated class, the formal zero-SNR expansion is Gevrey-1 but divergent. Rational-MMSE rigidity and the analogous analyticity criterion for mutual information follow as corollaries.

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