Breiman's conjecture and normalized jumps of subordinators
Abstract
We prove Breiman's conjecture under the first-moment assumption. Let Y₁, Y₂, … be iid nonnegative random variables with ℙ{Y₁ > 0} > 0, normalized by their sum. If the resulting randomly weighted sum converges to a nondegenerate law for one fixed integrable, nonconstant mark distribution, then the tail of Y₁ is regularly varying. More generally, any full-sequence limit for one such mark, including a constant limit, determines the asymptotic regime of the ranked weights: one big jump, a Poisson–Dirichlet partition, or dust. It consequently determines the limit for every integrable mark, with convergence in the 1-Wasserstein metric, and the limits of independently marked empirical measures. The inverse step is based on a countable power-sum theorem: signed Fourier–Mellin identities extract a positive limiting expected power sum from one nondegenerate marked limit, without a moment of order greater than one. A ratio–Tauberian argument then recovers the tail index. The same method classifies ratios formed from the marked jumps of a nonzero, unkilled, driftless subordinator at zero and at infinity, assuming infinite activity at zero. A nondegenerate limit is equivalent to regular variation of the Lévy tail with index in (−1, 0]. A constant limit is equivalent to disappearance of the largest normalized jump, or, analytically, to slow variation of the integrated Lévy tail. The latter condition need not imply regular variation of the Lévy tail with index −1. A Cauchy-mark example shows that the conclusion can fail without integrability of the mark.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Random Matrices and Applications
Geometry and complex manifolds
Point processes and geometric inequalities
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Publication date
- 10 September 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Preprint