Mathematical Statistics – How to Prove No Moment Generating Function for t-Distribution

distributionsmathematical-statisticsmoment-generating-functiont-distribution

I'm struggling to show that the moment generating function for t distribution does not exist.

So far I tried to show the moment generating function diverges from its integration but the computation is not so easy (I'm stuck at partial integration). If there is any easier way to show that there is no MGF without any computation or any hints for the further computation, it would be great.

Best Answer

If the moment generating function $M_X(t) = \mathbb{E} e^{t X}$ of the random variable $X$ exists (for $t$ in some open interval containing zero), then all the moments of $X$ exists. So one way to show that $t$ distributions do not have moment generating functions is to show that not all moments exist.

But it is well known that the $t$-distribution with $\nu$ degrees of freedom only have moments up to order $\nu-1$, so the mgf do not exist.

Related Question