Measure Theory – Is the Expectation Value Lipschitz for the Wasserstein Metric?

expectationlipschitz-functionsmeasure-theorymetric-spacesoptimal-transport

Consider the space $M$ of Borel measures on the real unit interval $[0,1]$, equipped with the 1-Wasserstein metric $d_W$ (or "Earth mover's distance").
The expected value is then a map $M\to [0,1]$ given by:
$$
p \mapsto E_p := \int_{[0,1]} x \, dp(x)\;.
$$

Is it true that this map is Lipschitz? That is, can we find a constant $C$ such that for every $p,q\in M$, $|E_p-E_q|\le C\,d_W(p,q)$ ?

Best Answer

Let $p$ and $q$ be two arbritrary probability measures on $[0,1]$. By definition,

$$d_W(p,q) = \inf_{\gamma \in \Gamma_{p,q}} \int |x-y| \, d\gamma(x,y)$$

where $\Gamma_{p,q}$ is the set of Borel measures on $[0,1] \times [0,1]$ with marginals $p$ and $q$. As $p$ and $q$ are probability measures, we have for any $\gamma \in \Gamma_{p,q}$

$$\int_{[0,1]} x \, dp(x) = \int_{[0,1] \times [0,1]} x \, d\gamma(x,y) \quad \text{and} \quad \int_{[0,1]} y \, dq(y) = \int_{[0,1] \times [0,1]} y \, d\gamma(x,y).$$

Hence,

$$\begin{align*} |E_p-E_q| &= \left| \int_{[0,1] \times [0,1]} (x-y) \, d\gamma(x,y) \right|\leq \int_{[0,1] \times [0,1]} |x-y| \, d\gamma(x,y). \end{align*}$$

Since this inequality holds for any $\gamma \in \Gamma_{p,q}$ we can take the infimum over all $\gamma \in \Gamma_{p,q}$ to conclude

$$|E_p-E_q| \leq d_W(p,q).$$

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