Probability Theory – Is t?|cos(t)| a Characteristic Function?

characteristic-functionsprobabilityprobability distributionsprobability theory

Can anyone explain how I can prove that either $\phi(t) = \left|\cos (t)\right|$ is characteristic function or not? And which random variable has this characteristic function? Thanks in advance.

Best Answer

Factoid 1: If a characteristic function is infinitely differentiable at zero, all the moments of the corresponding random variable are finite.

Factoid 2: If all the moments of a random variable are finite, the corresponding characteristic function is infinitely differentiable everywhere on the real line.

Factoid 3: The function $t\mapsto|\cos(t)|$ is infinitely differentiable at $t=0$ but not everywhere on the real line, for example not at $t=\pi/2$.

Ergo.