Proof of an example of integral inequality

calculusintegration

I have the following problem

$$\int_{t\sqrt{n}}^{\pi\sqrt{n}/2} e^{-\phi^2/2}\mathrm{d}\phi \leq \sqrt{2\pi}e^{-t^2(n+2)/2}$$
where $t\in[0, \pi/2]$.

The numerical analysis shows that the inequality holds true, but I don't know how to prove it. This is related with an example from "High-Dimensional Statistics: A Non-Asymptotic Viewpoint", but the proof is omitted.

Best Answer

Showing that $$\int_{t\sqrt{n}}^{\pi\sqrt{n}/2} e^{-\phi^2/2}\mathrm{d}\phi \leq \sqrt{2\pi}e^{-t^2(n+2)/2}$$ means (after integration and simplifying) that we need to show that $$F(n,t)=2 e^{-\frac{1}{2} (n+2) t^2}+\text{erf}\left(\frac{\sqrt{n} t}{\sqrt{2}}\right)-\text{erf}\left(\frac{\pi \sqrt{n}}{2 \sqrt{2}}\right) \geq 0$$ Checking at the bounds, it is true since $$F(n,0)=2-\text{erf}\left(\frac{\pi \sqrt{n}}{2 \sqrt{2}}\right)>0 \qquad \text{and} \qquad F\left(n,\frac{\pi }{2}\right)=2 e^{-\frac{\pi ^2}{8} (n+2)}>0$$ The first derivative $$F'(n,t)=e^{-\frac{n+2}{2} t^2} \left(\sqrt{\frac{2n}{\pi }} e^{t^2}-2 (n+2) t\right)$$ cancels only once at $$t_*=\sqrt{-\frac{1}{2} W\left(-\frac{n}{\pi (n+2)^2}\right)}$$ and the second derivative test shows that this is a maximum.

So, it is true.

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