Second-order converses via reverse hypercontractivity (Q778887)

Summary: A strong converse shows that no procedure can beat the asymptotic (as blocklength \(n\to\infty\) fundamental limit of a given information-theoretic problem for any fixed error probability. A second-order converse strengthens this conclusion by showing that the asymptotic fundamental limit cannot be exceeded by more than \(O(\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}})\). While strong converses are achieved in a broad range of information-theoretic problems by virtue of the ``blowing-up method'' -- a powerful methodology due to Ahlswede, Gács and Körner [\textit{R. Ahlswede} et al., Z. Wahrscheinlichkeitstheor. Verw. Geb. 34, 157--177 (1976; Zbl 0349.94038)] based on concentration of measure -- this method is fundamentally unable to attain second-order converses and is restricted to finite-alphabet settings. Capitalizing on reverse hypercontractivity of Markov semigroups and functional inequalities, this paper develops the ``smoothing-out'' method, an alternative to the blowing-up approach that does not rely on finite alphabets and that leads to second-order converses in a variety of information-theoretic problems that were out of reach of previous methods.