Multivariate approximations in Wasserstein distance by Stein's method and Bismut's formula

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Abstract: Stein's method has been widely used for probability approximations. However, in the multi-dimensional setting, most of the results are for multivariate normal approximation or for test functions with bounded second- or higher-order derivatives. For a class of multivariate limiting distributions, we use Bismut's formula in Malliavin calculus to control the derivatives of the Stein equation solutions by the first derivative of the test function. Combined with Stein's exchangeable pair approach, we obtain a general theorem for multivariate approximations with near optimal error bounds on the Wasserstein distance.We apply the theorem to the unadjusted Langevin algorithm.


Let \(X_t\) be the solution of the additive SDE \[dX_t=g(X_t)+\sqrt dB_t.\] Under the assumptions on the upper bound of the Hessian of \(g\) and the assumption that \(g\) has a contractive property, this Langevin SDE has a unique invariant probability measure \(\mu\). Take, e.g., \(g(x)=-c(1+|x|^2)^(p/2)x\). Let \(W\) be a random variable satisfying the following condition: there exists a copy \(W'\) of \(W\) such that \(E(W'-W|W)=\lambda (g(W)+R_1)\), \(E((W'-W)(W'-W)^T|W)=2\lambda (Id+R_2)\). The authors obtain an upper bound for the Wasserstein one distance between \(\mu\) and the law of \(W\) in terms of the above data, with which they also arrive at a sampling algorithm. The key intermediate results are gradient and higher derivative bounds on the solution of the Poisson equation/Stein's equation with right hand side a Lipschitz continuous function. A similar estimate is obtained in [\textit{J. Gorham} et al., Ann. Appl. Probab. 29, No. 5, 2884--2928 (2019; Zbl 1439.60073)] using a Bismut-Elworthy-Li formula [\textit{K. D. Elworthy} and \textit{X. M. Li}, J. Funct. Anal. 125, No. 1, 252--286 (1994; Zbl 0813.60049)] invoking higher regularity condition on \(g\). The authors apply instead the more versatile formulation: the integration by parts formula (the two formulas are now known to be equivalent for e.g. compact spaces, see [\textit{K. D. Elworthy} and \textit{X.-M. Li}, in: Itô's stochastic calculus and probability theory. Tribute dedicated to Kiyosi Itô on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Tokyo: Springer. 15--30 (1996; Zbl 0881.60052)]). They then use an explicit formula for the solution of the Poisson equation to obtain the necessary gradient and Hessian estimates. This non-normal approximation theorem can be considered as an extension of a result of \textit{S. Chatterjee} and \textit{Q.-M. Shao} [Ann. Appl. Probab. 21, No. 2, 464--483 (2011; Zbl 1216.60018)].



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