The non-central gamma sum and difference distributions: exact distribution and asymptotic expansions

TL;DR

This paper derives exact formulas and asymptotic expansions for the sum and difference of independent non-central gamma variables, with applications to correlated normal products and numerical validation.

Contribution

It provides novel exact and asymptotic formulas for non-central gamma sum and difference distributions, including their application to correlated normal products.

Findings

Exact formulas for PDFs of gamma sum and difference

Asymptotic expansions for PDFs, tail probabilities, and quantiles

Numerical validation of approximation accuracy

Abstract

Exact formulas are derived for the probability density functions of the sum and difference of two independent non-central gamma distributed random variables, with both series and integral representations of the density presented. These formulas are then applied to obtain asymptotic expansions for the probability density function, tail probabilities and quantile functions of these distributions. As a special case, we deduce asymptotic expansions for the probability density function of the product of correlated normal random variables with the coefficients given in closed-form. Numerical results are presented to assess the accuracy of our asymptotic approximations across a range of parameter constellations.