On Minimax Detection of Gaussian Stochastic Sequences with Imprecisely Known Means and Covariance Matrices

Abstract

We consider the problem of detecting (testing) Gaussian stochastic sequences (signals) with imprecisely known means and covariance matrices. The alternative is independent identically distributed zero-mean Gaussian random variables with unit variances. For a given false alarm (1st-kind error) probability, the quality of minimax detection is given by the best miss probability (2nd-kind error probability) exponent over a growing observation horizon. We explore the maximal set of means and covariance matrices (composite hypothesis) such that its minimax testing can be replaced with testing a single particular pair consisting of a mean and a covariance matrix (simple hypothesis) without degrading the detection exponent. We completely describe this maximal set.