Title: On the sub-Gaussianity of the Beta and Dirichlet distributions,
Abstract: We obtain the optimal proxy variance for the sub-Gaussianity of Beta
distribution, thus proving upper bounds recently conjectured by Elder (2016).
We provide different proof techniques for the symmetrical (around its mean)
case and the non-symmetrical case. The technique in the latter case relies on
studying the ordinary differential equation satisfied by the Beta
moment-generating function known as the confluent hypergeometric function. As a
consequence, we derive the optimal proxy variance for the Dirichlet
distribution, which is apparently a novel result. We also provide a new proof
of the optimal proxy variance for the Bernoulli distribution, and discuss in
this context the proxy variance relation to log-Sobolev inequalities and
transport inequalities.