Statistical Estimation and Optimal Recovery

New formulas are given for the minimax linear risk in estimating a linear functional of an unknown object from indirect data contaminated with random Gaussian noise. The formulas cover a variety of loss functions and do not require the symmetry of the convex a priori class. It is shown that affine minimax rules are within a few percent of minimax even among nonlinear rules, for a variety of loss functions. It is also shown that difficulty of estimation is measured by the modulus of continuity of the functional to be estimated. The method of proof exposes a correspondence between minimax affine estimates in the statistical estimation problem and optimal algorithms in the theory of optimal recovery.