Q statistics in data depth: fundamental theory revisited and variants

Recently, data depth has been widely used to rank multivariate data. The study of the depth-based Q statistic, originally proposed by Liu and Singh (1993), has become increasingly popular when it can be used as a quality index to differentiate between two samples. Based on the existing theoretical foundations, more and more variants have been developed for increasing power in the two sample test. However, the asymptotic expansion of the Q statistic in the important foundation work of Zuo and He (2006) currently has an optimal rate m^-3/4 slower than the target m^-1, leading to limitations in higher-order expansions for developing more powerful tests. We revisit the existing assumptions and add two new plausible assumptions to obtain the target rate by applying a new proof method based on the Hoeffding decomposition and the Cox-Reid expansion. The aim of this paper is to rekindle interest in asymptotic data depth theory, to place Q-statistical inference on a firmer theoretical basis, to show its variants in current research, to open the door to the development of new theories for further variants requiring higher-order expansions, and to explore more of its potential applications.