# Defining Properly MA(∞) Time Series

In order to properly define $MA(\infty)$ series, we need to get back on some properties of infinite sequences, as briefly mentioned yesterday in the MAT8181 course. Consider some sequence $(a_i)_{i\in\mathbb{N}}$. The sequence is said to be summable if

$S_n=\sum_{i=0}^n a_i$

is convergent, i.e. if the limit of $S_n$ exists when $n\rightarrow\infty$.

From Cauchy criterion$\sum a_i$ converges if and only if for each $\eta>0$, there is $m\in\mathbb{N}$ for which

$\vert a_i+a_{i+1}+\cdots+a_{j-1}+a_j\vert<\eta$

when $i,j>m$. The sequence $(a_i)_{i\in\mathbb{N}}$ is said to be absolutely summable if

$\sum_{i=0}^\infty \vert a_i\vert <\infty$

and square-summable if

$\sum_{i=0}^\infty a_i^2 <\infty$

Observe that absolute summability will imply square summability (since for $j$‘s large enough $\vert a_j\vert \leq1$, and then $a_j^2\leq\vert a_j\vert$)

Consider now some $MA(\infty)$ time series

$X_t=\sum_{h=0}^\infty \theta_h \varepsilon_{t-h}$

If the sequence of coefficients $(\theta_i)$ is square-summable, then

$S_T = \sum_{h=0}^T \theta_h \varepsilon_{t-h}$

converges in $L_2$  to some random varible as $T\rightarrow\infty$. This can be proved easily using Cauchy criteria, in the sense that for any $\eta>0$, there is a $T$ large enough such that, for any $h$,

$\underbrace{\mathbb{E}\left(\sum_{i=T}^h\theta_i \varepsilon_{t-i}\right)^2}_{\sigma^2 \cdot \sum_{i=T}^h \theta_i^2} \leq \eta$

In that case, if the sequence of coefficients $(\theta_i)$ is square-summable, then $(X_t)$ is stationary (in the $L_2$ sense) since the process is centered, and

$\gamma(h)=\sigma^2 \cdot \sum_{i=0}^\infty \theta_i \theta_{i+h}$

for all $h\in\mathbb{N}$.

Further, ergodicity of the time series, define as the absolute summability of the autocovariance sequence, is obtained when the sequence of coefficients $(\theta_i)$ is absolutely summable.