Pointwise Translation of the Radon Transform and the General Central Limit Problem

Abstract

We identify a representation problem involving the Radon transforms of signed measures on $\mathbb{R}^d$ of finite total variation. Specifically, if $\mu$ is a pointwise translate of $v$ (i.e., if for all $\theta \in S^{d - 1}$ the projection $\mu_\theta$ is a translate of $v_\theta$), must $\mu$ be a vector translate of $v$? We obtain results in several important special cases. Relating this to limit theorems, let $X_{n1}, \cdots, X_{nk_n}$ be a u.a.n. triangular array on $\mathbb{R}^d$ and put $S_n = X_{n1} + \cdots + X_{nk_n}$. There exist vectors $v_n \in \mathbb{R}^d$ such that $\mathscr{L}(S_n - v_n) \rightarrow \gamma$ iff (I) a tail probability condition, (II) a truncated variance condition, and (III) a centering condition hold. We find that condition (III) is superfluous in that (I) and (II) always imply (III) iff the limit law $\gamma$ has the property that the only infinitely divisible laws which are pointwise translates of $\gamma$ are vector translates. Not all infinitely divisible laws have this property. We characterize those which do. A physical interpretation of the pointwise translation problem in terms of the parallel beam x-ray transform is also discussed.