Autocorrelation Matrix is Positive Definite

Theorem

Let $S$ be a strictly stationary stochastic process giving rise to a time series $T$.

Let $\sequence {s_n}$ be a sequence of $n$ successive values of $T$:

$\sequence {s_n} = \tuple {z_1, z_2, \dotsb, z_n}$

Let $\mathbf P_n$ denote the autocorrelation matrix associated with $S$ for $\sequence {s_n}$.

Then $\mathbf P_n$ is a positive definite matrix.

Proof

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Sources

• 1994: George E.P. Box, Gwilym M. Jenkins and Gregory C. Reinsel: Time Series Analysis: Forecasting and Control (3rd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next):

Part $\text {I}$: Stochastic Models and their Forecasting:

$2$: Autocorrelation Function and Spectrum of Stationary Processes:

$2.1$ Autocorrelation Properties of Stationary Models:

$2.1.3$ Positive Definiteness and the Autocovariance Matrix