Asymptotic behavior of trimmed sums

Trimming is a standard method to decrease the effect of large sample elements in statistical procedures, used, e.g., for constructing robust estimators. It is also a powerful tool in understanding deeper properties of partial sums of independent random variables. In this paper we review some basic results of the theory and discuss new results in the central limit theory of trimmed sums. In particular, we show that for random variables in the domain of attraction of a stable law with parameter 0 < α < 2, the asymptotic behavior of modulus trimmed sums depends sensitively on the number of elements eliminated from the sample. We also show that under moderate trimming, the central limit theorem always holds if we allow random centering factors. Finally, we give an application to change point problems.