Fundamentals of Stein's method

Abstract

This survey article discusses the main concepts and techniques of Stein's method for distributional approximation by the normal, Poisson, exponential, and geometric distributions, and also its relation to concentration of measure inequalities. The material is presented at a level accessible to beginning raduate students studying probability with the main emphasis on the themes that are common to these topics and also to much of the Stein's method literature.