Abstract:
For non-negative integer random variables $\xi$,
we consider approximations of the moments
$\boldsymbol{\mathsf E}\xi^m$, where $m$ are integers, including negative integers.
We find estimates of the difference
$$
\boldsymbol{\mathsf E}\xi^m - \sum_{k=0}^s\genfrac{\{}{\}}{0mm}{}m{m-k}\boldsymbol{\mathsf E}\xi^{\underline {m-k}},
$$
where
$\genfrac{\{}{\}}{0mm}{}m{m-k}$ are extensions to all integers $m$
of Stirling numbers of the second kind,
the functions $ x^{\underline m}$ are the generalised factorial powers, and $s$ is a
positive integer.