The Cumulants of the Non-normal t Distribution

The use of the statistic $t = \sqrt{n} (x-\mu)/S$, where $\bar{X) = \sum X_i/n, \mu = E(X_i), S^2 = \sum(X_i-\bar{X})^2/(n-1)$ in statistical inference is usually done under the assumption of normality of the population. If the population is not normally distributed the tabulated values of student t are no longer valid. The moments of t are obtained as a power series in $1/\sqar{n}$ whose coefficients are functions of the cumulants of X. The cumulants are obtained from the moments in the usual manner. The first eight cumulants of t are given up to terms of order $1/n^3$. The first eight cumulants of t are given up to terms of order $1/n^3$. These results extend those of Geary who gave the first six cumulants of t to order $1/n^2$.