We consider a nonparametric model En, generated by independent
observations Xi,i=1,...,n, with densities p(x,θi),i=1,...,n, the parameters of which θi=f(i/n)∈Θ are driven
by the values of an unknown function f:[0,1]→Θ in a
smoothness class. The main result of the paper is that, under regularity
assumptions, this model can be approximated, in the sense of the Le Cam
deficiency pseudodistance, by a nonparametric Gaussian shift model
Yi=Γ(f(i/n))+εi, where
ε1,...,εn are i.i.d. standard normal r.v.'s, the
function Γ(θ):Θ→R satisfies Γ′(θ)=I(θ) and I(θ) is the Fisher
information corresponding to the density p(x,θ).