For a joint distribution

, the function

is an important characteristic. It equals the asymptotic minimum of

for random pairs of sequences

, where

We show that if, for

as given, the rate pair

,
![(1/n)H(Y^{n})]](/images/tex/6965.gif)
approaches the nonlinear part of the curve

, then the sequence

is virtually memoryless. Using this, we determine some extremal sections of the rate region of entropy characterization problems and find a nontrivial invariant for weak asymptotic isomorphy of discrete memoryless correlated sources.