Due to the intractable partition function, the exact likelihood function for a Markov random field (MRF), in many situations, can only be approximated. Major approximation approaches include pseudolikelihood and Laplace approximation. In this paper, we propose a novel way of approximating the likelihood function throug…
New method calculates DMN log-likelihood faster.
problem Precise and fast computation of DMN log-likelihood.
method Derived a closed form expression using gamma function properties.
result Closed form calculation is faster with same accuracy.
Neural networks estimate spatial process likelihoods efficiently.
problem Challenges in estimating spatial processes with slow or intractable likelihoods.
method Convolutional neural networks trained on a classification task to learn likelihood function.
result Neural likelihood surfaces provide fast and accurate parameter estimation.
Log-concavity proven for multinomial likelihoods under specific constraints.
problem Log-concavity of multinomial likelihoods under interval censoring constraints.
method Proved log-concavity by showing M-convex subsets of the discrete simplex.
result Likelihood function is completely log-concave.
In Divide & Recombine (D&R), big data are divided into subsets, each analytic method is applied to subsets, and the outputs are recombined. This enables deep analysis and practical computational performance. An innovate D\&R procedure is proposed to compute likelihood functions of data-model (DM) parameters for big dat…
In this article we use rate-distortion theory, a branch of information theory devoted to the problem of lossy compression, to shed light on an important problem in latent variable modeling of data: is there room to improve the model? One way to address this question is to find an upper bound on the probability (equival…
We derive an explicit formula for likelihood function for Gaussian VARMA model conditioned on initial observables where the moving-average (MA) coefficients are scalar. For fixed MA coefficients the likelihood function is optimized in the autoregressive variables Φ's by a closed form formula generalizing regression c…
New method uses path signatures for efficient likelihood estimation in time-series data.
problem Intractable likelihood functions in complex dynamic models.
method Kernel classifier based on path signatures for sequential data.
result Path signatures yield highly performant classifiers, even with low sample numbers.
MINIMALIST maximizes mutual information for likelihood estimation from simulated data.
problem Learning model parameters from likelihood functions that cannot be computed.
method Maximizes mutual information between simulated data and model parameters using neural networks.
result Different methods aiming at the same optimal energy form can be directly benchmarked.
Corrects pseudo log-likelihood method issues in various applications.
problem Log-likelihood function unbounded issues in pseudo log-likelihood methods.
method Provided a counterexample and corrected algorithms in previous literature.
result Ensured well-definedness of maximum pseudo log-likelihood estimation.
Bayesian networks with latent variables are characterized and their likelihoods compared.
problem Characterizing and comparing likelihoods of Bayesian networks with latent variables.
method Characterized likelihood function and empirical Bayesian network. Proved dominance of global maximum likelihood from empirical model.
result The global maximum likelihood of the original Bayesian network is attained if and only if parameters are consistent with empirical model.
Implicit probabilistic models are models defined naturally in terms of a sampling procedure and often induces a likelihood function that cannot be expressed explicitly. We develop a simple method for estimating parameters in implicit models that does not require knowledge of the form of the likelihood function or any d…
The paper proposes a mixture model with segmentation for heterogeneous functional data.
problem Heterogeneity in time and population for functional data.
method Mixture model with segmentation of time, maximum likelihood estimator, EM algorithm with dynamic programming.
result The method is consistent and identifiable, and illustrated on simulated and real datasets.
Proposes ABC method for discrete data, improving likelihood-free inference.
problem Discrete data likelihood-free inference problems.
method Population-based MCMC ABC framework with a new Markov kernel inspired by Differential Evolution.
result High potential and superiority of the new Markov kernel demonstrated.
Geodesic descent optimizes likelihood in dually flat spaces.
problem Maximum likelihood estimation in exponential families.
method m-geodesic and e-geodesic updates on dually flat spaces.
result Geodesic updates can reach maximum likelihood estimator in one step.
This study tackles Gaussian process regression with summarized data.
problem Learning and inference with summarized data (summary statistics, counts) in spatial modeling.
method Sample quasi-likelihood approach to Gaussian process regression.
result Approximation performance of the method is influenced by data granularity and covariance function length scale.
Study on likelihood functions, associative equations, and Frobenius manifolds.
problem Maximum likelihood estimation and associativity equations in statistical models.
method Analyzes the cone of concentration matrices, log-likelihood function, and Frobenius manifolds.
result Maximum likelihood degree is indexed by components of Frobenius residuals.
New machine learning methods for inference from simulated data.
problem Modeling score and likelihood ratio functions from sampled data.
method InferoStatic Networks (ISN), Kernel Score Estimation (KSE), Kernel Likelihood Ratio Estimation (KLRE).
result Improved inference methods for complex models.
The study examines MCMC methods for arbitrary objectives and finds likelihood sharpness impacts performance and regularization.
problem Limitations of MCMC methods for arbitrary objective functions.
method Two-block MCMC framework with Metropolis-Hastings and Gibbs sampling, exploring likelihood curvature and sharpness.
result Likelihood sharpness governs in-sample performance and regularization inferred by training data.
New approach combines likelihood and adversarial losses for better precipitation predictions.
problem Spatially inconsistent precipitation projections from likelihood-based models.
method Fuses likelihood-based and adversarial losses for generative models.
result Improves spatial consistency in precipitation downscaling.
A new method extends Bayesian optimization to more models and utilities.
problem Extending Bayesian optimization to a broader class of models and utilities.
method Likelihood-free Bayesian Optimization (LFBO) which directly models the acquisition function without separate inference.
result LFBO outperforms state-of-the-art black-box optimization methods on real-world problems.
The Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBM) can be used either as classifiers or as generative models. The quality of the generative RBM is measured through the average log-likelihood on test data. Due to the high computational complexity of evaluating the partition function, exact calculation of test log-likelihood is ver…
Bayesian optimization improves by focusing on outputs with the likelihood ratio method.
problem Improving Bayesian optimization by accurately estimating output importance.
method Importance-sampling theory and likelihood ratio for guiding search towards low objective function values.
result Likelihood-weighted acquisition functions outperform unweighted ones in various applications.
Maximum likelihood estimation fails to be well-posed in Gaussian process regression.
problem Establishing well-posedness of maximum likelihood estimation in Gaussian process regression.
method Analyzing the conditions under which maximum likelihood estimation is not Lipschitz in the data with respect to the Hellinger distance.
result Maximum likelihood estimation is not well-posed in the noiseless data setting for any Gaussian process with a stationary covariance function whose lengthscale parameter is estimated using maximum likelihood.
We exhibit a strong link between frequentist PAC-Bayesian risk bounds and the Bayesian marginal likelihood. That is, for the negative log-likelihood loss function, we show that the minimization of PAC-Bayesian generalization risk bounds maximizes the Bayesian marginal likelihood. This provides an alternative explanatio…
Gaussian process models are flexible, Bayesian non-parametric approaches to regression. Properties of multivariate Gaussians mean that they can be combined linearly in the manner of additive models and via a link function (like in generalized linear models) to handle non-Gaussian data. However, the link function formal…
We develop a maximum penalized quasi-likelihood estimator for estimating in a nonparametric way the diffusion function of a diffusion process, as an alternative to more traditional kernel-based estimators. After developing a numerical scheme for computing the maximizer of the penalized maximum quasi-likelihood function…
In deep neural network, the cross-entropy loss function is commonly used for classification. Minimizing cross-entropy is equivalent to maximizing likelihood under assumptions of uniform feature and class distributions. It belongs to generative training criteria which does not directly discriminate correct class from co…
In this paper we present an algorithm for rapid Bayesian analysis that combines the benefits of nested sampling and artificial neural networks. The blind accelerated multimodal Bayesian inference (BAMBI) algorithm implements the MultiNest package for nested sampling as well as the training of an artificial neural netwo…
Bayesian inference uses Stein discrepancy for robustness in intractable likelihoods.
problem Intractable likelihoods in Bayesian inference.
method Generalised Bayesian inference with Stein discrepancy as the loss function.
result Robust generalised posteriors with closed form or accessible using MCMC.
The paper develops ML algorithms for calibrating credit rating transition models for high and low default portfolios.
problem Calibration of credit rating transition models for high and low default portfolios.
method Developed Maximum likelihood (ML) algorithms, including Laplace approximation for high-default portfolios and particle filter with Gaussian process regression for low-default portfolios.
result Both algorithms produce accurate approximations of the likelihood function and ML estimates of model parameters.
Likelihood-free methods are an established approach for performing approximate Bayesian inference for models with intractable likelihood functions. However, they can be computationally demanding. Bayesian synthetic likelihood (BSL) is a popular such method that approximates the likelihood function of the summary statis…
Machine learning should incorporate maximum likelihood for better estimation.
problem Lack of rigorous foundational theory in machine learning.
method Integrate maximum likelihood estimation into machine learning models.
result Foundationally rigorous machine learning models have greater practical impact.
The maximum likelihood approach is adapted to the problem of estimation of drift and diffusion functions of stochastic processes from measured time series. We reconcile a previously devised iterative procedure [Kleinhans et al., Physics Letters A (346), 2005] and put the application of the method on a firm theoretical …
A new method for training diffusion models using likelihood matching.
problem Training efficient and accurate diffusion models.
method Likelihood Matching approach, quasi-likelihood approximation, score and Hessian estimation.
result Consistent matching of first two transitional moments between diffusion steps.
Bayesian neural networks with data augmentation show a persistent cold posterior effect.
problem Understanding the cold posterior effect in Bayesian neural networks with data augmentation.
method Developed principled Bayesian neural networks using data augmentation, providing exact likelihoods and tight bounds.
result The cold posterior effect persists even in models incorporating data augmentation, suggesting it's not an artifact.
New method uses Gaussian ODE filtering to approximate likelihoods for fast ODE inverse problems.
problem Intractable forward models in likelihood-free inference, especially for ODEs.
method Gaussian ODE filtering to construct local Gaussian likelihood approximations.
result New solvers outperform standard likelihood-free approaches on benchmark systems.
New particle algorithms optimize latent variable models.
problem Optimizing latent variable models for maximum likelihood estimation.
method Identify gradient flows associated with free energy functional and discretize them to create particle-based algorithms.
result Novel particle algorithms scale to high-dimensional settings and perform well in experiments.
Develops likelihood-based methods for trawl processes, improving forecasting accuracy.
problem Statistical modeling of trawl processes with heavy tails and long memory.
method Composite likelihood estimation as a stochastic optimization problem, using gradient descent methods.
result New gradient estimators with significantly reduced variance for trawl processes.
Improved likelihood-free inference for high-dimensional models.
problem Challenges in likelihood-free inference for high-dimensional parameter spaces.
method Bayesian optimization-based approach with misspecification-robust characterisation.
result Efficient inference in 100-dimensional space with real data application.
We define a generalized likelihood function based on uncertainty measures and show that maximizing such a likelihood function for different measures induces different types of classifiers. In the probabilistic framework, we obtain classifiers that optimize the cross-entropy function. In the possibilistic framework, we …
Markov random fields (MRFs) are difficult to evaluate as generative models because computing the test log-probabilities requires the intractable partition function. Annealed importance sampling (AIS) is widely used to estimate MRF partition functions, and often yields quite accurate results. However, AIS is prone to ov…
Neural networks approximate likelihood ratios for complex models.
problem Difficulty in computing likelihood ratios for modern models.
method Applying the likelihood ratio trick with neural network classifiers.
result Different neural network setups can approximate likelihood ratios with varying performance.
Paper proposes efficient and accurate initialization and EM algorithm for PL mixture models.
problem Initialization issues and combinatorial complexity in PL likelihood maximization.
method Initialization algorithm and EM algorithm for true log-likelihood maximization.
result Proposed algorithm provides accurate initial estimates and efficiently maximizes true log-likelihood.
This work explores maximum likelihood optimization of neural networks through hypernetworks. A hypernetwork initializes the weights of another network, which in turn can be employed for typical functional tasks such as regression and classification. We optimize hypernetworks to directly maximize the conditional likelih…
Proposes LFGP for likelihood-free Gaussian process regression.
problem Inability to set likelihood functions in unknown probability models.
method Clusters and approximates likelihood using asymptotic normality.
result Reduces assumptions and computational costs for scalable problems.
The fate of scientific hypotheses often relies on the ability of a computational model to explain the data, quantified in modern statistical approaches by the likelihood function. The log-likelihood is the key element for parameter estimation and model evaluation. However, the log-likelihood of complex models in fields…
Deep learning and genetic algorithms speed up cosmological Bayesian inference.
problem Substantial computational demands in Bayesian inference for cosmological parameter estimation.
method Deep learning using feedforward neural networks to approximate likelihood functions dynamically, optimized with genetic algorithms.
result Significant speed-up in Bayesian inference process for cosmological models and datasets.