A new algorithm improves efficiency and robustness of heuristic optimization in simulation-based problems.
problem Optimizing input parameters for stochastic simulation-based optimization.
method Reactive sample size algorithm based on parametric tests and indifference-zone selection.
result The reactive method improves efficiency and robustness of heuristic optimization techniques.
ConDiSim uses diffusion models to approximate complex system posteriors efficiently.
problem Simulation-based inference of systems with intractable likelihoods.
method Conditional diffusion model with forward and reverse processes.
result Effective posterior approximation across various benchmark and real-world problems.
pmsims R package uses Gaussian process for flexible sample size estimation in clinical models.
problem Determining adequate sample size for clinical prediction models.
method Simulation-based Gaussian process search for flexible sample size estimation.
result Gaussian process-based method produces more stable sample size estimates, especially in challenging settings.
Framework synthesizes programs for simulating complex models and estimating parameters.
problem Parameter estimation for complex models requires manual encoding of fixed model structures.
method Combines LLMs for program synthesis with neural simulation-based inference.
result Identifies plausible model families from open-ended prompts with high accuracy.
Unified framework for simulation-based inference learns a single model for multiple tasks.
problem Simulation-based inference for multiple tasks with limited model retraining.
method Unified flow-matching generative model with query-aware masking distribution.
result Competitive performance on various inference tasks and real-world problems.
Simulation-based inference aids in predicting disease dynamics for health policy.
problem Predicting disease dynamics to inform public health interventions.
method Simulation-based inference using machine learning.
result Potential for efficient interpretable Bayesian inference in epidemiological models.
L-C2ST improves local diagnostics for SBI approximations.
problem Evaluating trustworthiness of posterior approximations in SBI.
method Local evaluation of posterior estimators at any observation.
result Offers better statistical power and interpretability.
BNRE improves simulation-based inference by producing more conservative posteriors.
problem Overconfident posteriors from current simulation-based inference algorithms risk false inferences.
method Balanced Neural Ratio Estimation (BNRE) that produces more conservative posterior approximations.
result BNRE produces more conservative posterior surrogates on all tested benchmarks and simulation budgets.
This study benchmarks likelihood-free inference methods for models with heavy-tailed or discrete data.
problem Comparing likelihood-free inference methods for models with structural features like heavy-tails or discreteness.
method Four approaches: MLE, NBE, EOT, and AW-NBE are evaluated using simulations.
result The choice of evaluation tools is crucial for models with extremes and discrete data.
SSNL improves simulation-based inference for high-dimensional data.
problem Performance degradation in neural likelihood estimation for high-dimensional data.
method Surjective Sequential Neural Likelihood (SSNL) using surjective normalizing flow models.
result SSNL avoids manual crafting of summary statistics and outperforms state-of-the-art methods.
Paper tackles SBI under model misspecification, presenting robust strategies.
problem Challenges in SBI under model misspecification.
method Three key strategies: robust summary statistics, generalised Bayesian inference, and error modelling.
result Empirical results show vulnerabilities of SBI and effectiveness of misspecification-robust alternatives.
SBBO optimizes complex spaces using sampling-based models.
problem Optimizing complex spaces with discrete variables.
method Simulation Based Bayesian Optimization (SBBO) using sampling-based surrogate models.
result Empirical effectiveness of SBBO in combinatorial optimization.
A benchmark for simulation-based inference methods.
problem Lack of a public benchmark for 'likelihood-free' algorithms.
method Provided a benchmark with tasks and performance metrics, including neural networks and ABC methods.
result State-of-the-art algorithms have room for improvement, and neural network-based approaches generally perform better.
New methods improve precision of LHC measurements.
problem Inference on high-dimensional LHC data is difficult due to complex simulators.
method Simulation-based inference methods combining machine learning and simulator information.
result These techniques have the potential to substantially improve LHC measurements.
Diffusion models enhance SBI with flexible parameter and observation learning.
problem Efficient and accurate estimation of latent parameters from simulations and real data.
method Score-based diffusion models, guidance, score composition, flow matching, consistency models, joint modeling.
result Flexibility and versatility in modeling various problems.
GATSBI uses GANs for SBI, improving posterior estimation in high dimensions.
problem Statistical inference on stochastic models without likelihoods.
method Adversarial approach to variational objective, amortized inference, implicit priors.
result GATSBI returns well-calibrated posterior estimates in high dimensions.
NQE uses quantile regression for fast SBI with cubic Hermite splines.
problem Efficient Bayesian inference for complex models with limited data.
method Neural Quantile Estimation (NQE) learns quantiles autoregressively and interpolates them using cubic Hermite splines.
result NQE achieves state-of-the-art performance on various benchmark problems.
VB methods improve MMNL estimation speed and accuracy.
problem Scalable Bayesian estimation of MMNL models.
method Extending VB methods to include both fixed and random utility parameters, and conducting extensive simulations.
result VB methods, especially VB-NCVMP-Delta, are up to 16 times faster than MCMC and MSLE while maintaining similar accuracy.
BOED improves SBI by optimizing experimental designs and inference functions.
problem Efficiently use experimental resources for better inference on complex models.
method Link mutual information bounds between SBI and BOED, optimizing both design and inference.
result BOED improves inference in real-world simulators in epidemiology and biology.
CMPE improves SBI efficiency and accuracy.
problem Efficiently infer parameters of complex simulation models.
method CMPE is a new conditional sampler that distills a continuous probability flow.
result CMPE outperforms current state-of-the-art algorithms on hard low-dimensional benchmarks and competitive on high-dimensional problems.
A new method for CMDP solving without compromising safety constraints.
problem Solving CMDP problems while adhering to safety constraints.
method Decomposition into reconnaissance and planning MDPs.
result Achieves safe policies for any safety constraint set.
Simulation-based inference tackles complex inverse problems in science.
problem Challenging inverse problems in complex simulations.
method Review and identification of forces driving the field.
result Expanding the audience to appreciate the impact on science.
PRISM infers model structures and parameters from simulations, controlling complexity at test time.
problem Choosing among large model families for scientific discovery.
method Simulation-based encoder-decoder that infers model structures and parameters, with test-time complexity control.
result PRISM scales to large model families and performs model selection in biophysical diffusion MRI.
UDA improves ABI robustness but fails under certain prior misspecifications.
problem Robustness of ABI in noisy real-world data.
method Systematic evaluation of UDA across various misspecification scenarios.
result UDA aligns summary spaces but can fail under prior misspecifications.
Simulation-based inference methods can produce unreliable posterior approximations.
problem Reliability of simulation-based inference methods for scientific use cases.
method Benchmarked algorithms including Neural Posterior Estimation, Neural Ratio Estimation, Sequential Neural Likelihood, and Approximate Bayesian Computation.
result Ensembling posterior surrogates provides more reliable approximations.
Python package for fast simulation-based inference.
problem Intractable likelihood functions in Bayesian inference.
method Uses neural networks as surrogate models for Bayesian inference.
result Highly efficient and user-friendly for constructing SBI estimators.
Bayesian neural networks improve simulation-based inference with limited data.
problem Inaccurate inference in data-poor regimes with limited or expensive simulations.
method Bayesian neural networks for posterior approximation, accounting for computational uncertainty.
result Bayesian neural networks produce well-calibrated posteriors with few simulations.
Framework for Bayesian inference using GP emulated MH sampler for noisy likelihoods.
problem Approximate Bayesian inference with limited noisy log-likelihood evaluations.
method Gaussian process emulates MH sampler for log-likelihood evaluations; sequential experimental design selects evaluation points.
result Approximate sampler is sample-efficient and robust to GP assumptions.
SBI uses neural networks to infer model parameters from simulators.
problem Computational infeasibility of Bayesian inference for complex models.
method Training neural networks on simulator-generated data.
result Efficient Bayesian inference without likelihood evaluations.
Clarifies challenges in machine learning uncertainty quantification.
problem Inconsistent terminology and diverse technical requirements for trustworthy uncertainties.
method Examines estimation targets, uncertainty constructs, and problematic mappings.
result Advocates for alignment between intent and implementation in UQ.
While it's always possible to compute a variational approximation to a posterior distribution, it can be difficult to discover problems with this approximation. We propose two diagnostic algorithms to alleviate this problem. The Pareto-smoothed importance sampling (PSIS) diagnostic gives a goodness of fit measurement f…
SBI helps scientists match model outputs to data.
problem Tuning simulator parameters to match empirical data is hard.
method Simulation-based inference (SBI) identifies compatible parameter sets.
result SBI quantifies parameter uncertainty by identifying high-probability regions.
Develops EB for implicit likelihoods using simulators.
problem Traditional EB assumes tractable likelihoods, SBEB handles implicit likelihoods.
method Simulation-based empirical Bayes (SBEB) connects nonparametric EB to SBI, iteratively refining EB estimates.
result SBEB improves accuracy over SBI with fixed priors.
New method optimizes sensor placement for stochastic systems efficiently.
problem Optimizing sensor placements for black-box stochastic systems with computational constraints.
method Trains a joint energy-based model on simulation data to learn parameter and solution distributions, allowing efficient sensor placement.
result Demonstrates lower computational cost and more informative sensor locations compared to conventional approaches.
A novel kernel approach for model selection in simulator-based models.
problem Model selection for simulator-based statistical models with limited prior knowledge.
method Iteratively updates model weights and parameters using Bayes' rule and kernel recursive ABC algorithm.
result Demonstrates effectiveness on dynamical systems in ecology and epidemiology.
New method speeds up inference for tall data models.
problem Inference for complex models with tall data.
method Diffusion posterior sampling for simulation-based inference.
result Significantly faster and more stable inference.
This work extends balancing to various simulation-based inference algorithms for more conservative posterior approximations.
problem Overconfident posterior approximations in simulation-based inference.
method Introduces a balanced version of neural posterior estimation and contrastive neural ratio estimation.
result Balanced versions tend to produce conservative posterior approximations on various benchmarks.
New methods make Bayesian inference feasible for complex cognitive models.
problem Bayesian inference is hard for complex, unknown models.
method Amortized neural network estimators for simulation-based inference.
result Effort in training networks amortizes over multiple uses.
The optimal selection of experimental conditions is essential to maximizing the value of data for inference and prediction, particularly in situations where experiments are time-consuming and expensive to conduct. We propose a general mathematical framework and an algorithmic approach for optimal experimental design wi…
A new method optimizes a generalized Kullback-Leibler divergence for better simulation-based inference.
problem Optimizing likelihood functions when they are only known implicitly.
method Optimizes a generalized Kullback-Leibler divergence that accounts for normalization constants in unnormalized distributions.
result Unified approach that combines Neural Posterior Estimation and Neural Ratio Estimation.
LSBI approximates likelihood with linear functions for cosmological parameter estimation.
problem Estimating cosmological parameters from complex data.
method Sequential Linear Simulation-based Inference (LSBI) using Gaussian approximations.
result LSBI achieves convergence after 4-5 rounds of simulations, comparable to neural methods.
New method improves robustness and efficiency of inference from complex models.
problem Inability of existing methods to handle outliers in simulator-based models.
method Generalised Bayesian inference with neural approximation of weighted score-matching loss.
result Provable robustness to outliers and computational efficiency.
Proposes method for eliciting non-parametric joint priors using normalizing flows.
problem Learning complex non-parametric joint priors for model parameters.
method Expert elicitation combined with normalizing flows for generative modeling.
result Framework supports elicitation of both parametric and non-parametric priors.
CogFormer trains a transformer to estimate parameters across various cognitive models.
problem Difficulty in fitting complex cognitive models and iterating over varying assumptions.
method Meta-amortized framework using a transformer to estimate parameters across multiple models.
result CogFormer accurately estimates parameters across different model families with minimal retraining.
SNVI combines likelihood estimation with variational inference for efficient Bayesian inference.
problem Bayesian inference in models with intractable likelihoods.
method Sequential Neural Variational Inference (SNVI) that combines likelihood-estimation with variational inference.
result SNVI is more computationally efficient than previous algorithms without sacrificing accuracy.
Simulation-based inference speeds up gravitational wave data analysis.
problem High-dimensional parameter spaces and complex noise in gravitational wave data.
method Simulation-based inference methods using machine learning techniques.
result Simulation-based inference methods improve speed over traditional methods.
In this paper we study simulation based optimization algorithms for solving discrete time optimal stopping problems. This type of algorithms became popular among practioneers working in the area of quantitative finance. Using large deviation theory for the increments of empirical processes, we derive optimal convergenc…
Paper introduces a new sampler for simulation-based inference using Gromov-Monge distance.
problem Simulation-based inference for multi-dimensional probability distributions.
method Proposes Reversible Gromov-Monge (RGM) distance and sampler for alignment and inference.
result RGM sampler can estimate optimal alignments and push measures between spaces.