A new framework improves kernel Stein discrepancy tests for validating distributions.
problem Improving goodness-of-fit testing for non-normal distributions.
method Introducing Sf-KSD, a unifying framework for studying Stein operators in KSD-based tests.
result Sf-KSD guides the development of new tests and outperforms existing methods.
Sliced kernelized Stein discrepancy improves goodness-of-fit tests and model learning in high dimensions.
problem The curse-of-dimensionality in kernelized Stein discrepancy (KSD).
method Sliced Stein discrepancy and its scalable variants using optimal one-dimensional projections.
result Significantly outperforms KSD and baselines in goodness-of-fit tests and improves model learning.
A new sequential test for unnormalized densities.
problem Testing unnormalized densities with adaptive stopping.
method Sequential kernelized Stein discrepancy test, using non-uniform Stein kernels.
result Valid test with asymptotic lower bound for growth.
A new test assesses how well observed networks fit a specified ERGM model.
problem Testing the goodness of fit for ERGMs with a single network observation.
method Kernel Stein discrepancy combined with a discrete Stein operator for ERGMs, Monte Carlo simulation.
result The test provides theoretical and practical support for assessing ERGM fit.
A new kernel Stein test assesses fit for variable-length sequential data.
problem Evaluating goodness of fit for varying-dimensional data like text documents of different lengths.
method Extends kernel Stein discrepancy (KSD) to variable-dimension settings by identifying appropriate Stein operators and proposing a novel KSD goodness-of-fit test.
result The proposed test performs well on discrete sequential data benchmarks.
Paper proposes kernelized Stein tests for time-to-event data with censoring.
problem Testing goodness-of-fit for time-to-event data with censoring.
method Combining Stein's method and kernelized discrepancies for non-parametric testing.
result Proposed kernelized Stein discrepancy tests perform better than existing methods.
Improved KSD test for better detection of differences in distributions.
problem Low power of KSD test when distributions have same modes but different mixing proportions.
method Perturb the observed sample using Markov transition kernels to improve KSD test power.
result Perturbed KSD test can lead to substantially higher power than the original KSD test.
Study evaluates RKHS choices for assessing graph models using KSD tests.
problem Effect of RKHS choice on KSD tests for graph model assessment.
method Investigated power performance and computational runtime of KSD tests for ERGMs and synthetic graph generators.
result Different RKHS choices affect KSD test performance and computational runtime.
Improved kernel Stein discrepancy for large-scale data.
problem Efficiently testing probability distributions with kernel methods.
method Nyström approximation to reduce runtime complexity.
result Nyström-based KSD is n \sqrt{n} n -consistent and applicable for large datasets. Much of machine learning relies on comparing distributions with discrepancy measures. Stein's method creates discrepancy measures between two distributions that require only the unnormalized density of one and samples from the other. Stein discrepancies can be combined with kernels to define kernelized Stein discrepanc…
A new method for kernel tests without data splitting increases power.
problem Lack of power in kernel-based tests due to data splitting.
method Selective inference framework to learn hyperparameters and test on full sample.
result Empirically larger test power without data splitting, regardless of split proportion.
CSD improves goodness-of-fit testing for higher-order dependence.
problem Insensitivity of standard KSDs to higher-order dependence features like tail dependence.
method Introduces Copula-Stein Discrepancy (CSD) that targets dependence geometry directly on copula density.
result CSD is sensitive to differences in tail dependence coefficients and metrizes weak convergence of copula distributions.
Fourier representation improves KSD for infinite-dimensional data.
problem Applying KSD to infinite-dimensional data.
method Combining measure equations with kernel methods for a Fourier representation of KSD.
result KSD can separate measures in infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces.
Paper develops a minimax optimal test for goodness-of-fit using kernel Stein discrepancy.
problem Developing a robust goodness-of-fit test for general domains.
method Kernel Stein Discrepancy (KSD) with spectral regularization and adaptive testing.
result Proposed regularized test achieves minimax optimality up to a logarithmic factor.
Unified score and distance-based GoF tests for model adequacy.
problem Difficulty in extending score-based GoF tests to nonparametric alternatives.
method Introducing semiparametric kernelized Stein discrepancy (SKSD) test.
result SKSD test is computationally efficient and universally consistent.
We derive a new discrepancy statistic for measuring differences between two probability distributions based on combining Stein's identity with the reproducing kernel Hilbert space theory. We apply our result to test how well a probabilistic model fits a set of observations, and derive a new class of powerful goodness-o…
Two kernel Stein tests control decision errors in non-parametric model comparison.
problem Non-parametric multiple model comparison.
method Two statistical tests controlling false positive and false discovery rates.
result The first test has a higher true positive rate than the second under appropriate conditions.
New KSDs control moments in approximations, improving diagnostics and tests.
problem Inability of standard KSDs to control moment convergence.
method Developed alternative diffusion KSDs under sufficient conditions.
result First KSDs to exactly characterize q-Wasserstein convergence.
We propose a kernel-based nonparametric test of relative goodness of fit, where the goal is to compare two models, both of which may have unobserved latent variables, such that the marginal distribution of the observed variables is intractable. The proposed test generalizes the recently proposed kernel Stein discrepanc…
New robustness test for kernel goodness-of-fit tests.
problem Lack of robustness in existing kernel goodness-of-fit tests.
method Proposes a new robust kernel goodness-of-fit test using kernel Stein discrepancy (KSD) balls.
result First robust kernel goodness-of-fit test addressing both qualitative and quantitative robustness.
New conditions ensure MMDs separate and converge to target distributions.
problem Ensuring MMDs separate and converge to target distributions.
method Deriving new sufficient and necessary conditions for MMDs on separable metric spaces.
result First KSDs that exactly metrize weak convergence to P.
Improved KSD test for faster GoF testing.
problem Slow and computationally intractable KSD tests.
method Nyström acceleration for KSD estimation.
result Asymptotic properties preserved by Nyström acceleration.
KSDAgg combines multiple KSD tests to improve goodness-of-fit testing without splitting data.
problem Improving goodness-of-fit testing without data splitting.
method KSDAgg aggregates multiple KSD tests with different kernels to maximize power.
result KSDAgg achieves the smallest uniform separation rate of the collection, up to a logarithmic term.
Improving scalability and stability of Stein discrepancies for scalable goodness-of-fit testing
problem Improving scalability and stability of Stein discrepancies for scalable goodness-of-fit testing
method Reformulating Stein discrepancy construction as an explicit SNR^2 maximisation problem
result Avoiding exponential SNR^2 collapse and achieving stable SNR^2
Approximate Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) offers the promise of more rapid sampling at the cost of more biased inference. Since standard MCMC diagnostics fail to detect these biases, researchers have developed computable Stein discrepancy measures that provably determine the convergence of a sample to its target dist…
Paper proposes kernel-based tests for model misspecification.
problem Determining if a model is misspecified.
method Minimum distance estimators based on MMD and KSD.
result Correct test level maintained without data splitting.
Study optimizes KSD estimation from samples, revealing Hilbert-Schmidt vs trace scales.
problem Optimizing estimation of Kernel Stein Discrepancy from samples.
method Identifying and comparing minimax scales for U-statistic and V-statistic.
result Hilbert-Schmidt norm of Stein covariance operator gives optimal scale.
New test assesses probabilistic model calibration without expensive approximations.
problem Assessing calibration of probabilistic models with scores.
method Kernel Calibration Conditional Stein Discrepancy (KCCSD) test using new score-based kernels.
result Control over type-I error with improved scalability and efficiency.
Efficient tests for various statistical problems using incomplete U-statistics.
problem Nonparametric tests for two-sample, independence, and goodness-of-fit problems.
method Proposes MMDAggInc, HSICAggInc, and KSDAggInc tests aggregating over multiple kernel bandwidths.
result Aggregated tests provide a solution to the kernel selection problem and achieve optimal rates.
Improved SSD for faster and more accurate goodness-of-fit tests and model learning.
problem Optimal slicing directions for SSD are computationally expensive and sub-optimal.
method Relaxed optimal slicing requirement, active sub-space construction, spectral decomposition.
result 14-80x speed-up in goodness-of-fit tests compared to gradient-based alternatives.
The paper improves Stein importance sampling for Markov chain samples.
problem Improving the accuracy of sampling from complex distributions.
method Reproducing Stein kernels approach for post-hoc correction.
result Consistent estimators for target distributions using geometrically ergodic Markov chains.
Stein variational gradient descent (SVGD) was recently proposed as a general purpose nonparametric variational inference algorithm [Liu & Wang, NIPS 2016]: it minimizes the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the target distribution and its approximation by implementing a form of functional gradient descent on a reprod…
New Stein operator improves robustness in model inference.
problem Improving robustness in inference for unnormalized models.
method Density-power weighted Stein operator ( γ γ γ -Stein operator). result Robust methods for goodness-of-fit testing and posterior approximation.
A method for efficient approximate inference on discrete distributions.
problem Applying SVGD to discrete distributions.
method Transforming discrete distributions to piecewise continuous distributions for SVGD application.
result Outperforms traditional algorithms and ensemble methods on discrete graphical models.
New method uses multiple kernels to improve SVGD performance.
problem Sub-optimal performance of single kernel in SVGD.
method Combines multiple kernels to approximate optimal kernel, using Kernelized Stein Discrepancy (KSD) and constructing Multiple Kernel SVGD (MK-SVGD).
result Consistently matches or outperforms competing methods in experiments.
Kernel tests assess equivalence between distributions without assuming specific moments.
problem Traditional goodness-of-fit tests fail to detect meaningful distributional differences.
method Proposes kernel-based tests using kernel Stein discrepancy and Maximum Mean Discrepancy.
result Tests assess the absence of meaningful distributional differences under controlled error rates.
The paper introduces a novel method for training neural network Stein critics with staged L 2 L^2 L 2 -regularization.
problem Learning to differentiate model distributions from observed data in high-dimensional settings.
method Developed a novel staging procedure for L 2 L^2 L 2 regularization over training time, leveraging the advantages of highly-regularized training at early times. result Theoretical guarantees and empirical validation show that the method improves the approximation of the training dynamic by the kernel optimization, leading to faster convergence and better performance.
A new method for assessing Bayesian sampling quality, PSD, is proposed and shown to be more powerful and efficient.
problem Scalability and convergence assessment of Bayesian sampling algorithms, especially for high-dimensional problems.
method Polynomial Stein Discrepancy (PSD) for measuring discrepancy between samples and posterior distributions.
result PSD detects differences in the first r moments for Gaussian targets and is more powerful and efficient than competitors.
We propose a nonparametric statistical test for goodness-of-fit: given a set of samples, the test determines how likely it is that these were generated from a target density function. The measure of goodness-of-fit is a divergence constructed via Stein's method using functions from a Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space. O…
We characterize the asymptotic performance of nonparametric goodness of fit testing. The exponential decay rate of the type-II error probability is used as the asymptotic performance metric, and a test is optimal if it achieves the maximum rate subject to a constant level constraint on the type-I error probability. We …
New research sets the minimax lower bound for KSD estimation at sqrt(n).
problem Estimating goodness-of-fit using Kernel Stein Discrepancy (KSD) on high-dimensional spaces.
method Two complementary results proving the minimax lower bound of KSD estimation.
result The minimax lower bound of KSD estimation is n^(-1/2), indicating exponential difficulty with dimensionality.
Ad-SVGD optimizes kernel parameters for SVGD, improving inference performance.
problem Efficiently approximating posterior distributions in Bayesian inference.
method Adaptive kernel selection for SVGD dynamics.
result Ad-SVGD outperforms standard heuristics in various tasks.
Stein variational gradient descent (SVGD) is a non-parametric inference algorithm that evolves a set of particles to fit a given distribution of interest. We analyze the non-asymptotic properties of SVGD, showing that there exists a set of functions, which we call the Stein matching set, whose expectations are exactly …
We propose a novel adaptive test of goodness-of-fit, with computational cost linear in the number of samples. We learn the test features that best indicate the differences between observed samples and a reference model, by minimizing the false negative rate. These features are constructed via Stein's method, meaning th…
Regularized Stein thinning improves MCMC output approximations.
problem Pathologies in Stein thinning leading to poor approximations.
method Theoretical analysis and regularization to improve KSD.
result Regularized Stein thinning alleviates pathologies and improves efficiency.
Paper proposes a new method to assess synthetic data generators.
problem Assessing the quality of implicit generative models.
method Kernelised Stein Statistic (KSD) test based on non-parametric Stein operator.
result Improved power performance compared to existing approaches.
SRF improves kernel approximation and GP regression performance.
problem Efficient kernel approximation and Bayesian kernel learning in large-scale regression problems.
method Stein variational gradient descent to generate high-quality random features and approximate spectral measure posteriors.
result SRF outperforms traditional approaches in kernel approximation and GP regression.
Study approximates weak error for specific stochastic models with rough and Gaussian mean-reverting volatility.
problem Approximating weak error for specific stochastic models with rough and Gaussian mean-reverting volatility.
method Used Euler type scheme with integrated kernels to study weak convergence rate.
result Obtained weak convergence rate of min ( 3 α − 1 , 1 ) \min(3α-1,1) min ( 3 α − 1 , 1 ) for discretised rough Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process and stochastic rough volatility model.