Distance-based tests, also called "energy statistics", are leading methods for two-sample and independence tests from the statistics community. Kernel-based tests, developed from "kernel mean embeddings", are leading methods for two-sample and independence tests from the machine learning community. A fixed-point transf…
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.
A new method uses neural tangent kernel to efficiently compute MMD statistic.
problem Efficiently computing Maximum Mean Discrepancy (MMD) statistic with low memory and computational complexity.
method Identifies a connection between neural tangent kernel (NTK) and MMD to develop a computationally and memory-efficient approach.
result The proposed NTK-MMD statistic is validated through numerical experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets.
New test for conditional independence using kernel embeddings.
problem Testing conditional independence in high-dimensional settings.
method Analytic kernel embeddings, asymptotic distribution.
result New test outperforms existing methods in high-dimensional settings.
Proposes practical kernel tests for f-divergences with theoretical guarantees.
problem Two-sample testing and machine unlearning evaluation.
method Regularized f-divergence kernel tests, adaptive to hyperparameters. result Different f-divergences highlight localized differences. Boosts kernel two-sample test power with multiple kernels.
problem Detecting differences between two distributions over metric spaces.
method Combining MMD estimates over multiple kernels using Mahalanobis distance.
result More powerful in detecting a wide range of alternatives in finite samples.
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.
We provide a unifying framework linking two classes of statistics used in two-sample and independence testing: on the one hand, the energy distances and distance covariances from the statistics literature; on the other, maximum mean discrepancies (MMD), that is, distances between embeddings of distributions to reproduc…
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.
A new test statistic speeds up MMD while maintaining power.
problem Efficiently testing two distributions without permutations.
method Cross-MMD statistic based on sample-splitting and studentization.
result Cross-MMD has a limiting standard Gaussian distribution under the null.
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…
A family of maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) kernel two-sample tests is introduced. Members of the test family are called Block-tests or B-tests, since the test statistic is an average over MMDs computed on subsets of the samples. The choice of block size allows control over the tradeoff between test power and computatio…
A new MMD-based test combines kernels for two-sample testing without splitting data.
problem Efficiently testing if two datasets come from the same distribution without splitting data.
method Proposes a novel statistic based on Maximum Mean Discrepancy (MMD) that combines kernels, proving concentration bounds and showing data-dependent kernel selection.
result Exponential concentration bounds and improved test power compared to existing methods.
Nonparametric two sample testing is a decision theoretic problem that involves identifying differences between two random variables without making parametric assumptions about their underlying distributions. We refer to the most common settings as mean difference alternatives (MDA), for testing differences only in firs…
A new kernel test avoids permutations for independence testing.
problem Intractable null distributions of kernel statistics.
method Developed xHSIC and xdCov, avoiding permutations.
result New tests have limiting Gaussian distributions under null.
This paper introduces differentially private permutation tests for hypothesis testing.
problem Privacy concerns in sensitive data analysis.
method Differentially private permutation tests for kernel methods.
result Proposes dpMMD and dpHSIC for two-sample and independence testing, achieving optimal power.
High-dimensional U-statistics show surprising phase transitions, impacting kernel-based tests.
problem Understanding phase transitions in high-dimensional U-statistics.
method Proved a convergence theorem for U-statistics of degree two in high dimensions.
result High-dimensional U-statistics can have non-Gaussian limits with larger variance and asymmetry.
Kernel two-sample testing is a useful statistical tool in determining whether data samples arise from different distributions without imposing any parametric assumptions on those distributions. However, raw data samples can expose sensitive information about individuals who participate in scientific studies, which make…
We provide a unifying framework linking two classes of statistics used in two-sample and independence testing: on the one hand, the energy distances and distance covariances from the statistics literature; on the other, distances between embeddings of distributions to reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS), as establ…
The paper analyzes a neural network two-sample test using kernel analysis.
problem Determining if two datasets come from the same distribution.
method Time-analysis on a neural tangent kernel (NTK) two-sample test, extending to realistic neural network dynamics.
result Training times needed to detect deviations are well-separated in null and alternative hypothesis scenarios.
A statistical test of independence may be constructed using the Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion (HSIC) as a test statistic. The HSIC is defined as the distance between the embedding of the joint distribution, and the embedding of the product of the marginals, in a Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS). It has …
The paper introduces a new kernel-based Maximum Mean Discrepancy (MMD) statistic for measuring the distance between two distributions given finitely-many multivariate samples. When the distributions are locally low-dimensional, the proposed test can be made more powerful to distinguish certain alternatives by incorpora…
A novel kernel-based test detects equality versus singularity of two probability measures.
problem Detecting equality versus singularity of two probability distributions.
method Combines kernel mean and kernel covariance embeddings to construct a likelihood ratio test statistic.
result The test statistic satisfies a '0/\infty' law, vanishing under the null and diverging under the alternative.
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.
New tests for binary classification regression functions without distribution assumptions.
problem Testing regression functions in binary classification without distributional assumptions.
method Conditional kernel mean embeddings and resampling-based framework.
result Distribution-free hypothesis tests with exact type I error control.
New statistics improve kernel independence testing efficiency.
problem Improving efficiency in kernel independence testing.
method Adapting martingale MMD construction to joint independence problem.
result Two new statistics achieve finite-sample consistency with linear per-test cost.
New tests for distributional causal effects using improved kernel estimators.
problem Testing for higher-order moments and multidimensional outcomes affected by treatment.
method Improved kernel estimators based on doubly robust mean embeddings.
result New permutation-based tests for distributional causal effects with improved convergence rates.
A permutation-based SW test achieves minimax-optimal power for two-sample testing.
problem Nonparametric two-sample testing using the sliced Wasserstein distance.
method Proposes a permutation-based SW test and analyzes its performance.
result Achieves minimax separation rate n−1/2 over multinomial and bounded-support alternatives. sig-MMD tests compare path distributions using kernel methods.
problem Comparing path distributions in stochastic processes.
method Signature kernel for path space valued distributions.
result sig-MMD can lead to Type 2 errors in limited data settings.
This work improves independence tests for high-dimensional data.
problem Detecting subtle dependencies between high-dimensional random variables with complex distributions.
method Develops two approaches to learn powerful independence tests using variational mutual information and HSIC.
result Optimized HSIC tests generally outperform other approaches on detecting structured dependence.
New theoretical tools simplify kernel-based tests analysis.
problem Asymptotic behavior of kernel-based tests in various scenarios.
method Avoids complex expansions and limit theorems, works directly with Hilbert spaces random functionals.
result Framework leads to simpler analysis with minimal regularity conditions.
We introduce kernel nonparametric tests for Lancaster three-variable interaction and for total independence, using embeddings of signed measures into a reproducing kernel Hilbert space. The resulting test statistics are straightforward to compute, and are used in powerful interaction tests, which are consistent against…
Proposes a method to select variables for kernel two-sample tests.
problem Determining whether two samples have the same distribution using informative variables.
method A framework based on kernel maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) for selecting a subset of variables.
result The sample size requirements for the three kernels depend on the number of selected variables, not the data dimension.
MixCIT tests conditional independence for mixed data types efficiently and reliably.
problem Testing conditional independence for mixed data types, especially when at least one is continuous.
method Graph-based test statistic comparing kernel similarities, debiased local-polynomial approach for continuous variables.
result Unified, efficient, and statistically guaranteed solution across heterogeneous data types.
FastKCI speeds up KCI tests for causal inference on large datasets.
problem Cubic computational complexity of kernel-based conditional independence tests.
method Mixture-of-experts approach with parallel Gaussian process inference.
result Substantial computational speedups with maintained statistical power.
We propose to investigate test statistics for testing homogeneity in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. Asymptotic null distributions under null hypothesis are derived, and consistency against fixed and local alternatives is assessed. Finally, experimental evidence of the performance of the proposed approach on both ar…
This paper is about two related decision theoretic problems, nonparametric two-sample testing and independence testing. There is a belief that two recently proposed solutions, based on kernels and distances between pairs of points, behave well in high-dimensional settings. We identify different sources of misconception…
New test detects independence in streaming data, adapting to data complexity.
problem Independence testing in streaming data with adaptive stopping.
method Sequential kernelized independence tests using betting principles.
result Valid inference in streaming data with improved power.
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.
We introduce a general non-parametric independence test between right-censored survival times and covariates, which may be multivariate. Our test statistic has a dual interpretation, first in terms of the supremum of a potentially infinite collection of weight-indexed log-rank tests, with weight functions belonging to …
New tests detect high-order interactions without permutations.
problem Scalability issues in kernel-based tests for high-order interactions.
method Permutation-free high-order tests using V-statistics and cross-centring.
result Tests yield standard normal distribution under null hypothesis.
Unified framework for global and local two-sample conditional distribution testing.
problem Testing equality of two conditional distributions.
method Distance and kernel methods, conditional U-statistics, local bootstrap.
result Developed reliable global and local tests.
CTT compresses samples to test distributions near-linearly, outperforming existing methods.
problem Efficiently testing distributions with high power and near-linear runtime.
method Sample compression followed by permutation testing.
result CTT achieves near-linear runtime while maintaining high statistical power.
A wild bootstrap method for nonparametric hypothesis tests based on kernel distribution embeddings is proposed. This bootstrap method is used to construct provably consistent tests that apply to random processes, for which the naive permutation-based bootstrap fails. It applies to a large group of kernel tests based on…
Kernel-based tests for shape constraints in finance.
problem Enforcing shape relations on latent functions in financial econometrics.
method Kernel-based nonparametric framework for mean-variance optimization.
result Established statistical properties and a joint Wald-type statistic for testing shape constraints.
Sharp bounds derived for test error of finite-rank kernel ridge regression.
problem Loose bounds on test error for finite-rank kernels in machine learning.
method Sharp non-asymptotic upper and lower bounds for KRR test error.
result Tighter bounds on finite-rank KRR test error, valid for any regularization parameters.
We provide a distribution-free test that can be used to determine whether any two joint distributions p and q are statistically different by inspection of a large enough set of samples. Following recent efforts from Long et al. [1], we rely on joint kernel distribution embedding to extend the kernel two-sample test…
CPME embeds counterfactual outcomes in RKHS for flexible policy evaluation.
problem Estimating counterfactual policy outcomes for decision-making.
method Counterfactual Policy Mean Embedding (CPME) framework in RKHS, plug-in and doubly robust estimators, kernel test statistic.
result Doubly robust estimator improves convergence rates and asymptotic normality.