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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
Conditional independence testing is an important problem, especially in Bayesian network learning and causal discovery. Due to the curse of dimensionality, testing for conditional independence of continuous variables is particularly challenging. We propose a Kernel-based Conditional Independence test (KCI-test), by con…
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. 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.
Kernel-based tests detect dependencies in multivariate time series, including stationary and non-stationary data.
problem Detecting dependencies in multivariate time series data, especially non-stationary data.
method Kernel-based statistical tests of joint independence, extending dHSIC to handle both stationary and non-stationary processes.
result Robustly uncovers significant higher-order dependencies in synthetic and real-world data.
Paper reproduces a kernel-based scan B-statistic for online change-point detection.
problem Continuous detection of distribution changes in online data streams.
method Efficient kernel-based scan B-statistic for online change-point detection.
result Scan B-statistic outperforms parametric methods in challenging scenarios.
Paper introduces a new test for conditional independence using weighted partial copulas.
problem Testing conditional independence between variables.
method The approach uses a weighted partial copula function and a bootstrap procedure to compute regions of rejection.
result The proposed test has competitive power compared to existing methods.
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.
A framework assesses the trustworthiness of probabilistic classifiers using local calibration error.
problem Assessing the trustworthiness of probabilistic classifiers beyond traditional metrics.
method I-trustworthy framework linking local calibration to trustworthiness; Kernel Local Calibration Error (KLCE) method for hypothesis testing.
result The effectiveness of the proposed test statistic demonstrated through simulated and real-world datasets.
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.
As recent literature has demonstrated how classifiers often carry unintended biases toward some subgroups, deploying machine learned models to users demands careful consideration of the social consequences. How should we address this problem in a real-world system? How should we balance core performance and fairness me…
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.
Sequential Kernel-based Conditional Independence Testing via Adaptive Betting
problem Testing conditional independence
method Testing-by-betting on an adaptively optimized Kernel Conditional Independence statistic
result Significantly reduces Type I error inflation while preserving high power
A new kernel-based CI test improves on existing methods.
problem Testing conditional independence (CI) in a broad range of dependencies.
method Regression-model-agnostic kernel-based CI test using reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces.
result GKCM outperforms state-of-the-art CI tests in simulations.
Kernel-based test detects differences between two conditional distributions efficiently.
problem Detecting differences between two conditional distributions efficiently.
method Kernel-based measure using nearest-neighbor graphs, consistent estimate with Gaussian limit.
result Asymptotic level control and universal consistency for detecting differences.
New insights into CI tests reveal key factors for practical performance.
problem Understanding and improving CI tests in practical applications.
method Investigation of the Kernel-based Conditional Independence (KCI) test and analysis of its practical behavior.
result Errors in conditional mean embedding estimates and appropriate conditioning kernel selection are crucial for CI tests.
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. Laplace kernel feature selection offers statistical guarantees for nonparametric models with few samples.
problem Statistical guarantees for kernel-based feature selection in nonconvex optimization problems.
method Sharp characterization of the gradient of the objective function for Laplace kernel feature selection.
result Model-selection consistency for Laplace kernel-based feature selection in nonparametric settings with n∼logp samples. Software package assesses spherical data distributions and clusters.
problem Assessing and clustering spherical data distributions.
method Innovative goodness-of-fit tests and clustering algorithms using kernel-based quadratic distances.
result Efficient and mathematically sound goodness-of-fit tests for spherical data.
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…
Paper shows robustness of kernel-based pairwise learning without strict assumptions.
problem Statistical robustness of kernel-based pairwise learning under minimal conditions.
method No assumptions on input and output spaces; derives influence function and robustness.
result Qualitative robustness of kernel-based estimator established.
We identify conditional parity as a general notion of non-discrimination in machine learning. In fact, several recently proposed notions of non-discrimination, including a few counterfactual notions, are instances of conditional parity. We show that conditional parity is amenable to statistical analysis by studying ran…
Nonparametric two sample or homogeneity testing is a decision theoretic problem that involves identifying differences between two random variables without making parametric assumptions about their underlying distributions. The literature is old and rich, with a wide variety of statistics having being intelligently desi…
Optimal kernel improves estimation accuracy in modal statistical methods.
problem Estimation accuracy of kernel-based modal statistical methods depends on the kernel used.
method The study theoretically shows an optimal kernel that minimizes asymptotic error criterion.
result An optimal kernel minimizes the error criterion when using an optimal bandwidth.
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…
Meta two-sample testing uses auxiliary data to quickly find powerful tests from limited samples.
problem Challenges in identifying powerful kernels for distinguishing complex distributions with limited data.
method Introduces meta two-sample testing (M2ST) to leverage abundant auxiliary data on related tasks.
result Proposed algorithms improve over baselines and identify powerful tests from scarce observations.
New method tests conditional independence using spectral representations.
problem Untestable conditional independence in many settings.
method Spectral representations of partial covariance operators, bi-level contrastive learning.
result Asymptotic validity and power guarantees for CI testing.
Are two sets of observations drawn from the same distribution? This problem is a two-sample test. Kernel methods lead to many appealing properties. Indeed state-of-the-art approaches use the L2 distance between kernel-based distribution representatives to derive their test statistics. Here, we show that Lp distan…
New tests compare regression functions using machine learning, overcoming dimensionality issues.
problem Comparing regression functions in high-dimensional settings.
method Generalized kernel-based conditional mean dependence, machine learning methods for flexible estimation.
result Established asymptotic properties of tests under fixed and high-dimensional regimes.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Study provides guarantees for kernel clustering under non-parametric mixtures.
problem Statistical guarantees for kernel-based clustering without strong assumptions.
method Non-parametric mixture models, kernel-based clustering, consistency guarantees.
result Necessary and sufficient separability conditions for consistent clustering recovery.
Paper develops efficient incomplete U-statistics for degenerate cases.
problem High computational cost and non-standard asymptotic behavior in degenerate U-statistics.
method Characterizes dependence structure using hypergraph theory and combinatorial designs, bypassing traditional Hoeffding decomposition.
result Derives a Berry-Esseen bound for incomplete U-statistics of deterministic designs, enabling Gaussian limiting distributions in degenerate cases.
New test for binary treatment effects using kernel methods.
problem Testing distributional effects of binary treatments.
method Kernel-based doubly-robust test, avoiding permutations.
result Valid type-I error with computational efficiency.
Temporal data are increasingly prevalent in modern data science. A fundamental question is whether two time series are related or not. Existing approaches often have limitations, such as relying on parametric assumptions, detecting only linear associations, and requiring multiple tests and corrections. While many non-p…
We propose a nonparametric test of independence, termed optHSIC, between a covariate and a right-censored lifetime. Because the presence of censoring creates a challenge in applying the standard permutation-based testing approaches, we use optimal transport to transform the censored dataset into an uncensored one, whil…
Graph-based methods pervade the inference toolkits of numerous disciplines including sociology, biology, neuroscience, physics, chemistry, and engineering. A challenging problem encountered in this context pertains to determining the attributes of a set of vertices given those of another subset at possibly different ti…
Nonparametric tests via kernel embedding of distributions have witnessed a great deal of practical successes in recent years. However, statistical properties of these tests are largely unknown beyond consistency against a fixed alternative. To fill in this void, we study here the asymptotic properties of goodness-of-fi…
New measures and tests for high-order interactions in complex data.
problem Challenges in capturing high-order interactions in multivariate data.
method Hierarchy of d-order interaction measures and kernel-based tests. result Established statistical significance of high-order interactions.
For precision medicine and personalized treatment, we need to identify predictive markers of disease. We focus on Alzheimer's disease (AD), where magnetic resonance imaging scans provide information about the disease status. By combining imaging with genome sequencing, we aim at identifying rare genetic markers associa…
Performing exact posterior inference in complex generative models is often difficult or impossible due to an expensive to evaluate or intractable likelihood function. Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) is an inference framework that constructs an approximation to the true likelihood based on the similarity between …