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.
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.
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.
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…
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 method detects and measures malicious users in recommendation algorithms.
problem Identifying and quantifying malicious user activity in recommendation systems.
method Probabilistic programming for a disentangled model of malicious and regular user behavior.
result Simulation-based measure for quantifying malicious user effects.
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.
Waldo method constructs valid confidence regions for simulator-based inference.
problem Constructing valid confidence regions for simulator-based inference with high-dimensional data.
method Reframes Wald test statistic and uses regression-based machinery for Neyman inversion.
result Waldo method produces conditionally valid and precise confidence regions.
New algorithm improves Bayesian inference for complex models.
problem Poor performance of existing Bayesian approaches for simulators.
method Posterior bootstrap and maximum mean discrepancy estimators.
result Strong robustness and parallelizability of the new algorithm.
Paper presents a fast method for estimating hidden states in Bayesian models.
problem Estimating hidden states in Bayesian state space models efficiently.
method Amortized simulation-based inference with pretraining.
result The method achieves sufficient accuracy and fast inference times.
Efficiently estimates marginal posteriors for complex simulations.
problem Bayesian inference in high-dimensional, intractable likelihood scenarios.
method Simulates and estimates low-dimensional marginal posteriors, using truncated indicators.
result Simulator efficiency and robustness testing of inference results.
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.
Study reveals model misspecification significantly impacts neural SBI algorithms.
problem Impact of model misspecification on neural SBI algorithms.
method Comprehensive study of neural SBI algorithms under various forms of model misspecification.
result Misspecification profoundly deleterious to performance of neural SBI algorithms.
We analyze errors in filtering algorithms using optimal transport.
problem Estimation errors in optimal transport-based filtering algorithms.
method Systematic analysis of estimation errors for conditional Brenier maps.
result Demonstrates effectiveness and practical potential of the optimal transport filtering algorithm.
The paper analyzes the error accumulation in a compositional score-based algorithm for SBI.
problem How to effectively combine multiple observations to improve parameter inference.
method Study of the GAUSS algorithm's compositional score and its mean squared error.
result Established an upper bound on the mean squared error of the compositional score.
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.
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.
The thesis tackles overconfident approximations in simulation-based inference.
problem Overconfident conclusions from machine learning approximations in statistical analyses.
method Introduces balancing and Bayesian neural networks to reduce overconfidence.
result Balancing and Bayesian neural networks lead to less overconfident approximations.
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.
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.
Improved SBI with neural networks for complex models.
problem Accurate inference for complex models with intractable likelihood.
method Structured mixtures of probability distributions for likelihood and posterior approximation.
result Accurate posterior inference with smaller computational footprint.
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.
We propose a novel approach to model selection for simulator-based statistical models. The proposed approach defines a mixture of candidate models, and then iteratively updates the weight coefficients for those models as well as the parameters in each model simultaneously; this is done by recursively applying Bayes' ru…
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.
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.
Proposes EDESH-SA for better inventory management under uncertainty.
problem Inventory management under uncertainty.
method Ensemble Differential Evolution with simulation-based hybridization and self-adaptation.
result Improves financial performance and optimizes search spaces.
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.
New method calibrates neural SBI to avoid overconfident posteriors.
problem Overconfident posteriors in SBI due to inaccurate uncertainty quantification.
method Introduces a calibration term into neural model training objective, enabling end-to-end backpropagation.
result Achieves competitive or better coverage and posterior density than existing methods.
The paper proposes methods to infer from privacy-protected data using simulation-based techniques.
problem Valid statistical inference from privacy-protected data is computationally challenging.
method Simulation-based inference methods, including sequential Monte Carlo and neural conditional density estimators.
result Valid statistical inferences can be made from privacy-protected data.
Posterior SBC validates inference conditionally on observed data.
problem Validating inference for specific observed data.
method Simulation-based calibration checking (SBC) adapted to use posterior parameters.
result Validates inference conditionally on observed data.
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.
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.
New algorithms use outsourced data to improve model training efficiency.
problem Limited computational resources restrict model training efficiency.
method Simulation-based algorithms using outsourced data to find good initial points.
result The algorithms can find good initial points with high probability under suitable conditions.
Paper uses learned summary statistics for Bayesian inference with difficult likelihood functions.
problem Difficult to obtain exact likelihood function for observation data and simulation model.
method Simulation-based inference with learned summary statistics, using Cressie-Read discrepancy criterion.
result Effective inference performed over selected sample sets of observation data.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
The paper provides guidelines for choosing between SBI methods in complex biological models.
problem Choosing appropriate SBI methods for real-world biological data.
method Comprehensive guidelines and application to agent-based models.
result Statistical SBI methods outperform neural SBI methods with sufficient computational resources.
This work proposes validation diagnostics for SBI algorithms using Normalizing Flows.
problem Lack of appropriate validation methods for SBI algorithms with complex, high-dimensional data.
method Develops validation diagnostics based on Normalizing Flows with theoretical guarantees.
result Offers theoretical guarantees on consistency of NF-based estimators.
New method improves sample-efficiency in neural posterior estimation using simulator gradients.
problem High-fidelity posterior estimation with complex physical simulations is time-consuming.
method Neural Posterior Estimation (NPE) with differentiable simulators and gradient information.
result Improves sample-efficiency in posterior density estimation.
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.
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.
New method improves simulation-based inference by avoiding model misspecification.
problem Inefficient parameter estimation for models with intractable likelihoods.
method Proposes a robust SNL method with additional adjustment parameters.
result Demonstrates more accurate point estimates and uncertainty quantification.
Study uses simulation-based inference to decode brain activity from synthetic stimuli.
problem Reversing the process of brain activity emulation to recover stimuli or their properties.
method Pairing brain emulator with LLMs to learn a probabilistic mapping from brain maps to stimulus parameters.
result LLMs can serve as controllable stimulus generators and parameters can be recovered from brain maps.
Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) algorithms perform simulation-based search to improve policies online. During search, the simulation policy is adapted to explore the most promising lines of play. MCTS has been used by state-of-the-art programs for many problems, however a disadvantage to MCTS is that it estimates the va…