A First Approach to Closeness Distributions

Probabilistic graphical models allow us to encode a large probability distribution as a composition of smaller ones. It is oftentimes the case that we are interested in incorporating in the model the idea that some of these smaller distributions are likely to be similar to one another. In this paper we provide an information geometric approach on how to incorporate this information and see that it allows us to reinterpret some already existing models. Our proposal relies on providing a formal definition of what it means to be close. We provide an example on how this definition can be actioned for multinomial distributions. We use the results on multinomial distributions to reinterpret two already existing hierarchical models in terms of closeness distributions.

Review of Sublinear Modeling in Probabilistic Graphical Models by Statistical Mechanical Informatics and Statistical Machine Learning Theory

We review sublinear modeling in probabilistic graphical models by statistical mechanical informatics and statistical machine learning theory. Our statistical mechanical informatics schemes are based on advanced mean-field methods including loopy belief propagations. This chapter explores how phase transitions appear in loopy belief propagations for prior probabilistic graphical models. The frameworks are mainly explained for loopy belief propagations in the Ising model which is one of the elementary versions of probabilistic graphical models. We also expand the schemes to quantum statistical machine learning theory. Our framework can provide us with sublinear modeling based on the momentum space renormalization group methods.

Partition Function Estimation: A Quantitative Study

Probabilistic graphical models have emerged as a powerful modeling tool for several real-world scenarios where one needs to reason under uncertainty. A graphical model's partition function is a central quantity of interest, and its computation is key to several probabilistic reasoning tasks. Given the #P-hardness of computing the partition function, several techniques have been proposed over the years with varying guarantees on the quality of estimates and their runtime behavior. This paper seeks to present a survey of 18 techniques and a rigorous empirical study of their behavior across an extensive set of benchmarks. Our empirical study draws up a surprising observation: exact techniques are as efficient as the approximate ones, and therefore, we conclude with an optimistic view of opportunities for the design of approximate techniques with enhanced scalability. Motivated by the observation of an order of magnitude difference between the Virtual Best Solver and the best performing tool, we envision an exciting line of research focused on the development of portfolio solvers.