English

Clustering dynamics in a class of normalised generalised gamma dependent priors

Probability 2016-11-07 v2 Statistics Theory Statistics Theory

Abstract

Normalised generalised gamma processes are random probability measures that induce nonparametric prior distributions widely used in Bayesian statistics, particularly for mixture modelling. We construct a class of dependent normalised generalised gamma priors induced by a stationary population model of Moran type, which exploits a generalised P\'olya urn scheme associated with the prior. We study the asymptotic scaling for the dynamics of the number of clusters in the sample, which in turn provides a dynamic measure of diversity in the underlying population. The limit is formalised to be a positive nonstationary diffusion process which falls outside well known families, with unbounded drift and an entrance boundary at the origin. We also introduce a new class of stationary positive diffusions, whose invariant measures are explicit and have power law tails, which approximate weakly the scaling limit.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1608.00733,
  title  = {Clustering dynamics in a class of normalised generalised gamma dependent priors},
  author = {Matteo Ruggiero and Matteo Sordello},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1608.00733},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

To appear in the Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics