English

Maximum a Posteriori Estimation by Search in Probabilistic Programs

Artificial Intelligence 2015-04-28 v1 Machine Learning

Abstract

We introduce an approximate search algorithm for fast maximum a posteriori probability estimation in probabilistic programs, which we call Bayesian ascent Monte Carlo (BaMC). Probabilistic programs represent probabilistic models with varying number of mutually dependent finite, countable, and continuous random variables. BaMC is an anytime MAP search algorithm applicable to any combination of random variables and dependencies. We compare BaMC to other MAP estimation algorithms and show that BaMC is faster and more robust on a range of probabilistic models.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1504.06848,
  title  = {Maximum a Posteriori Estimation by Search in Probabilistic Programs},
  author = {David Tolpin and Frank Wood},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1504.06848},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

To appear in proceedings of SOCS15

R2 v1 2026-06-22T09:22:52.960Z