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Two new Markov order estimators

Statistics Theory 2007-06-13 v1 Probability Statistics Theory

Abstract

We present two new methods for estimating the order (memory depth) of a finite alphabet Markov chain from observation of a sample path. One method is based on entropy estimation via recurrence times of patterns, and the other relies on a comparison of empirical conditional probabilities. The key to both methods is a qualitative change that occurs when a parameter (a candidate for the order) passes the true order. We also present extensions to order estimation for Markov random fields.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/0506080,
  title  = {Two new Markov order estimators},
  author = {Yuval Peres and Paul Shields},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0506080},
  year   = {2007}
}

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15 pages