English

Understanding the Hastings Algorithm

Computation 2019-08-07 v1

Abstract

The Hastings algorithm is a key tool in computational science. While mathematically justified by detailed balance, it can be conceptually difficult to grasp. Here, we present two complementary and intuitive ways to derive and understand the algorithm. In our framework, it is straightforward to see that the celebrated Metropolis-Hastings algorithm has the highest acceptance probability of all Hastings algorithms.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1408.4438,
  title  = {Understanding the Hastings Algorithm},
  author = {David D. L. Minh and Do Le and Minh},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1408.4438},
  year   = {2019}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-22T05:33:52.620Z