Related papers: Belief Propagation and Loop Calculus for the Perma…
This work describes a method of approximating matrix permanents efficiently using belief propagation. We formulate a probability distribution whose partition function is exactly the permanent, then use Bethe free energy to approximate this…
It is well known that an arbitrary graphical model of statistical inference defined on a tree, i.e. on a graph without loops, is solved exactly and efficiently by an iterative Belief Propagation (BP) algorithm convergent to unique minimum…
We discuss schemes for exact and approximate computations of permanents, and compare them with each other. Specifically, we analyze the Belief Propagation (BP) approach and its Fractional Belief Propagation (FBP) generalization for…
Belief Propagation (BP) is a popular, distributed heuristic for performing MAP computations in Graphical Models. BP can be interpreted, from a variational perspective, as minimizing the Bethe Free Energy (BFE). BP can also be used to solve…
This manuscript discusses computation of the Partition Function (PF) and the Minimum Weight Perfect Matching (MWPM) on arbitrary, non-bipartite graphs. We present two novel problem formulations - one for computing the PF of a Perfect…
We present a novel inference algorithm for arbitrary, binary, undirected graphs. Unlike loopy belief propagation, which iterates fixed point equations, we directly descend on the Bethe free energy. The algorithm consists of two phases,…
We illustrate the utility of the recently developed loop calculus for improving the Belief Propagation (BP) algorithm. If the algorithm that minimizes the Bethe free energy fails we modify the free energy by accounting for a critical loop…
A loop series expansion for the partition function of a general statistical model on a graph is carried out. If the auxiliary probability distributions of the expansion are chosen to be a fixed point of the belief-propagation equation, the…
We introduce novel results for approximate inference on planar graphical models using the loop calculus framework. The loop calculus (Chertkov and Chernyak, 2006) allows to express the exact partition function of a graphical model as a…
The Bethe approximation, or loopy belief propagation algorithm is a successful method for approximating partition functions of probabilistic models associated with a graph. Chertkov and Chernyak derived an interesting formula called Loop…
We study the Maximum Weight Matching (MWM) problem for general graphs through the max-product Belief Propagation (BP) and related Linear Programming (LP). The BP approach provides distributed heuristics for finding the Maximum A Posteriori…
We introduce novel results for approximate inference on planar graphical models using the loop calculus framework. The loop calculus (Chertkov and Chernyak, 2006b) allows to express the exact partition function Z of a graphical model as a…
Loop Calculus introduced in [Chertkov, Chernyak '06] constitutes a new theoretical tool that explicitly expresses the symbol Maximum-A-Posteriori (MAP) solution of a general statistical inference problem via a solution of the Belief…
Factor graphs are important models for succinctly representing probability distributions in machine learning, coding theory, and statistical physics. Several computational problems, such as computing marginals and partition functions, arise…
When belief propagation (BP) converges, it does so to a stationary point of the Bethe free energy $F$, and is often strikingly accurate. However, it may converge only to a local optimum or may not converge at all. An algorithm was recently…
We consider the general problem of finding the minimum weight $\bm$-matching on arbitrary graphs. We prove that, whenever the linear programming (LP) relaxation of the problem has no fractional solutions, then the belief propagation (BP)…
We often encounter probability distributions given as unnormalized products of non-negative functions. The factorization structures are represented by hypergraphs called factor graphs. Such distributions appear in various fields, including…
We prove that the permanent of nonnegative matrices can be deterministically approximated within a factor of $\sqrt{2}^n$ in polynomial time, improving upon the previous deterministic approximations. We show this by proving that the Bethe…
The permanent of a non-negative matrix appears naturally in many information processing scenarios. Because of the intractability of the permanent beyond small matrices, various approximation techniques have been developed in the past. In…
Belief propagation (BP) can do exact inference in loop-free graphs, but its performance could be poor in graphs with loops, and the understanding of its solution is limited. This work gives an interpretable belief propagation rule that is…