Related papers: Maximum likelihood estimation in Gaussian models u…
Maximum likelihood estimation problems are, in general, intractable optimization problems. As a result, it is common to approximate the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) using convex relaxations. In some cases, the relaxation is tight: it…
A probability inequality is proved for n-fold convolutions of a smooth cumulative distribution function on (0,infinity)x...x(0,infinity), which is multivariate totally positive of order 2 (MTP2). This inequality is better than an inequality…
Unlike the commonly used parametric regression models such as mixed models, that can easily violate the required statistical assumptions and result in invalid statistical inference, target maximum likelihood estimation allows more realistic…
A fundamental problem in statistics is estimating the shape matrix of an Elliptical distribution. This generalizes the familiar problem of Gaussian covariance estimation, for which the sample covariance achieves optimal estimation error.…
Understanding the role of regularization is a central question in Statistical Inference. Empirically, well-chosen regularization schemes often dramatically improve the quality of the inferred models by avoiding overfitting of the training…
The methods of statistical physics are widely used for modelling complex networks. Building on the recently proposed Equilibrium Expectation approach, we derive a simple and efficient algorithm for maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) of…
Maximum likelihood (ML) estimation is widely used in statistics. The h-likelihood has been proposed as an extension of Fisher's likelihood to statistical models including unobserved latent variables of recent interest. Its advantage is that…
The maximum likelihood degree of a statistical model refers to the number of solutions, where the derivative of the log-likelihood function is zero, over the complex field. This paper examines the maximum likelihood degree of the parameter…
Learning a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) is hard when the number of parameters is too large given the amount of available data. As a remedy, we propose restricting the GMM to a Gaussian Markov Random Field Mixture Model (GMRF-MM), as well as…
We consider the problem of estimating the joint distribution function of the event time and a continuous mark variable based on censored data. More specifically, the event time is subject to current status censoring and the continuous mark…
For a multinomial distribution, suppose that we have prior knowledge of the sum of the probabilities of some categories. This allows us to construct a submodel in a full (i.e., no-restriction) model. Maximum likelihood estimation (MLE)…
We consider Bayesian estimation of a $p\times p$ precision matrix, when $p$ can be much larger than the available sample size $n$. It is well known that consistent estimation in such ultra-high dimensional situations requires regularization…
Consider the problem of estimating a weighted average of the means of $n$ strata, based on a random sample with realized $K_i$ observations from stratum $i, \; i=1,...,n$. This task is non-trivial in cases where for a significant portion of…
We study multivariate Gaussian models that are described by linear conditions on the concentration matrix. We compute the maximum likelihood (ML) degrees of these models. That is, we count the critical points of the likelihood function over…
This paper studies the problem of learning the large-scale Gaussian graphical models that are multivariate totally positive of order two ($\text{MTP}_2$). By introducing the concept of bridge, which commonly exists in large-scale sparse…
Consider a setting with $N$ independent individuals, each with an unknown parameter, $p_i \in [0, 1]$ drawn from some unknown distribution $P^\star$. After observing the outcomes of $t$ independent Bernoulli trials, i.e., $X_i \sim…
This work establishes regularity conditions for consistency and asymptotic normality of the multiple parameter maximum likelihood estimator(MLE) from censored data, where the censoring mechanism is in the form of $1$-bit measurements. The…
We study the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimator (NPMLE) for Gaussian and Poisson mixture models, assuming the support of the true mixing distribution lies in a fixed bounded set. In this setting, we establish exact parametric rates…
A well-known result across information theory, machine learning, and statistical physics shows that the maximum entropy distribution under a mean constraint has an exponential form called the Gibbs-Boltzmann distribution. This is used for…
We consider the problem of selecting covariates in spatial linear models with Gaussian process errors. Penalized maximum likelihood estimation (PMLE) that enables simultaneous variable selection and parameter estimation is developed and,…