Related papers: Large-sample theory for inferential models: a poss…

A key challenge for modern Bayesian statistics is how to perform scalable inference of posterior distributions. To address this challenge, variational Bayes (VB) methods have emerged as a popular alternative to the classical Markov chain…

Many statistical problems include model parameters that are defined as the solutions to optimization sub-problems. These include classical approaches such as profile likelihood as well as modern applications involving flow networks or…

In a smooth semiparametric estimation problem, the marginal posterior for the parameter of interest is expected to be asymptotically normal and satisfy frequentist criteria of optimality if the model is endowed with a suitable prior. It is…

Prediction of future observations is a fundamental problem in statistics. Here we present a general approach based on the recently developed inferential model (IM) framework. We employ an IM-based technique to marginalize out the unknown…

An established and growing literature on generalized fiducial inference and related fiducial ideas points to the adoption of fiducial inference as a mainstream perspective among modern statisticians. Like Bayesian posteriors, generalized…

Inferring the means in the multivariate normal model $X \sim N_n(\theta, I)$ with unknown mean vector $\theta=(\theta_1,...,\theta_n)' \in \mathbb{R}^n$ and observed data $X=(X_1,...,X_n)'\in {\mathbb R}^n$ is a challenging task, known as…

The classical parametric and semiparametric Bernstein -- von Mises (BvM) results are reconsidered in a non-classical setup allowing finite samples and model misspecification. In the case of a finite dimensional nuisance parameter we obtain…

We continue the investigation of Bernstein-von Mises theorems for nonparametric Bayes procedures from [Ann. Statist. 41 (2013) 1999-2028]. We introduce multiscale spaces on which nonparametric priors and posteriors are naturally defined,…

This article considers Bayesian model selection via mean-field (MF) variational approximation. Towards this goal, we study the non-asymptotic properties of MF inference under the Bayesian framework that allows latent variables and model…

Between Bayesian and frequentist inference, it's commonly believed that the former is for cases where one has a prior and the latter is for cases where one has no prior. But the prior/no-prior classification isn't exhaustive, and most…

Bayesian inference provides a framework to combine various model components with shared parameters, allowing joint uncertainty estimation and the use of all available data sources. Unfortunately, misspecification of any part of the model…

Consider the Gaussian sequence model under the additional assumption that a fixed fraction of the means is known. We study the problem of variance estimation from a frequentist Bayesian perspective. The maximum likelihood estimator (MLE)…

Inferential models (IMs) represent a novel possibilistic approach for achieving provably valid statistical inference. This paper introduces a general framework for fusing independent IMs in a "black-box" manner, requiring no knowledge of…

Many modern unsupervised or semi-supervised machine learning algorithms rely on Bayesian probabilistic models. These models are usually intractable and thus require approximate inference. Variational inference (VI) lets us approximate a…

This paper brings a contribution to the Bayesian theory of nonparametric and semiparametric estimation. We are interested in the asymptotic normality of the posterior distribution in Gaussian linear regression models when the number of…

Bernstein-von Mises theorems for nonparametric Bayes priors in the Gaussian white noise model are proved. It is demonstrated how such results justify Bayes methods as efficient frequentist inference procedures in a variety of concrete…

Implementing Bayesian inference is often computationally challenging in applications involving complex models, and sometimes calculating the likelihood itself is difficult. Synthetic likelihood is one approach for carrying out inference…

Meta-analysis based on only a few studies remains a challenging problem, as an accurate estimate of the between-study variance is apparently needed, but hard to attain, within this setting. Here we offer a new approach, based on the…

Motivated by parametric models for which the likelihood is analytically unavailable, numerically unstable, or prohibitively expensive to compute or optimize, we develop a prior- and likelihood-free framework for fully probabilistic…

Standard Bayesian approaches for linear time-invariant (LTI) system identification are hindered by parameter non-identifiability; the resulting complex, multi-modal posteriors make inference inefficient and impractical. We solve this…