Related papers: Locally Stationary Distributions: A Framework for …
We consider the problem of scalable sampling algorithms to fit Bayesian generalized linear mixed models on large datasets. Stochastic gradient Langevin dynamics, coupled with smooth re-parameterizations of variance parameters, produces…
We investigate local MCMC algorithms, namely the random-walk Metropolis and the Langevin algorithms, and identify the optimal choice of the local step-size as a function of the dimension $n$ of the state space, asymptotically as…
We show that the stationary distribution of a finite Markov chain can be expressed as the sum of certain normal distributions. These normal distributions are associated to planar graphs consisting of a straight line with attached loops. The…
We introduce a framework for obtaining tight mixing times for Markov chains based on what we call restricted modified log-Sobolev inequalities. Modified log-Sobolev inequalities (MLSI) quantify the rate of relative entropy contraction for…
There has been a recent interest in understanding the power of local algorithms for optimization and inference problems on sparse graphs. Gamarnik and Sudan (2014) showed that local algorithms are weaker than global algorithms for finding…
We study the performance of Markov chains for the $q$-state ferromagnetic Potts model on random regular graphs. It is conjectured that their performance is dictated by metastability phenomena, i.e., the presence of "phases" (clusters) in…
We study theoretical properties of regularized robust M-estimators, applicable when data are drawn from a sparse high-dimensional linear model and contaminated by heavy-tailed distributions and/or outliers in the additive errors and…
A popular method for sampling from high-dimensional distributions is the \emph{Gibbs sampler}, which iteratively resamples sites from the conditional distribution of the desired measure given the values of the other coordinates. It is…
Computing the stationary distributions of a continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) involves solving a set of linear equations. In most cases of interest, the number of equations is infinite or too large, and the equations cannot be solved…
This paper considers stochastic-constrained stochastic optimization where the stochastic constraint is to satisfy that the expectation of a random function is below a certain threshold. In particular, we study the setting where data samples…
Most stochastic gradient tracking (GT) methods adopt pre-scheduled stepsize rules, while a few recent works studied adaptive stepsizes that attempt to respond to the problem's local landscape. These methods are typically built upon the…
This paper analyzes a (1, $\lambda$)-Evolution Strategy, a randomized comparison-based adaptive search algorithm, optimizing a linear function with a linear constraint. The algorithm uses resampling to handle the constraint. Two cases are…
Many applications in network analysis require algorithms to sample uniformly at random from the set of all graphs with a prescribed degree sequence. We present a Markov chain based approach which converges to the uniform distribution of all…
Kolmogorov complexity and algorithmic probability are defined only up to an additive resp. multiplicative constant, since their actual values depend on the choice of the universal reference computer. In this paper, we analyze a natural…
To understand the long-run behavior of Markov population models, the computation of the stationary distribution is often a crucial part. We propose a truncation-based approximation that employs a state-space lumping scheme, aggregating…
A key task in Bayesian statistics is sampling from distributions that are only specified up to a partition function (i.e., constant of proportionality). However, without any assumptions, sampling (even approximately) can be #P-hard, and few…
Stationary graph process models are commonly used in the analysis and inference of data sets collected on irregular network topologies. While most of the existing methods represent graph signals with a single stationary process model that…
Forecasting the evolution of complex systems is one of the grand challenges of modern data science. The fundamental difficulty lies in understanding the structure of the observed stochastic process. In this paper, we show that every…
We study a class of stochastic models of mass transport on discrete vertex set $V$. For these models, a one-parameter family of homogeneous product measures $\otimes_{i\in V} \nu_\theta$ is reversible. We prove that the set of mixtures of…
A number of problems in statistical physics and computer science can be expressed as the computation of marginal probabilities over a Markov random field. Belief propagation, an iterative message-passing algorithm, computes exactly such…