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Jeffreys Prior
In Bayesian probability, the Jeffreys prior, named after Sir Harold Jeffreys, is a non-informative (objective) prior distribution for a parameter space; its density function is proportional to the square root of the determinant of the Fisher information matrix: : p\left(\vec\theta\right) \propto \sqrt.\, It has the key feature that it is invariant under a change of coordinates for the parameter vector \vec\theta. That is, the relative probability assigned to a volume of a probability space using a Jeffreys prior will be the same regardless of the parameterization used to define the Jeffreys prior. This makes it of special interest for use with ''scale parameters''. Reparameterization One-parameter case If \theta and \varphi are two possible parametrizations of a statistical model, and \theta is a continuously differentiable function of \varphi, we say that the prior p_\theta(\theta) is "invariant" under a reparametrization if :p_\varphi(\varphi) = p_\theta(\theta) \left, \fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bayesian Probability
Bayesian probability is an interpretation of the concept of probability, in which, instead of frequency or propensity of some phenomenon, probability is interpreted as reasonable expectation representing a state of knowledge or as quantification of a personal belief. The Bayesian interpretation of probability can be seen as an extension of propositional logic that enables reasoning with hypotheses; that is, with propositions whose truth or falsity is unknown. In the Bayesian view, a probability is assigned to a hypothesis, whereas under frequentist inference, a hypothesis is typically tested without being assigned a probability. Bayesian probability belongs to the category of evidential probabilities; to evaluate the probability of a hypothesis, the Bayesian probabilist specifies a prior probability. This, in turn, is then updated to a posterior probability in the light of new, relevant data (evidence). The Bayesian interpretation provides a standard set of procedures and formu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Improper Prior
In Bayesian statistical inference, a prior probability distribution, often simply called the prior, of an uncertain quantity is the probability distribution that would express one's beliefs about this quantity before some evidence is taken into account. For example, the prior could be the probability distribution representing the relative proportions of voters who will vote for a particular politician in a future election. The unknown quantity may be a parameter of the model or a latent variable rather than an observable variable. Bayes' theorem calculates the renormalized pointwise product of the prior and the likelihood function, to produce the ''posterior probability distribution'', which is the conditional distribution of the uncertain quantity given the data. Similarly, the prior probability of a random event or an uncertain proposition is the unconditional probability that is assigned before any relevant evidence is taken into account. Priors can be created using a nu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Additive Smoothing
In statistics, additive smoothing, also called Laplace smoothing or Lidstone smoothing, is a technique used to smooth categorical data. Given a set of observation counts \textstyle from a \textstyle -dimensional multinomial distribution with \textstyle trials, a "smoothed" version of the counts gives the estimator: :\hat\theta_i= \frac \qquad (i=1,\ldots,d), where the smoothed count \textstyle and the "pseudocount" ''α'' > 0 is a smoothing parameter. ''α'' = 0 corresponds to no smoothing. (This parameter is explained in below.) Additive smoothing is a type of shrinkage estimator, as the resulting estimate will be between the empirical probability ( relative frequency) \textstyle , and the uniform probability \textstyle . Invoking Laplace's rule of succession, some authors have argued that ''α'' should be 1 (in which case the term add-one smoothing is also used), though in practice a smaller value is typically chosen. From a Bayesian po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dirichlet Distribution
In probability and statistics, the Dirichlet distribution (after Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet), often denoted \operatorname(\boldsymbol\alpha), is a family of continuous multivariate probability distributions parameterized by a vector \boldsymbol\alpha of positive reals. It is a multivariate generalization of the beta distribution, (Chapter 49: Dirichlet and Inverted Dirichlet Distributions) hence its alternative name of multivariate beta distribution (MBD). Dirichlet distributions are commonly used as prior distributions in Bayesian statistics, and in fact, the Dirichlet distribution is the conjugate prior of the categorical distribution and multinomial distribution. The infinite-dimensional generalization of the Dirichlet distribution is the ''Dirichlet process''. Definitions Probability density function The Dirichlet distribution of order ''K'' ≥ 2 with parameters ''α''1, ..., ''α''''K'' > 0 has a probability density function with respect to Leb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beta Distribution
In probability theory and statistics, the beta distribution is a family of continuous probability distributions defined on the interval , 1in terms of two positive parameters, denoted by ''alpha'' (''α'') and ''beta'' (''β''), that appear as exponents of the random variable and control the shape of the distribution. The beta distribution has been applied to model the behavior of random variables limited to intervals of finite length in a wide variety of disciplines. The beta distribution is a suitable model for the random behavior of percentages and proportions. In Bayesian inference, the beta distribution is the conjugate prior probability distribution for the Bernoulli, binomial, negative binomial and geometric distributions. The formulation of the beta distribution discussed here is also known as the beta distribution of the first kind, whereas ''beta distribution of the second kind'' is an alternative name for the beta prime distribution. The generalization to mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arcsine Distribution
In probability theory, the arcsine distribution is the probability distribution whose cumulative distribution function involves the arcsine and the square root: :F(x) = \frac\arcsin\left(\sqrt x\right)=\frac+\frac for 0 ≤ ''x'' ≤ 1, and whose probability density function is :f(x) = \frac on (0, 1). The standard arcsine distribution is a special case of the beta distribution with ''α'' = ''β'' = 1/2. That is, if X is an arcsine-distributed random variable, then X \sim \bigl(\tfrac,\tfrac\bigr). By extension, the arcsine distribution is a special case of the Pearson type I distribution. The arcsine distribution appears in the Lévy arcsine law, in the Erdős arcsine law, and as the Jeffreys prior for the probability of success of a Bernoulli trial. Generalization Arbitrary bounded support The distribution can be expanded to include any bounded support from ''a'' ≤ ''x'' ≤ ''b'' by a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poisson Distribution
In probability theory and statistics, the Poisson distribution is a discrete probability distribution that expresses the probability of a given number of events occurring in a fixed interval of time or space if these events occur with a known constant mean rate and independently of the time since the last event. It is named after French mathematician Siméon Denis Poisson (; ). The Poisson distribution can also be used for the number of events in other specified interval types such as distance, area, or volume. For instance, a call center receives an average of 180 calls per hour, 24 hours a day. The calls are independent; receiving one does not change the probability of when the next one will arrive. The number of calls received during any minute has a Poisson probability distribution with mean 3: the most likely numbers are 2 and 3 but 1 and 4 are also likely and there is a small probability of it being as low as zero and a very small probability it could be 10. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haar Measure
In mathematical analysis, the Haar measure assigns an "invariant volume" to subsets of locally compact topological groups, consequently defining an integral for functions on those groups. This measure was introduced by Alfréd Haar in 1933, though its special case for Lie groups had been introduced by Adolf Hurwitz in 1897 under the name "invariant integral". Haar measures are used in many parts of analysis, number theory, group theory, representation theory, statistics, probability theory, and ergodic theory. Preliminaries Let (G, \cdot) be a locally compact Hausdorff topological group. The \sigma-algebra generated by all open subsets of G is called the Borel algebra. An element of the Borel algebra is called a Borel set. If g is an element of G and S is a subset of G, then we define the left and right translates of S by ''g'' as follows: * Left translate: g S = \. * Right translate: S g = \. Left and right translates map Borel sets onto Borel sets. A measur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exponential Family
In probability and statistics, an exponential family is a parametric set of probability distributions of a certain form, specified below. This special form is chosen for mathematical convenience, including the enabling of the user to calculate expectations, covariances using differentiation based on some useful algebraic properties, as well as for generality, as exponential families are in a sense very natural sets of distributions to consider. The term exponential class is sometimes used in place of "exponential family", or the older term Koopman–Darmois family. The terms "distribution" and "family" are often used loosely: specifically, ''an'' exponential family is a ''set'' of distributions, where the specific distribution varies with the parameter; however, a parametric ''family'' of distributions is often referred to as "''a'' distribution" (like "the normal distribution", meaning "the family of normal distributions"), and the set of all exponential families is sometimes l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minimum Description Length
Minimum Description Length (MDL) is a model selection principle where the shortest description of the data is the best model. MDL methods learn through a data compression perspective and are sometimes described as mathematical applications of Occam's razor. The MDL principle can be extended to other forms of inductive inference and learning, for example to estimation and sequential prediction, without explicitly identifying a single model of the data. MDL has its origins mostly in information theory and has been further developed within the general fields of statistics, theoretical computer science and machine learning, and more narrowly computational learning theory. Historically, there are different, yet interrelated, usages of the definite noun phrase "''the'' minimum description length ''principle''" that vary in what is meant by ''description'': * Within Jorma Rissanen's theory of learning, a central concept of information theory, models are statistical hypotheses and desc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Likelihood Principle
In statistics, the likelihood principle is the proposition that, given a statistical model, all the evidence in a sample relevant to model parameters is contained in the likelihood function. A likelihood function arises from a probability density function considered as a function of its distributional parameterization argument. For example, consider a model which gives the probability density function \; f_X(x \,\vert\, \theta)\; of observable random variable \, X \, as a function of a parameter \,\theta~. Then for a specific value \,x\, of \,X~, the function \,\mathcal(\theta \,\vert\, x) = f_X(x \,\vert\, \theta)\; is a likelihood function of \,\theta\;:~ it gives a measure of how "likely" any particular value of \,\theta\, is, if we know that \,X\, has the value \,x~. The density function may be a density with respect to counting measure, i.e. a probability mass function. Two likelihood functions are ''equivalent'' if one is a scalar multiple of the other. The l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaussian Distribution
In statistics, a normal distribution or Gaussian distribution is a type of continuous probability distribution for a real-valued random variable. The general form of its probability density function is : f(x) = \frac e^ The parameter \mu is the mean or expectation of the distribution (and also its median and mode), while the parameter \sigma is its standard deviation. The variance of the distribution is \sigma^2. A random variable with a Gaussian distribution is said to be normally distributed, and is called a normal deviate. Normal distributions are important in statistics and are often used in the natural and social sciences to represent real-valued random variables whose distributions are not known. Their importance is partly due to the central limit theorem. It states that, under some conditions, the average of many samples (observations) of a random variable with finite mean and variance is itself a random variable—whose distribution converges to a normal distr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
