On a fast consistent selection of nested models with possibly unnormalized probability densities

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Bian, Rong, Chan, Kung-Sik, Cheng, Bing, Tong, Howell
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Bian, Rong
Chan, Kung-Sik
Cheng, Bing
Tong, Howell
author_facet Bian, Rong
Chan, Kung-Sik
Cheng, Bing
Tong, Howell
contents Models with unnormalized probability density functions are ubiquitous in statistics, artificial intelligence and many other fields. However, they face significant challenges in model selection if the normalizing constants are intractable. Existing methods to address this issue often incur high computational costs, either due to numerical approximations of normalizing constants or evaluation of bias corrections in information criteria. In this paper, we propose a novel and fast selection criterion, MIC, for nested models of possibly dependent data, allowing direct data sampling from a possibly unnormalized probability density function. With a suitable multiplying factor depending only on the sample size and the model complexity, MIC gives a consistent selection under mild regularity conditions and is computationally efficient. Extensive simulation studies and real-data applications demonstrate the efficacy of MIC in the selection of nested models with unnormalized probability densities.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_06331
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On a fast consistent selection of nested models with possibly unnormalized probability densities
Bian, Rong
Chan, Kung-Sik
Cheng, Bing
Tong, Howell
Methodology
Models with unnormalized probability density functions are ubiquitous in statistics, artificial intelligence and many other fields. However, they face significant challenges in model selection if the normalizing constants are intractable. Existing methods to address this issue often incur high computational costs, either due to numerical approximations of normalizing constants or evaluation of bias corrections in information criteria. In this paper, we propose a novel and fast selection criterion, MIC, for nested models of possibly dependent data, allowing direct data sampling from a possibly unnormalized probability density function. With a suitable multiplying factor depending only on the sample size and the model complexity, MIC gives a consistent selection under mild regularity conditions and is computationally efficient. Extensive simulation studies and real-data applications demonstrate the efficacy of MIC in the selection of nested models with unnormalized probability densities.
title On a fast consistent selection of nested models with possibly unnormalized probability densities
topic Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.06331