Validating Sequential Monte Carlo for Gravitational-Wave Inference
Fuente:
arXiv
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866915536399499264 |
|---|---|
| author | Williams, Michael J. Karamanis, Minas Luo, Yilin Seljak, Uroš |
| author_facet | Williams, Michael J. Karamanis, Minas Luo, Yilin Seljak, Uroš |
| contents | Nested sampling (NS) is the preferred stochastic sampling algorithm for gravitational-wave inference for compact binary coalenscences (CBCs). It can handle the complex nature of the gravitational-wave likelihood surface and provides an estimate of the Bayesian model evidence. However, there is another class of algorithms that meets the same requirements but has not been used for gravitational-wave analyses: Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC), an extension of importance sampling that maps samples from an initial density to a target density via a series of intermediate densities. In this work, we validate a type of SMC algorithm, called persistent sampling (PS), for gravitational-wave inference. We consider a range of different scenarios including binary black holes (BBHs) and binary neutron stars (BNSs) and real and simulated data and show that PS produces results that are consistent with NS whilst being, on average, 2 times more efficient and 2.74 times faster. This demonstrates that PS is a viable alternative to NS that should be considered for future gravitational-wave analyses. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_18977 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Validating Sequential Monte Carlo for Gravitational-Wave Inference Williams, Michael J. Karamanis, Minas Luo, Yilin Seljak, Uroš Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology Nested sampling (NS) is the preferred stochastic sampling algorithm for gravitational-wave inference for compact binary coalenscences (CBCs). It can handle the complex nature of the gravitational-wave likelihood surface and provides an estimate of the Bayesian model evidence. However, there is another class of algorithms that meets the same requirements but has not been used for gravitational-wave analyses: Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC), an extension of importance sampling that maps samples from an initial density to a target density via a series of intermediate densities. In this work, we validate a type of SMC algorithm, called persistent sampling (PS), for gravitational-wave inference. We consider a range of different scenarios including binary black holes (BBHs) and binary neutron stars (BNSs) and real and simulated data and show that PS produces results that are consistent with NS whilst being, on average, 2 times more efficient and 2.74 times faster. This demonstrates that PS is a viable alternative to NS that should be considered for future gravitational-wave analyses. |
| title | Validating Sequential Monte Carlo for Gravitational-Wave Inference |
| topic | Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.18977 |