2019/12/09 by Chang Liu, Liu, Chang, Ryan Martin +1
Computer Science · Mathematics · #Bayesian Methods and Mixture Models #Bayesian Modeling and Causal Inference #FOS: Computer and information sciences #FOS: Mathematics #Methodology (stat.ME) #Statistical Methods and Inference #Statistics Theory (math.ST)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1912.03807
openalex publication_date 2019/12/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In Gaussian graphical models, the zero entries in the precision matrix determine the dependence structure, so estimating that sparse precision matrix and, thereby, learning this underlying structure, is an important and challenging problem. We propose an empirical version of the G-Wishart prior for sparse precision matrices, where the prior mode is informed by the data in a suitable way. Paired with a prior on the graph structure, a marginal posterior distribution for the same is obtained that takes the form of a ratio of two G-Wishart normalizing constants. We show that this ratio can be easily and accurately computed using a Laplace approximation, which leads to fast and efficient posterior sampling even in high-dimensions. Numerical results demonstrate the proposed method's superior performance, in terms of speed and accuracy, across a variety of settings, and theoretical support is provided in the form of a posterior concentration rate theorem.