We study logarithmic Voronoi cells for linear statistical models and partial linear models. The logarithmic Voronoi cells at points on such model are polytopes. To any $d$-dimensional linear model inside the probability simplex $\Delta_{n-1}$, we can associate an $n\times d$ matrix $B$. For interior points, we describe the vertices of these polytopes in terms of co-circuits of $B$. We also show that these polytopes are combinatorially isomorphic to the dual of a vector configuration with Gale diagram $B$. This means that logarithmic Voronoi cells at all interior points on a linear model have the same combinatorial type. We also describe logarithmic Voronoi cells at points on the boundary of the simplex. Finally, we study logarithmic Voronoi cells of partial linear models, where the points on the boundary of the model are especially of interest.
High-dimensional Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) are a popular mathematical modelling tool, with applications ranging from finance to computational chemistry. However, standard numerical techniques for solving these PDEs are typically affected by the curse of dimensionality. In this work, we tackle this challenge while focusing on stationary diffusion equations defined over a high-dimensional domain with periodic boundary conditions. Inspired by recent progress in sparse function approximation in high dimensions, we propose a new method called compressive Fourier collocation. Combining ideas from compressive sensing and spectral collocation, our method replaces the use of structured collocation grids with Monte Carlo sampling and employs sparse recovery techniques, such as orthogonal matching pursuit and $\ell^1$ minimization, to approximate the Fourier coefficients of the PDE solution. We conduct a rigorous theoretical analysis showing that the approximation error of the proposed method is comparable with the best $s$-term approximation (with respect to the Fourier basis) to the solution. Using the recently introduced framework of random sampling in bounded Riesz systems, our analysis shows that the compressive Fourier collocation method mitigates the curse of dimensionality with respect to the number of collocation points under sufficient conditions on the regularity of the diffusion coefficient. We also present numerical experiments that illustrate the accuracy and stability of the method for the approximation of sparse and compressible solutions.
Inverse problems are core issues in several scientific areas, including signal processing and medical imaging. As inverse problems typically suffer from instability with respect to data perturbations, a variety of regularization techniques have been proposed. In particular, the use of filtered diagonal frame decompositions has proven to be effective and computationally efficient. However, the existing convergence analysis applies only to linear filters and a few non-linear filters such as soft thresholding. In this paper, we analyze the filtered diagonal frame decomposition with general non-linear filters. In particular, our results generalize SVD-based spectral filtering from linear to non-linear filters as a special case. We present three strategies to demonstrate convergence. The first two strategies relate non-linear diagonal frame filtering to variational regularization and plug-and-play regularization, respectively. The third strategy allows us to relax the assumptions involved and still obtain a full convergence analysis.
We study the problem of maximizing information divergence from a new perspective using logarithmic Voronoi polytopes. We show that for linear models, the maximum is always achieved at the boundary of the probability simplex. For toric models, we present an algorithm that combines the combinatorics of the chamber complex with numerical algebraic geometry. We pay special attention to reducible models and models of maximum likelihood degree one.
We prove linear convergence for a new family of modified Dirichlet--Neumann methods applied to quasilinear parabolic equations, as well as the convergence of the Robin--Robin method. Such nonoverlapping domain decomposition methods are commonly employed for the parallelization of partial differential equation solvers. Convergence has been extensively studied for elliptic equations, but in the case of parabolic equations there are hardly any convergence results that are not relying on strong regularity assumptions. Hence, we construct a new framework for analyzing domain decomposition methods applied to quasilinear parabolic problems, based on fractional time derivatives and time-dependent Steklov--Poincar\'e operators. The convergence analysis is conducted without assuming restrictive regularity assumptions on the solutions or the numerical iterates. We also prove that these continuous convergence results extend to the discrete case obtained when combining domain decompositions with space-time finite elements.
Introduction: Oblique Target-rotation in the context of exploratory factor analysis is a relevant method for the investigation of the oblique independent clusters model. It was argued that minimizing single cross-loadings by means of target rotation may lead to large effects of sampling error on the target rotated factor solutions. Method: In order to minimize effects of sampling error on results of Target-rotation we propose to compute the mean cross-loadings for each block of salient loadings of the independent clusters model and to perform target rotation for the block-wise mean cross-loadings. The resulting transformation-matrix is than applied to the complete unrotated loading matrix in order to produce mean Target-rotated factors. Results: A simulation study based on correlated independent factor models revealed that mean oblique Target-rotation resulted in smaller negative bias of factor inter-correlations than conventional Target-rotation based on single loadings, especially when sample size was small and when the number of factors was large. An empirical example revealed that the similarity of Target-rotated factors computed for small subsamples with Target-rotated factors of the total sample was more pronounced for mean Target-rotation than for conventional Target-rotation. Discussion: Mean Target-rotation can be recommended in the context of oblique independent factor models, especially for small samples. An R-script and an SPSS-script for this form of Target-rotation are provided in the Appendix.
In epidemiology and social sciences, propensity score methods are popular for estimating treatment effects using observational data, and multiple imputation is popular for handling covariate missingness. However, how to appropriately use multiple imputation for propensity score analysis is not completely clear. This paper aims to bring clarity on the consistency (or lack thereof) of methods that have been proposed, focusing on the within approach (where the effect is estimated separately in each imputed dataset and then the multiple estimates are combined) and the across approach (where typically propensity scores are averaged across imputed datasets before being used for effect estimation). We show that the within method is valid and can be used with any causal effect estimator that is consistent in the full-data setting. Existing across methods are inconsistent, but a different across method that averages the inverse probability weights across imputed datasets is consistent for propensity score weighting. We also comment on methods that rely on imputing a function of the missing covariate rather than the covariate itself, including imputation of the propensity score and of the probability weight. Based on consistency results and practical flexibility, we recommend generally using the standard within method. Throughout, we provide intuition to make the results meaningful to the broad audience of applied researchers.
We study a class of Gaussian processes for which the posterior mean, for a particular choice of data, replicates a truncated Taylor expansion of any order. The data consist of derivative evaluations at the expansion point and the prior covariance kernel belongs to the class of Taylor kernels, which can be written in a certain power series form. We discuss and prove some results on maximum likelihood estimation of parameters of Taylor kernels. The proposed framework is a special case of Gaussian process regression based on data that is orthogonal in the reproducing kernel Hilbert space of the covariance kernel.
We review common situations in Bayesian latent variable models where the prior distribution that a researcher specifies differs from the prior distribution used during estimation. These situations can arise from the positive definite requirement on correlation matrices, from sign indeterminacy of factor loadings, and from order constraints on threshold parameters. The issue is especially problematic for reproducibility and for model checks that involve prior distributions, including prior predictive assessment and Bayes factors. In these cases, one might be assessing the wrong model, casting doubt on the relevance of the results. The most straightforward solution to the issue sometimes involves use of informative prior distributions. We explore other solutions and make recommendations for practice.
Gottfried Leibniz embarked on a research program to prove all the Aristotelic categorical syllogisms by diagrammatic and algebraic methods. He succeeded in proving them by means of Euler diagrams, but didn't produce a manuscript with their algebraic proofs. We demonstrate how key excerpts scattered across various Leibniz's drafts on logic contained sufficient ingredients to prove them by an algebraic method -- which we call the Leibniz-Cayley (LC) system -- without having to make use of the more expressive and complex machinery of first-order quantificational logic. In addition, we prove the classic categorical syllogisms again by a relational method -- which we call the McColl-Ladd (ML) system -- employing categorical relations studied by Hugh McColl and Christine Ladd. Finally, we show the connection of ML and LC with Boolean algebra, proving that ML is a consequence of LC, and that LC is a consequence of the Boolean lattice axioms, thus establishing Leibniz's historical priority over George Boole in characterizing and applying (a sufficient fragment of) Boolean algebra to effectively tackle categorical syllogistic.
We derive information-theoretic generalization bounds for supervised learning algorithms based on the information contained in predictions rather than in the output of the training algorithm. These bounds improve over the existing information-theoretic bounds, are applicable to a wider range of algorithms, and solve two key challenges: (a) they give meaningful results for deterministic algorithms and (b) they are significantly easier to estimate. We show experimentally that the proposed bounds closely follow the generalization gap in practical scenarios for deep learning.