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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Murray Pollock
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© 2018, Institute of Mathematical Statistics.Recently, there have been conceptually new developments in Monte Carlo methods through the introduction of new MCMC and sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithms which are based on continuous-time, rather than discrete-time, Markov processes. This has led to some fundamentally new Monte Carlo algorithms which can be used to sample from, say, a posterior distribution. Interestingly, continuous-time algorithms seem particularly well suited to Bayesian analysis in big-data settings as they need only access a small sub-set of data points at each iteration, and yet are still guaranteed to target the true posterior distribution. Whilst continuous-time MCMC and SMC methods have been developed independently we show here that they are related by the fact that both involve simulating a piecewise deterministic Markov process. Furthermore, we show that the methods developed to date are just specific cases of a potentially much wider class of continuous-time Monte Carlo algorithms.We give an informal introduction to piecewise deterministic Markov processes, covering the aspects relevant to these new Monte Carlo algorithms, with a view to making the development of new continuoustime Monte Carlo more accessible. We focus on how and why sub-sampling ideas can be used with these algorithms, and aim to give insight into how these new algorithms can be implemented, and what are some of the issues that affect their efficiency.
Author(s): Fearnhead P, Bierkens J, Pollock M, Roberts GO
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Statistical Science
Year: 2018
Volume: 33
Issue: 3
Pages: 386-412
Print publication date: 01/08/2018
Online publication date: 13/08/2018
Acceptance date: 02/04/2018
ISSN (print): 0883-4237
ISSN (electronic): 2168-8745
Publisher: Institute of Mathematical Statistics
URL: http://doi.org/10.1214/18-STS648
DOI: 10.1214/18-STS648
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