All Questions
Tagged with estimate or estimation-theory
111 questions
20
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Using Fisher Information to bound KL divergence
Is it possible to use Fisher Information at p to get a useful upper bound on KL(q,p)?
KL(q,p) is known as Kullback-Liebler divergence and is defined for discrete distributions over k outcomes as ...
7
votes
1
answer
569
views
Singular Fisher information matrix and existence of unbiased estimators
I'm doing some research into the Cramer-Rao bound for time of arrival localization and have come across a rather strange result: the FIM is singular, but there exists an unbiased estimator. My ...
6
votes
3
answers
700
views
How to estimate the integral involving the distance function
Let $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^n$ be an open bounded domain with smooth boundary. Consider the following integral:
$$I(t)=\int_{\Omega}e^{-\frac{d^2(y,\partial\Omega)}{t}}{\rm d}y.$$
My problem is how ...
6
votes
1
answer
434
views
Probability of complex eigenvalues
I find this is the best site to post this question, even though I considered cs.
It is a Monte Carlo experiment over the set of 10.000 n×n matrices.
If a single matrix eigenvalue is complex then ...
5
votes
1
answer
107
views
Estimating the size of the remainder in a random partition
Pick a sequence of real numbers $x_i$ as follows. Put $x_0=1$. If $x_i$ is chosen, then pick $x_{i+1}\in[0, x_i]$ according to the uniform distribution. Obviously we have $x_i\rightarrow 0$ with ...
5
votes
0
answers
190
views
Pair of two-variable polynomial equations of high order
I have the following pair of equations to be solved for two variables $\rho$ and $D$ resulting from a certain Maximum Likelihood Estimation for a time series $X_n > 0$, $n=0, \ldots, N+1$ with $N \...
4
votes
2
answers
12k
views
Maximum likelihood estimator for Power-law with Exponential cutoff
Hi,
for fitting empirical data to power-law I am aware of the work by Clauset et al. (http://arxiv.org/abs/0706.1062) and how to use maximum likelihood estimation. There exists also a simple maximum ...
4
votes
2
answers
305
views
Generalization of van der Corput's estimate on oscillatory integrals
Question: Given exponents $0<\alpha<\beta$ and an interval
$[a,b]\subset(0,\infty)$ are there constants $C,d>0$ such that for any
$\lambda_1,\lambda_2\in\mathbb{R}$,
$$\left|\int_a^be(\...
4
votes
1
answer
203
views
Can samples be compressed?
The Fisher information of a random variable $Y$ about a parameter $\theta$ upon which the probability of $Y$ depends is:
$\mathcal{I}_Y(\theta)= -E\left[\left.\strut \frac{\partial^2}{\partial \theta^...
4
votes
2
answers
135
views
Markov-type functions
I'd like to have some informations about Markov-type functions (or Cauchy-type):
\[ f(z)=\int_{\Gamma} \frac{\mathrm{d}\gamma(\xi)}{\xi-z}.\]
$\gamma$ is a positive measure with compact support $\...
4
votes
1
answer
415
views
What journal(s) do you recommend for submitting a paper on a topic that spans information theory and estimation theory?
I've written a paper that a) demonstrates an equivalence between conditional complexity $K$($Y$|$X$) in information theory and the random component of an effect size estimate $r_{xy}$, and then b) ...
4
votes
1
answer
297
views
Proving bounds on analytic functions using only the Taylor expansion
I wonder if there is a general method for obtaining bounds on an analytic function using only its Taylor expansion (not using its special properties such as satisfying a good differential equation, ...
4
votes
1
answer
339
views
Showing that $\sum_{n=0}^\infty (4n+1)q^{\left (\frac{4n+1}{2}\right)^2} - \sum_{n=1}^\infty (4n-1)q^{\left (\frac{4n-1}{2}\right)^2} \geq 0.1$
Recently I came along the following problem concerning a lower bound on the difference of two series:
I want to show that for every $q \in [e^{-2},e^{-\frac{1}{2}}]$ we have
$$
f(q) := \sum_{n=0}^\...
4
votes
1
answer
479
views
Cramér-Rao bound for randomized estimator
As is well known, the Cramér-Rao bound (or information inequality) sets a lower bound on the variance of estimators of a parameter.
Consider the case when the parameter is a scalar, the estimator is ...
4
votes
2
answers
519
views
Cramér–Rao type bound for absolute estimation error
Let $\{X_1, X_2, \dotsc, X_n\}$ be independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables sampled from a common distribution with density $f_{\theta}(x)$, where $\theta$ is an unknown ...
4
votes
1
answer
288
views
Equivalent method for maximum likelihood estimation of covariance parameters
My goal is to estimate the parameters of a covariance matrix $\Omega$, by maximizing the following log-likelihood function:
$$\log L(\vec\tau, \rho, \sigma \mid W, X) = -m\ln(\left | \Omega \right |) ...
4
votes
0
answers
716
views
Functional Taylor expansion for differential entropy
Consider an continuous distribution $F$ with density $f$. The (differential) Shannon entropy of $f$ is
$h(f)=-\int f(x)\log f(x) dx$.
In the literature of differential entropy estimation, ...
3
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Is the min function ever an unbiased estimator for the mean?
Given $n$ i.i.d. variables $X_1$ to $X_n$ with an unknown probability distribution, the sample average is an unbiased estimator for the mean of the distribution. Is there some non-trivial probability ...
3
votes
1
answer
578
views
Why doesn't Stein effect happen for multinomial distributions?
(Medeen, et all, 1998)" show that Maximum Likelihood estimate is admissible for multinomial distribution under squared error. On other hand, James and Stein showed that arithmetic average is not an ...
3
votes
2
answers
566
views
Moments of Matrix Gamma distribution
Matrix gamma distribution (defined for example in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_gamma_distribution) is one way to generalize Wishart distribution. In our course work that distribution was used ...
3
votes
1
answer
113
views
maximum likelihood estimation of X is better than that of f(X)?
Consider a binary variable $C$ with $\Pr(C=0)=\Pr(C=1)=0.5$. Consider a random vector $X \in \mathbb{R}^d$, characterized by $C$, with PDF $p_m(x)$, $m\in\{0,1\}$. Define a maximum likelihood (ML) ...
3
votes
1
answer
377
views
A problem of using Schauder estimate in the paper of Yau's proof of calabi conjecture
[This question is looking at the paper
Yau, S.-T., On The Ricci Curvature of a Compact Kähler Manifold and the Complex Monge-Ampére Equation, I, Comm. Pure Appl. Math., 31 (1978) 339-411, doi:10.1002/...
3
votes
1
answer
139
views
Design a random variable which has the maximal correlation with another random variable
$Y$ is a Gaussian distributed random variable with zero mean and known variance: $Y\sim N(0,\sigma_y)$. We measure $Y$ with a sensor, which is corrupted by white Gaussian noise: $Z=Y+V$; $V\sim N(0,\...
3
votes
1
answer
87
views
Optimal linear measurement operator
Let $x\in R^n$ be an unknown vector. Suppose I am allowed to choose any $A\in R^{m\times n}$, under the constraint that each row of $A$ has $\ell_2$ norm at most $1$. Then I carry out a "measurement", ...
3
votes
1
answer
96
views
Perturbation results for statistical estimators
Suppose I have a continuous random variable whose distribution $f$ is some parametric form (normal, exponential, etc.) that is known to me. If I draw many independent samples $x_i$ from $f$, I can ...
3
votes
0
answers
113
views
Is the Kalman Filter computationally optimal for Kalman filtering?
Kalman filtering is known to be a recursive process that minimizes mean square error in linear problems.
My question is: has anybody shown that this algorithm is computationally optimal, i.e. that you ...
3
votes
0
answers
113
views
Image restoration quality general lower bounds
A typical image restoration model posits that, starting from a true image $f = f(x,y)$, we observe
$$
\tilde f = f \star h + n
$$
where $\star$ is convolution, $h$ is the point spread function (caused,...
3
votes
0
answers
266
views
Proving the exponential decay of Green's function for the lattice $-\Delta+p$
The Green function $G(x,y) =G(x-y)$ of the discrete Klein-Gordon operator $-\Delta+p$ on $\mathbb{Z}^{d}$ is given by:
\begin{eqnarray}
G(x-y) = \int_{[-\pi,\pi]^{d}}\frac{d^{d}k}{(2\pi)^{d}}\frac{e^{...
3
votes
0
answers
82
views
Uniform mean-square-error estimates
Consider a standard statistical estimation problem with iid real observations $\{X_i\}_{i=1}^N$. For a collection of real functions $\mathcal{F}$, I want to get an estimate of the uniform rate of ...
3
votes
0
answers
975
views
Interpolating Wavelet Coefficients
Hi! I was instructed via reddit that this place would be the best place to post this question. Fingers cross you can help...
Ive been writing some code to get rid of noise "spikes" in a signal. I'm ...
2
votes
2
answers
632
views
An alternative proof of Bayesian Cramer-Rao
My question is:
Are there an alternative proof of Cramer-Rao lower bound that does not use
Cauchy-Swartz inequality?
Let me outline the classical proof and explain why I am interested in this ...
2
votes
1
answer
131
views
Almost sure convergence of double averages of IID random variables
Let $ \{X_i\}_{i=1}^{P} $ and $ \{Y_j\}_{j=1}^{Q} $ be two sequences of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables. $X_i$ and $Y_j$ are independent between all pairs of $i$ and $...
2
votes
1
answer
872
views
Estimating the average of two gaussians' mean
Assume that $X\sim \mathcal N(\sigma_1,\mu_1)$ and $Y\sim \mathcal N(\sigma_2,\mu_2)$.
I want to estimate $\frac{\mu_1+\mu_2}{2}$ after observing $X,Y$.
In my setting, $\sigma_1,\sigma_2$ are known ...
2
votes
1
answer
676
views
Distribution of ratio between complex Gaussian and Chi-square R.V.s
What would be the distribution (p.d.f.) of the following ratio?
$$z = \frac{x_{1}}{|x_{1}|^2 + |x_{2}|^2 + ... + |x_{M}|^2}$$
where $x_{i} \sim \mathcal{CN}(0,a), \forall i$ and $a > 1$. As can ...
2
votes
3
answers
409
views
How to estimate the entropy of a distribution on a power set?
Given a probability distribution $(X,p)$, its entropy is defined as $H=-\sum_{x\in X} p(x)\log p(x)$.
Given a sample of observations $x_n,n=1..N$, one can estimate $p(x)=\frac{\#\{i:x_i=x\}}{N}$ and ...
2
votes
1
answer
143
views
DKW inequality for $L^1$-norm
Suppose that $X,X_1,X_2,X_3\dots$ is a sequence of $\mathbb{P}$-i.i.d. random variables supported in the interval $[0,1]$. Let $F$ be the cumulative distribution of $X$, i.e. $F(x):=\mathbb{P}[X \le x]...
2
votes
2
answers
174
views
estimating variance of dependent normal distributed data
Let $X_{ij}$ with $1\leq i<j\leq n$ (that are $X_{12},\dots, X_{1n},\dots,X_{(n-1)n}$) be ${n \choose 2}$ identically normal distributed $N(0,\sigma^2)$ such that
$
\text{corr}(X_{ij},X_{rs})=\rho
...
2
votes
1
answer
170
views
Equivalence of minimizing trace and determinant over matrix quadratic form in multivariate regression
Consider the multivariate regression model
$$Y = XB + E$$
where $Y$ is $n \times p$ and corresponds to the dependent variables, $X$ is $n \times k$ and corresponds to the independent variables, $B$ is ...
2
votes
1
answer
269
views
Spline Interpolation error of higher degree
It is well-known that the interpolation error of a cubic spline has at best order $O(h^4)$, which results from polynomials of degree $3$.
Can I assume that, if one uses polynomials of degree $p$ and ...
2
votes
1
answer
154
views
Stability estimates on quotients of the form $ \frac{\prod_{j=1}^n a_j}{\prod_{j=1}^n b_j} $
Suppose that $a_j,b_j \in \mathbb C$ are complex numbers, $j=1,\dots,n$, with the property that $|a_j|,|b_j| \geq c > d >0$ where $c,d$ are positive real numbers. I'm interested in the stability ...
2
votes
1
answer
154
views
Finding a similarities and differences of sent of matrices
Suppose we have a set of rank deficient covariance matrices. How can I know the similarities and differences between those set of matrices?
Regards,
2
votes
1
answer
444
views
Literature question on the convergence rate of the empirical distribution
Assume that given $n$ i.i.d samples $(X_1, X_2, ..., X_n)$ drawn from $p_X$, an unknown probability mass function defined over a finite alphabet $\mathcal{X}$, one wants to estimate $p_X(x)$ for each $...
2
votes
1
answer
88
views
What is the problem with this model parameter estimation algorithm?
In a statistical model with parameters $\theta$ and unobserved laten variables $Z$, the model likelihood is
$$L(\theta;X)=Pr(X|\theta)=\sum_ZPr(X,Z|\theta)$$
The standard way to estimate $\theta$ ...
2
votes
0
answers
87
views
A complex problem involving densities (likelihood functions) and optimization
Consider the following autoregressive process with normal errors:
\begin{equation}\label{7YlUV4i8nuO}\tag{I}
y_t = \phi y_{t-1}+ u_t, \quad u_t \overset{iid}{\sim} N(0,\sigma^2)
\end{equation}
We ...
2
votes
0
answers
122
views
Comparing the truncated $\ell^{1}$-norm of polynomial coefficients with the supremum norm on the unit disc
Let $p=a_{0}+a_{1}z+\ldots+a_{n}z^{n}$ be a polynomial. Consider the following truncated $\ell^{1}$-seminorm of the coefficients of $p$:
$$\|p\|_{\ell^{1},\text{trun.}}:=\sum_{k=1}^{n}|a_{k}|=\|p-a_{0}...
2
votes
0
answers
225
views
Sobolev (Triebel-Lizorkin) norm estimate for $F \circ u - F \circ v$
Let $F \in C^1(\mathbb R^d;\mathbb R)$ be such that $F(0) = 0$ and
$$|F'(\tau v + (1 - \tau)w)| \leq \mu(\tau)(G(v) + G(w))$$
for some $\mu \in L^1([0,1])$ and some non-negative $G \in C^0(\mathbb R^d;...
2
votes
0
answers
78
views
Distribution of unbiased estimator of covariance matrix with missing values
Initial setup
Assuming $X_1, ..., X_n \in \mathbb{R}^m$ are iid, sampled from $\mathcal{N}(\mu, V)$, one can define the estimators for the sample mean $\hat{\mu} = \frac{1}{n} := X^T 1_n$, and sample ...
2
votes
0
answers
130
views
L1 error of estimators
I came across the following problem and I have no clue how to approach it. I am looking for help with directions or references.
Consider the $\alpha$-stable distribution with unknown true mean $\mu$, ...
2
votes
0
answers
139
views
'Contraction-like' inequality: how to deal with the boundary term?
I am interested in the following problem.
Let $D = \mathrm{diag}(d_1, d_2, \ldots, d_n) \in \mathbb{R}^n$ be positive definite, let $B, K \in \mathbb{R}^n$, and let $G\in L^\infty((0, T)\times (0, L);...
2
votes
0
answers
90
views
The optimality of Kalman filtering
It is known that the Kalman filter estimates the state of the following system recursively.
$$x_{k+1}=Ax_k+w_k, \ \ w_k \sim \mathcal{N}(0,Q)$$
$$y_k=Cx_k+v_k, \ \ v_k \sim \mathcal{N}(0,W)$$
In the ...