Incomplete Reparameterizations and Equivalent Metrics

Michael Betancourt

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arXiv · 1910.09407

Incomplete Reparameterizations and Equivalent Metrics

Michael Betancourt

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Abstract

Reparameterizing a probabilisitic system is common advice for improving the performance of a statistical algorithm like Markov chain Monte Carlo, even though in theory such reparameterizations should leave the system, and the performance of any algorithm, invariant. In this paper I show how the reparameterizations common in practice are only incomplete reparameterizations which result in different interactions between a target probabilistic system and a given algorithm. I then consider how these changing interactions manifest in the context of Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms defined on Riemannian manifolds. In particular I show how any incomplete reparameterization is equivalent to modifying the metric geometry directly.

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Michael Betancourt. 2019-10-09. Incomplete Reparameterizations and Equivalent Metrics. https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.09407

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