arXiv subjects

Faming Liang

Publications and source records attributed to Faming Liang.

38 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Trajectory averaging for stochastic approximation MCMC algorithms

The subject of stochastic approximation was founded by Robbins and Monro [Ann. Math. Statist. 22 (1951) 400--407]. After five decades of continual development, it has developed into an important area in systems control and optimization, and it has also served as a prototype for the development of adaptive algorithms for on-line estimation and control of stochastic systems. Recently, it has been used in statistics with Markov chain Monte Carlo for solving maximum likelihood estimation problems and for general simulation and optimizations. In this paper, we first show that the trajectory averaging estimator is asymptotically efficient for the stochastic approximation MCMC (SAMCMC) algorithm under mild conditions, and then apply this result to the stochastic approximation Monte Carlo algorithm [Liang, Liu and Carroll J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 102 (2007) 305--320]. The application of the trajectory averaging estimator to other stochastic approximation MCMC algorithms, for example, a stochastic approximation MLE algorithm for missing data problems, is also considered in the paper.

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arXiv2009

Improving SAMC using smoothing methods: Theory and applications to Bayesian model selection problems

Stochastic approximation Monte Carlo (SAMC) has recently been proposed by Liang, Liu and Carroll [J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 102 (2007) 305--320] as a general simulation and optimization algorithm. In this paper, we propose to improve its convergence using smoothing methods and discuss the application of the new algorithm to Bayesian model selection problems. The new algorithm is tested through a change-point identification example. The numerical results indicate that the new algorithm can outperform SAMC and reversible jump MCMC significantly for the model selection problems. The new algorithm represents a general form of the stochastic approximation Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. It allows multiple samples to be generated at each iteration, and a bias term to be included in the parameter updating step. A rigorous proof for the convergence of the general algorithm is established under verifiable conditions. This paper also provides a framework on how to improve efficiency of Monte Carlo simulations by incorporating some nonparametric techniques.

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