Skip to content

The number of parameters needed to specify a table of a Bayesian network #33

Description

This is from Autoregressive Models Chapter

To see why, let us consider the conditional for the last dimension, given by $p(x_n|x_{\lt n})$. In order to fully specify this conditional, we need to specify a probability for $2^{n−1}$ configurations of the variables $x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_{n−1}$. Since the probabilities should sum to $1$, the total number of parameters for specifying this conditional is given by $2^{n−1}−1$. Hence, a tabular representation for the conditionals is impractical for learning the joint distribution factorized via chain rule.

Shouldn't it be $2^{n-1}$ instead of $2^{n-1}-1$ here ? Why minus $1$ ? In my understanding, the $n$-th random variable is dependent on $n-1$ random variables, in binary case, there should be $2^{n-1}$ rows in the table. In every single row, the entries should add up to $1$, so only one of the two entries in this row needs specifying. Thus one parameter for each row, it should be $2^{n-1}$.

Activity

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    No labels
    No labels

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

      Milestone

      No milestone

      Relationships

      None yet

      Development

      No branches or pull requests

      Issue actions