A channel-based perspective on conjugate priors

DOI10.1017/S0960129519000082zbMATH Open1442.62054arXiv1707.00269OpenAlexW3007521435MaRDI QIDQ5220182FDOQ5220182

Authors:

Publication date: 11 March 2020

Published in: Mathematical Structures in Computer Science (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: A desired closure property in Bayesian probability is that an updated posterior distribution be in the same class of distributions --- say Gaussians --- as the prior distribution. When the updating takes place via a statistical model, one calls the class of prior distributions the `conjugate priors' of the model. This paper gives (1) an abstract formulation of this notion of conjugate prior, using channels, in a graphical language, (2) a simple abstract proof that such conjugate priors yield Bayesian inversions, and (3) a logical description of conjugate priors that highlights the required closure of the priors under updating. The theory is illustrated with several standard examples, also covering multiple updating.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1707.00269

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zbMATH Keywords

conjugate priorposterior distributionBayesian inversionBayesian probability

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Bayesian inference (62F15) Censored data models (62N01)

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Cited In (3)

• A non-commutative Bayes' theorem
• Multisets and distributions, in drawing and learning
• A geometric view of conjugate priors

Uses Software

• PRMLT

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