HEC Montréal, Canada, May 2 - 4, 2011
2011 Optimization Days
HEC Montréal, Canada, 2 — 4 May 2011
MAP Séance plénière I / Plenary Session I
May 2, 2011 09:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Location: Amphithéâtre IBM
Chaired by Jean-Francois Plante
1 Presentation
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09:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Optimising and Adapting the Metropolis Algorithm
The Metropolis algorithm is a very popular method of approximately sampling from complicated probability distributions, especially those arising in Bayesian inference. A wide variety of proposal distributions are available, and it can be difficult to choose among them. We will discuss optimal proposals under various circumstances. We will also consider the possibility of having the computer automatically "adapt" the algorithm while it runs, to improve and tune on the fly.