Skip to yearly menu bar Skip to main content


Poster

Momentum Particle Maximum Likelihood

Jen Ning Lim · Juan Kuntz · Samuel Power · Adam M. Johansen


Abstract:

Maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) of latent variable models is often recast as the minimization of a free energy functional over an extended space of parameters and probability distributions. Recently, this perspective was combined with insights from optimal transport to obtain novel particle-based algorithms for fitting latent variable models to data. Drawing inspiration from prior works which interpret `momentum-enriched' optimization algorithms as discretizations of ordinary differential equations, we propose an analogous dynamical systems-inspired approach to minimizing the free energy functional over the extended space of parameters and probability distributions. The result is a dynamic system that blends elements of Nesterov's Accelerated Gradient method, the underdamped Langevin diffusion, and particle methods. Under suitable assumptions, we establish quantitative convergence of the proposed system to the unique minimiser of the functional in continuous time. We then propose a numerical discretization of this system which enables its application to parameter estimation in latent variable models. Through numerical experiments, we demonstrate that the resulting algorithm converges faster than existing methods and compares favourably with other MLE algorithms.

Live content is unavailable. Log in and register to view live content