Course text:
Lectures on Algebraic Statistics
by Mathias Drton, Seth Sullivant and myself.
Final Projects:
Here are the term papers written by the students for this course:
Shuchao Bi:
A Criterion for Tensor Rank
Dustin Cartwright:
Discretizing Gaussian Models
Melody Chan:
Tropical Decomposition of Symmetric Tensors
Angelica Cueto:
Implicitization Challenge for Binary Factor Analysis
Alexander Fink:
Primary Decomposition for the Intersection Axiom
Shaowei Lin:
Asymptotic Approximation of Marginal Likelihood Integrals
Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas and Caroline Uhler:
A Strategy for Detecting Multiple
Trait Loci in Disease Association Studies
Adam Merberg:
Maximum Likelihood Estimation on Determinantal Varieties
Joe Neeman:
A Model for Biochemical Reaction Networks
Anne Shiu: Persistence of Deterministic Population
Processes and the Global Attractor Conjecture (with David Anderson)
Cynthia Vinzant:
Sparsity in Covariance Selection for Gaussian Graphical Models
Schedule of lectures:
August 28: An invitation to algebraic statistics
September 2: Independence and hypotheses testing (Section 1.1)
September 4: The many bases of a lattice (Section 1.3)
September 9: Hierarchical models (Section 1.2)
September 11: Likelihood inference for discrete models (Section 2.1)
September 16: Software day
September 18: Likelihood inference for Gaussian models (Section 2.1)
September 23: MLE for implicit models (Section 2.2)
September 27: Discrete CI models (Section 3.1)
September 30: Gaussian CI models (Section 3.1)
and Erick Matsen
October 2: The intersection axiom (Section 6.6)
October 7: Graphical models (Section 3.2)
October 9: Hammersley-Clifford Theorem (Section 3.3)
October 14: Caroline Uhler and
Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas
October 16: Open problems in algebraic statistics
October 21: Likelihood ratio tests (Section 2.3)
October 23: No class: please attend the lectures by Lior and Mathias.
October 28: Mixture models (Section 4.1)
October 30: Secant varieties (Section 4.1)
November 4: Factor analysis (Section 4.2)
November 6: Information criteria (Section 5.1)
November 11: No class (Veterans Day)
November 13: Marginal likelihood (Section 5.2, Shaowei)
November 18: Phylogenetics: The general Markov model
November 20:
Generalized principal component analysis
November 25: Phylogenetics: Group-based models
November 27: No class (Thanksgiving)
December 2: Alex Fink and
Joe Neeman
December 4:
Shuchao Bi and Adam Merberg
December 9: Melody Chan and Angelica Cueto
December 10: Dustin Cartwright and
Cynthia Vinzant
Dec 17 (at MSRI): Shaowei Lin
Dec 18 (at MSRI): Caroline Uhler
Homework:
There will be regular assignments, posted here in pdf format, during the
first eight weeks of the course.
Homework 1: due September 14
Homework 2: due September 23
Homework 3: due September 30
Homework 4: due October 14
Deadlines: The following dates are all Thursdays:
November 20: Preliminary Report is Due
December 10: Final Paper is Due
Grading:
The course grade will be based on both the homework
and the course projects.
MSRI Workshop:
Course participants are invited to participate in the
Workshop on Algebraic Statistics at
MSRI from December 15 to 18.
Further Reading:
M. Drton and S. Sullivant:
Algebraic statistical models,
Statistica Sinica 17 (2007) 1273-1297.
L. Pachter and B. Sturmfels:
Algebraic Statistics for Computational
Biology, Cambridge University Press, 2005.
G. Pistone, E. Riccomagno and H. Wynn: Algebraic Statistics,
Chapman and Hall/CRC, Bocan Raton, 2000.
B. Sturmfels: Solving Systems of Polynomial Equations,
American Mathematical Society, 2002.