解决含离散与连续参数的模拟器快速推断问题
Mixed neural posterior estimation for simulators with discrete and continuous parameters

- 用联合模型分解后验,分别处理离散和连续参数
- 在多个真实科学模拟器上实现准确且校准良好的推断结果
- 适合需要混合参数推断的科研人员使用
神经后验估计(NPE)可对复杂模拟器实现快速参数推断,但传统方法假设参数空间为连续。许多科学模型的参数空间却是混合型的,包含离散与连续维度。本文通过引入一个联合推理网络,将混合参数空间的联合后验分解为离散与连续部分:离散部分采用自回归分类器,连续部分采用生成模型,二者在单一基于模拟的损失函数下联合训练。此外,提出一种诊断工具用于评估混合后验近似的校准性。在可解析的玩具例子和真实科学模拟器上,该方法均能获得准确且校准良好的后验估计。该框架已集成至Python库sbi中。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Neural Posterior Estimation (NPE) enables rapid parameter inference for complex simulators with intractable likelihoods. NPE trains an inference network to estimate a probability density over parameters given data, typically assumed to be \emph{continuous}. However, many scientific models involve parameter spaces that are \emph{mixed}, that is, they contain both discrete and continuous dimensions. We address this limitation by extending NPE to mixed parameter spaces through an inference network that jointly handles discrete and continuous parameters. The inference network factorizes the joint posterior into discrete and continuous components, combining an autoregressive classifier for the discrete parameters with a generative model for the continuous parameters, trained jointly under a single simulation-based objective. In addition, we propose a diagnostic tool to assess the calibration of the mixed posterior approximation. Across tractable toy examples and real-world scientific simulators, our joint inference approach yields accurate and calibrated posteriors. The inference framework is available in the \texttt{sbi} Python package.
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