MARKOV CHAIN MONTE CARLO POSTERIOR SAMPLING WITH THE HAMILTONIAN METHOD

The Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique provides a means for drawing random samples from a target probability density function (pdf). MCMC allows one to assess the uncertainties in a Bayesian analysis described by a numerically calculated posterior distribution. This paper describes the Hamiltonian MCMC technique in which a momentum variable is introduced for each parameter of the target pdf. In analogy to a physical system, a Hamiltonian H is defined as a kinetic energy involving the momenta plus a potential energy {var_phi}, where {var_phi} is minus the logarithm of the target pdf. Hamiltonian dynamics allows one to move along trajectories of constant H, taking large jumps in the parameter space with relatively few evaluations of {var_phi} and its gradient. The Hamiltonian algorithm alternates between picking a new momentum vector and following such trajectories. The efficiency of the Hamiltonian method for multidimensional isotropic Gaussian pdfs is shown to remain constant at around 7% for up to several hundred dimensions. The Hamiltonian method handles correlations among the variables much better than the standard Metropolis algorithm. A new test, based on the gradient of {var_phi}, is proposed to measure the convergence of the MCMC sequence