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Dynamic nested sampling: an improved algorithm for parameter estimation and evidence calculation

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arxiv 1704.03459 v4 pith:LVWVUFEL submitted 2017-04-11 stat.CO astro-ph.IMphysics.data-anstat.ME

Dynamic nested sampling: an improved algorithm for parameter estimation and evidence calculation

classification stat.CO astro-ph.IMphysics.data-anstat.ME
keywords nestedsamplingdynamicaccuracycalculationestimationevidenceparameter
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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We introduce dynamic nested sampling: a generalisation of the nested sampling algorithm in which the number of "live points" varies to allocate samples more efficiently. In empirical tests the new method significantly improves calculation accuracy compared to standard nested sampling with the same number of samples; this increase in accuracy is equivalent to speeding up the computation by factors of up to ~72 for parameter estimation and ~7 for evidence calculations. We also show that the accuracy of both parameter estimation and evidence calculations can be improved simultaneously. In addition, unlike in standard nested sampling, more accurate results can be obtained by continuing the calculation for longer. Popular standard nested sampling implementations can be easily adapted to perform dynamic nested sampling, and several dynamic nested sampling software packages are now publicly available.

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