81,966 research outputs found
Bayesian optimization for computationally extensive probability distributions
An efficient method for finding a better maximizer of computationally
extensive probability distributions is proposed on the basis of a Bayesian
optimization technique. A key idea of the proposed method is to use extreme
values of acquisition functions by Gaussian processes for the next training
phase, which should be located near a local maximum or a global maximum of the
probability distribution. Our Bayesian optimization technique is applied to the
posterior distribution in the effective physical model estimation, which is a
computationally extensive probability distribution. Even when the number of
sampling points on the posterior distributions is fixed to be small, the
Bayesian optimization provides a better maximizer of the posterior
distributions in comparison to those by the random search method, the steepest
descent method, or the Monte Carlo method. Furthermore, the Bayesian
optimization improves the results efficiently by combining the steepest descent
method and thus it is a powerful tool to search for a better maximizer of
computationally extensive probability distributions.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
Effects of the distant population density on spatial patterns of demographic dynamics
Spatiotemporal patterns of population changes within and across countries
have various implications. Different geographical, demographic and
econo-societal factors seem to contribute to migratory decisions made by
individual inhabitants. Focussing on internal (i.e., domestic) migration, we
ask whether individuals may take into account the information on the population
density in distant locations to make migratory decisions. We analyse population
census data in Japan recorded with a high spatial resolution (i.e., cells of
size 500 m 500 m) for the entirety of the country and simulate
demographic dynamics induced by the gravity model and its variants. We show
that, in the census data, the population growth rate in a cell is positively
correlated with the population density in nearby cells up to a radius of 20 km
as well as that of the focal cell. The ordinary gravity model does not capture
this empirical observation. We then show that the empirical observation is
better accounted for by extensions of the gravity model such that individuals
are assumed to perceive the attractiveness, approximated by the population
density, of the source or destination cell of migration as the spatial average
over a radius of km.Comment: 22 figures, 2 tables, fixed an incorrect publication yea
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