Introduction
A generative model specifies a mechanism: an observation is a deterministic transform, indexed by a structural parameter θ \theta θ , of a draw from an assumed noise law, Y = G ( θ , X ) Y = G(\theta, X) Y = G ( θ , X ) with X ∼ ν X \sim\nu X ∼ ν . The noise X X X may live in any Polish space, such as a Euclidean space or a space of functions, and so may the observation Y Y Y . The class therefore covers discrete and continuous observations, as well as i.i.d. replicates of stochastic processes whose simulation algorithm is a deterministic map of its driving randomness. For instance, continuous-time Markov chains are driven by Poisson random measures, and diffusions by Brownian motion. Model criticism asks whether such a model is adequate for the data at hand and, when it is not, where it fails. For many generative models the likelihood is unavailable or intractable, while simulation from G G G is easy. We propose a criticism procedure that uses only simulation and a distance between distributions, without the need to choose a test statistic. It is formulated as a two-stage stochastic program in the sense of [33 Eq. (1.9] .
The procedure splits the observations into an estimation block ξ 0 \xi_0 ξ 0 and a held-out block ξ 1 \xi_1 ξ 1 , and uses them in two stages.
Estimation stage. Using ξ 0 \xi_0 ξ 0 , we fit the structural parameter θ \theta θ while keeping the noise law exactly as the modeler wrote it down. The estimate θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ minimizes the 1-Wasserstein distance between the data and simulations from the model [5 ] (Bassetti et al. 2006), computed by sample average approximation [36 ] . Minimum-distance estimators of this kind are robust [11 ] (Bassetti and Regazzini 2006), so a mild misfit of the noise law does not drag θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ far from the truth.
Recourse stage. With θ \theta θ frozen at θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ , we ask how the held-out data distribute themselves relative to the fitted model. To make this question tractable, we choose a small set of representative noise values x ˉ 1 , … , x ˉ N 1 \bar{x}_1,\ldots,\bar{x}_{N_1} x ˉ 1 , … , x ˉ N 1 (the mesh ), and push each through the fitted mechanism G ( θ ~ , ⋅ ) G(\tilde{\theta},\cdot) G ( θ ~ , ⋅ ) . The resulting points z ℓ = G ( θ ~ , x ˉ j ) z_{\ell}=G(\tilde{\theta},\bar{x}_j) z ℓ = G ( θ ~ , x ˉ j ) are the atoms of the fitted model, interpreted as typical observations the fitted model can produce, one for each representative noise value (noise values that produce the same observation are merged into one atom). Each atom owns a cell , the set of observations closer to it than to any other atom. The fitted model assigns a probability to every cell and the held-out block gives an empirical frequency for every cell. The recourse decision is the vector w \mathbf{w} w of weights on the atoms, and the optimal w \mathbf{w} w turns out to be exactly these held-out cell frequencies, in closed form. Under a correct model the two sets of numbers agree; where they disagree, the model fails. Because each atom is the image of known noise values, a cell with too much or too little held-out mass points to the part of the noise distribution that is wrong. The cell counts also give a Pearson test of the model, conditional on θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ .
The split is what makes this test calibrated, and splitting is familiar in Bayesian model criticism. In Moran et al. [29 ] and Li and Huggins [27 ] the split repairs a calibration defect as the posterior predictive p p p -value is usually not uniform under the null [17 ] , and holding out a block restores uniformity. There the two halves play the roles of “train” and “test” for one and the same object, the predictive distribution. Our two halves instead determine two different decisions. ξ 0 \xi_0 ξ 0 determines θ \theta θ with the noise law held at ν \nu ν , and ξ 1 \xi_1 ξ 1 determines w \mathbf{w} w with θ \theta θ held at θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ . Because θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ is computed from ξ 0 \xi_0 ξ 0 alone, the held-out counts are, given θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ , multinomial with known cell probabilities under the null, so the test is calibrated without any correction for estimation. Robustness of the first stage matters here as it guards θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ against mild misspecification of the structure G G G or of the noise law ν \nu ν , so that the misfit is left for the recourse stage to expose rather than absorbed into the fit.
The program of criticizing a model by confronting it with data it was not fitted to descends from Box [8 ] , who separated estimation within a model from criticism of the model itself, and from the posterior predictive assessment of Gelman et al. [18 ] . The resulting p p p -values are not uniform under the null when the same data both fit and score the model [4 ] , and it motivates the split constructions of Moran et al. [29 ] and Li and Huggins [27 ] discussed above. Our structural stance is closest to Covington and Miller [10 ] , who also criticize a model through a parametrization of its noise rather than through a statistic of the observations.
The paper is organized as follows. § 2 recalls the Wasserstein distance and two-stage stochastic programs, and casts model criticism as a two-stage program (§ 2.3 ). § 3 constructs the ingredients: the structural model, including stochastic processes, the split, the synthetic noise of the estimation stage, and the recourse mesh. § 4 develops the two stages, the prior test, the diagnostic and the calibrated test. § 5 states the assumptions under which both stages are consistent. § 6 illustrates the procedure on four models. § 7 describes the algorithms, and § 8 discusses limitations and extensions. Proofs, and the verification of the assumptions for the examples are in the appendix.
Preliminaries
The space of measures and the Wasserstein distance
Throughout, the sample space S S S is a Polish space, a separable metric space whose metric d d d is complete. The leading cases are the Euclidean space S = R d S = \mathbb{R}^{d} S = R d , which contains integer-valued records such as counts at finitely many times, and path spaces such as L 1 ( [ 0 , T ] ; R d ) L^{1}([0,T];\mathbb{R}^{d}) L 1 ([ 0 , T ] ; R d ) , L 2 ( [ 0 , T ] ; R d ) L^{2}([0,T];\mathbb{R}^{d}) L 2 ([ 0 , T ] ; R d ) and C ( [ 0 , T ] ; R d ) C([0,T];\mathbb{R}^{d}) C ([ 0 , T ] ; R d ) with the supremum norm; when S S S is a normed space, d ( ω 1 , ω 2 ) = ∥ ω 1 − ω 2 ∥ d(\omega_{1},\omega_{2}) = \lVert\omega_{1}-\omega_{2}\rVert d ( ω 1 , ω 2 ) = ∥ ω 1 − ω 2 ∥ . Let P ( S ) \mathcal{P}(S) P ( S ) denote the probability measures on S S S , and
P 1 ( S ) : = { μ ∈ P ( S ) : ∫ S d ( ω 0 , ω ) μ ( d ω ) < ∞ for some (all) ω 0 ∈ S } . \mathcal{P}_{1}(S) := \left\{ \mu\in\mathcal{P}(S) : \int_{S} d(\omega_{0},\omega) \,\mu(\mathrm{d}\omega) < \infty\text{ for some (all) } \omega_{0} \in S \right\}. P 1 ( S ) := { μ ∈ P ( S ) : ∫ S d ( ω 0 , ω ) μ ( d ω ) < ∞ for some (all) ω 0 ∈ S } .
For μ , ν ∈ P 1 ( S ) \mu,\nu\in\mathcal{P}_{1}(S) μ , ν ∈ P 1 ( S ) the Wasserstein-1 distance is
W 1 ( μ , ν ) : = inf π ∈ Π ( μ , ν ) ∫ S × S d ( ω 1 , ω 2 ) π ( d ω 1 , d ω 2 ) , (1) W_{1}(\mu,\nu) := \inf_{\pi\in\Pi(\mu,\nu)} \int_{S \times S} d(\omega_{1},\omega_{2}) \,\pi(\mathrm{d}\omega_{1},\mathrm{d}\omega_{2}), \tag*{(1)} W 1 ( μ , ν ) := π ∈ Π ( μ , ν ) inf ∫ S × S d ( ω 1 , ω 2 ) π ( d ω 1 , d ω 2 ) , (1)
the infimum being over the set of couplings Π \Pi Π with marginals μ \mu μ and ν \nu ν . By Kantorovich–Rubinstein duality [33 , 41 Ch. 2] ,
W 1 ( μ , ν ) = sup { ∫ S f d ( μ − ν ) : ∥ f ∥ L i p ≤ 1 } . (2) W_{1}(\mu,\nu) = \sup\left\{ \int_{S} f \,\mathrm{d}(\mu-\nu) : \lVert f\rVert_{\mathrm{Lip}} \le1 \right\}. \tag*{(2)} W 1 ( μ , ν ) = sup { ∫ S f d ( μ − ν ) : ∥ f ∥ Lip ≤ 1 } . (2)
The metric space ( P 1 ( S ) , W 1 ) (\mathcal{P}_{1}(S), W_{1}) ( P 1 ( S ) , W 1 ) is complete and separable. Explicitly, if C C C is a countable dense subset of S S S , then the set of molecular probability measures with rational coefficients on C C C ,
{ ∑ i = 1 n q i δ c i ∣ c i ∈ C , 0 ≤ q i ∈ Q , ∑ i = 1 n q i = 1 , n ∈ N } , (3) \left\{ \sum_{i=1}^{n} q_{i}\delta_{c_{i}} \mid c_{i} \in C,\ 0 \le q_{i} \in\mathbb{Q},\ \sum_{i=1}^{n} q_{i} = 1,\ n \in\mathbb{N} \right\}, \tag*{(3)} { i = 1 ∑ n q i δ c i ∣ c i ∈ C , 0 ≤ q i ∈ Q , i = 1 ∑ n q i = 1 , n ∈ N } , (3)
is a countable dense subset of ( P 1 ( S ) , W 1 ) (\mathcal{P}_{1}(S), W_{1}) ( P 1 ( S ) , W 1 ) ; see Dudley [12 ] and Düll et al. [13 ] for more details. In contrast, P 1 ( S ) \mathcal{P}_{1}(S) P 1 ( S ) equipped with ∥ ⋅ ∥ T V \lVert\cdot\rVert_{\mathrm{TV}} ∥ ⋅ ∥ TV is not separable as shown in Example 1. In addition, W 1 W_{1} W 1 metrizes weak convergence together with convergence of first moments on P 1 ( S ) \mathcal{P}_{1}(S) P 1 ( S ) Villani, [41 ] .
Example 1. For a ≠ b a \ne b a = b , ∥ δ a − δ b ∥ T V = 1 \lVert\delta_{a}-\delta_{b}\rVert_{\mathrm{TV}} = 1 ∥ δ a − δ b ∥ TV = 1 , so a n → b a_{n} \to b a n → b in S S S does not imply ∥ δ a n − δ b ∥ T V → 0 \lVert\delta_{a_{n}}-\delta_{b}\rVert_{\mathrm{TV}} \to0 ∥ δ a n − δ b ∥ TV → 0 . By contrast W 1 ( δ a n , δ b ) = d ( a n , b ) W_{1}(\delta_{a_{n}},\delta_{b}) = d(a_{n},b) W 1 ( δ a n , δ b ) = d ( a n , b ) and a n → b a_{n} \to b a n → b implies W 1 ( δ a n , δ b ) → 0 W_{1}(\delta_{a_{n}},\delta_{b}) \to0 W 1 ( δ a n , δ b ) → 0 .
Two-stage stochastic programs
A stochastic optimization problem selects a decision to optimize a cost that depends on uncertainty whose distribution is known. In the canonical form of Pflug and Pichler [33 ] ,
min x ∈ X R P [ Q ( x , ξ ) ] , (4) \min_{x \in\mathbb{X}} R_{P}[Q(x,\xi)], \tag*{(4)} x ∈ X min R P [ Q ( x , ξ )] , (4)
ξ ∼ P \xi\sim P ξ ∼ P is the random datum, x ∈ X x \in\mathbb{X} x ∈ X the decision, Q ( x , ξ ) Q(x,\xi) Q ( x , ξ ) the resulting cost, and R P R_{P} R P a risk functional summarizing the random cost by a scalar. Taking R P = E P R_{P} = \mathbb{E}_{P} R P = E P gives a risk-neutral program . When P P P is not tractable, the sample average approximation (SAA) replaces it by the empirical measure of scenarios drawn once and for all from P P P and solves the resulting deterministic program Shapiro et al., [36 ] .
Decisions are random variables constrained to use only the information available when they are taken. A filtration F 0 ⊆ F 1 ⊆ ⋯ \mathcal{F}_{0} \subseteq\mathcal{F}_{1} \subseteq\cdots F 0 ⊆ F 1 ⊆ ⋯ encodes that flow, and a decision fixed at stage t t t must be F t \mathcal{F}_{t} F t -measurable. The two extremes are a here-and-now decision, fixed before the relevant uncertainty is observed, and a wait-and-see decision, taken after the realization and so free to depend on it. A two-stage recourse program fixes x 0 x_{0} x 0 here-and-now, observes ξ 1 \xi_{1} ξ 1 , and then takes a recourse (corrective) action in the feasible set x 1 ∈ X 1 ( x 0 , ξ 1 ) x_{1} \in\mathbb{X}_{1}(x_{0},\xi_{1}) x 1 ∈ X 1 ( x 0 , ξ 1 ) . § 2.3 casts model criticism in this form.
Model criticism as a two-stage program
We ask two questions in sequence. First, which structure within the model class describes the data best, when the noise law is taken exactly as the modeler wrote it down? Second, with that structure fixed, how do new data redistribute the mass that the fitted model assigns to its own support? We answer the two questions by the two stages of a stochastic program on a sample split ( ξ 0 , ξ 1 ) (\xi_0,\xi_1) ( ξ 0 , ξ 1 ) , with the following correspondence:
Table 1.
Written out, the program is
θ ~ ∈ arg min θ ∈ K W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P θ ) , w ~ ∈ arg min w ∈ Δ L ( θ ~ ) − 1 W 1 ( P ^ ξ 1 , ∑ ℓ w ℓ δ z ℓ ( θ ~ ) ) , (5) \begin{aligned}
\tilde{\theta} &\in\underset{\theta\in K}{\arg\min}\; W_1\left(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},P_\theta\right), \qquad
\tilde{\mathbf{w}} \in\underset{\mathbf{w}\in\Delta^{L(\tilde{\theta})-1}}{\arg\min}\; W_1\left(\widehat{P}_{\xi_1},\sum_{\ell}w_\ell\delta_{z_\ell(\tilde{\theta})}\right), \tag*{(5)}
\end{aligned} θ ~ ∈ θ ∈ K arg min W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ ) , w ~ ∈ w ∈ Δ L ( θ ~ ) − 1 arg min W 1 ( P ξ 1 , ℓ ∑ w ℓ δ z ℓ ( θ ~ ) ) , (5)
where z 1 ( θ ~ ) , … , z L ( θ ~ ) ( θ ~ ) z_1(\tilde{\theta}),\ldots,z_{L(\tilde{\theta})}(\tilde{\theta}) z 1 ( θ ~ ) , … , z L ( θ ~ ) ( θ ~ ) are atoms of the fitted model obtained by pushing a finite mesh of the noise space through G ( θ ~ , ⋅ ) G(\tilde{\theta},\cdot) G ( θ ~ , ⋅ ) (§ 3.5 ). The first stage optimizes over the model class and the second optimizes within the fitted model P θ ~ P_{\tilde{\theta}} P θ ~ . The recourse decision reweights the fitted model’s own atoms, chosen after ξ 1 \xi_1 ξ 1 has been observed. Under correct specification the optimal reweighting returns the masses that the fitted model itself assigns to the cells of its atoms, w v o r ( θ ~ ) w^{\mathrm{vor}}(\tilde{\theta}) w vor ( θ ~ ) . The departure between optimized w ~ \tilde{\mathbf{w}} w ~ and theoretical w v o r ( θ ~ ) w^{\mathrm{vor}}(\tilde{\theta}) w vor ( θ ~ ) is the diagnostic, and its conditionally multinomial law gives a calibrated test. In the language of § 2.2 , θ \theta θ is fixed before ξ 1 \xi_1 ξ 1 is revealed and is F 0 \mathcal{F}_0 F 0 -measurable, while w \mathbf{w} w is a wait-and-see decision that may depend on ξ 1 \xi_1 ξ 1 .
We note a difference from a classical recourse program. In the classical setting, the first-stage decision anticipates the recourse and minimizes the expected total cost.
Q 0 ( x 0 ) + E [ min x 1 Q 1 ( x 0 , x 1 ; ξ 1 ) ] Q_0(x_0)+\mathbb{E}\left[\min_{x_1}Q_1(x_0,x_1;\xi_1)\right] Q 0 ( x 0 ) + E [ x 1 min Q 1 ( x 0 , x 1 ; ξ 1 ) ]
Here the first stage minimizes its own cost alone. The program is sequential , and the first stage is myopic by design. Were θ \theta θ chosen to anticipate the recourse cost, it would bend to absorb a misfit of the noise law, and the departure that the recourse is meant to expose would disappear into θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ . § 4 develops both stages, and Figure 1 summarizes the procedure.
Figure 1. The procedure at a glance. Top: the estimation block and the synthetic noise determine θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ (Stage 0), which is scored against the prior; the mesh, a finite set of simulated noise values, is pushed through G ( θ ~ , ⋅ ) G(\tilde{\theta},\cdot) G ( θ ~ , ⋅ ) to give the atoms of the fitted model, and the held-out block reweights them (Stage 1). Bottom: an illustration for a one-dimensional Gaussian location–scale model. The held-out weights w ~ ℓ \tilde{w}_{\ell} w ~ ℓ are compared atom by atom with the model’s masses; a cell above its pointwise interval is reported as excess (red), a cell below it as deficit (blue).
The structural model, the split, synthetic noise, and the recourse mesh
Mechanism
Following Covington and Miller [10 ] , we posit that the data-generating mechanism admits a structural representation. The structural parameter θ \theta θ is treated as a draw from a prior Π \Pi Π . The parameter set Θ \Theta Θ is a set equipped with a metric ρ \rho ρ such that
Π ( Θ ) = 1 , θ 0 ∈ Θ . (6) \Pi(\Theta)=1,\qquad\theta_0\in\Theta. \tag*{(6)} Π ( Θ ) = 1 , θ 0 ∈ Θ. (6)
Throughout, ∥ θ − θ ′ ∥ \lVert\theta-\theta'\rVert ∥ θ − θ ′ ∥ denotes ρ ( θ , θ ′ ) \rho(\theta,\theta') ρ ( θ , θ ′ ) and in Θ ⊆ R p \Theta\subseteq\mathbb{R}^{p} Θ ⊆ R p it is the Euclidean distance. An observation is a deterministic transform, indexed by the structural parameter θ \theta θ , of a draw from a noise law ν \nu ν . Let the noise space X \mathcal{X} X be a Polish space, let ν ∈ P ( X ) \nu\in\mathcal{P}(\mathcal{X}) ν ∈ P ( X ) be any Borel probability measure on it, and let
X 1 , … , X n ∼ i . i . d . ν , Y t = G ( θ 0 , X t ) ∈ S , t = 1 , … , n . (7) X_1,\ldots,X_n \mathrel{\overset{\mathrm{i.i.d.}}{\sim}} \nu,\qquad Y_t=G(\theta_0,X_t)\in S,\qquad t=1,\ldots,n. \tag*{(7)} X 1 , … , X n ∼ i.i.d. ν , Y t = G ( θ 0 , X t ) ∈ S , t = 1 , … , n . (7)
The procedure uses ν \nu ν only through simulation. In the estimation stage, we simulate a synthetic sample (§ 3.4 ), and compute a finite mesh of the noise space from simulated draws in the recourse stage (§ 3.5 ). The mechanism G : Θ × X → S G:\Theta\times\mathcal{X}\to S G : Θ × X → S is Borel measurable.
Stochastic processes as mechanisms
For a stochastic process, an observation Y t Y_t Y t is a whole replicate of the process, recorded either at finitely many times 0 < t 1 < ⋯ < t J ≤ T 0<t_1<\cdots<t_J\leq T 0 < t 1 < ⋯ < t J ≤ T , so that S ⊆ R d J S\subseteq\mathbb{R}^{dJ} S ⊆ R dJ , or as a path on [ 0 , T ] [0,T] [ 0 , T ] , so that S S S is a path space. The replicates Y 1 , … , Y n Y_1,\ldots,Y_n Y 1 , … , Y n must be independent, as for independent lineages, cells, or patients.
Continuous-time Markov chains. Let Z Z Z take values in E ⊆ Z d E\subseteq\mathbb{Z}^d E ⊆ Z d and jump by ζ r ∈ Z d \zeta_r\in\mathbb{Z}^d ζ r ∈ Z d at rate λ r ( θ , Z ) ≥ 0 \lambda_r(\theta,Z)\geq0 λ r ( θ , Z ) ≥ 0 , r = 1 , … , R r=1,\ldots,R r = 1 , … , R . Then Z Z Z is the solution of the stochastic differential equation driven by Poisson random measures
Z ( t ) = z 0 + ∑ r = 1 R ζ r ∫ 0 t ∫ 0 ∞ 1 { u ≤ λ r ( θ , Z ( s − ) ) } N r ( d s , d u ) , t ∈ [ 0 , T ] , (8) Z(t)=z_0+\sum_{r=1}^{R}\zeta_r\int_0^t\int_0^\infty\mathbf{1}\{u\leq\lambda_r(\theta,Z(s-))\}N_r(ds,du),\qquad t\in[0,T], \tag*{(8)} Z ( t ) = z 0 + r = 1 ∑ R ζ r ∫ 0 t ∫ 0 ∞ 1 { u ≤ λ r ( θ , Z ( s − ))} N r ( d s , d u ) , t ∈ [ 0 , T ] , (8)
where N 1 , … , N R N_1,\ldots,N_R N 1 , … , N R are independent Poisson random measures on [ 0 , T ] × [ 0 , ∞ ) [0,T]\times[0,\infty) [ 0 , T ] × [ 0 , ∞ ) with intensity d s d u \mathrm{d}s\,\mathrm{d}u d s d u [24 , 16 Ch. II] . Each atom ( s , u ) (s,u) ( s , u ) of N r N_r N r is a candidate jump of type r r r at time s s s , and it is accepted when u ≤ λ r ( θ , Z ( s − ) ) u\leq\lambda_r(\theta,Z(s-)) u ≤ λ r ( θ , Z ( s − )) , interpreted as Poisson thinning. The noise is x = ( N 1 , … , N R ) x=(N_1,\ldots,N_R) x = ( N 1 , … , N R ) , the sample paths of the Poisson random measures. Birth–death processes correspond to d = 1 d=1 d = 1 , ζ 1 = + 1 \zeta_1=+1 ζ 1 = + 1 , ζ 2 = − 1 \zeta_2=-1 ζ 2 = − 1 [25 ] and stochastic chemical reaction networks are the general case [19 , 1 ] . Paths can be recorded in L 1 ( [ 0 , T ] ; R d ) L^1([0,T];\mathbb{R}^d) L 1 ([ 0 , T ] ; R d ) , a separable Banach space; the Skorokhod space of càdlàg paths is also Polish [6 Sec. 12] .
Diffusions. Let Z Z Z solve d Z ( t ) = b ( θ , Z ( t ) ) d t + σ ( θ , Z ( t ) ) d W ( t ) \mathrm{d}Z(t)=b(\theta,Z(t))\mathrm{d}t+\sigma(\theta,Z(t))\mathrm{d}W(t) d Z ( t ) = b ( θ , Z ( t )) d t + σ ( θ , Z ( t )) d W ( t ) , Z ( 0 ) = z 0 ∈ R d Z(0)=z_0\in\mathbb{R}^d Z ( 0 ) = z 0 ∈ R d , with W W W an m m m -dimensional Brownian motion. The noise space is X = C 0 ( [ 0 , T ] ; R m ) \mathcal{X}=C_0([0,T];\mathbb{R}^m) X = C 0 ([ 0 , T ] ; R m ) , the continuous paths started at 0 with the supremum norm, and ν \nu ν is Wiener measure. Observations are snapshots in R d J \mathbb{R}^{dJ} R dJ or paths in C ( [ 0 , T ] ; R d ) C([0,T];\mathbb{R}^d) C ([ 0 , T ] ; R d ) or L 2 ( [ 0 , T ] ; R d ) L^2([0,T];\mathbb{R}^d) L 2 ([ 0 , T ] ; R d ) .
The split
Partition the n n n observations into
ξ 0 = ( y 1 , … , y n 0 ) , ξ 1 = ( y n 0 + 1 , … , y n ) , n 0 + n 1 = n , (9) \xi_0=(y_1,\ldots,y_{n_0}),\qquad\xi_1=(y_{n_0+1},\ldots,y_n),\qquad n_0+n_1=n, \tag*{(9)} ξ 0 = ( y 1 , … , y n 0 ) , ξ 1 = ( y n 0 + 1 , … , y n ) , n 0 + n 1 = n , (9)
with empirical measures P ^ ξ 0 = 1 n 0 ∑ t ≤ n 0 δ y t \widehat{P}_{\xi_0}=\frac{1}{n_0}\sum_{t\leq n_0}\delta_{y_t} P ξ 0 = n 0 1 ∑ t ≤ n 0 δ y t and P ^ ξ 1 = 1 n 1 ∑ t > n 0 δ y t \widehat{P}_{\xi_1}=\frac{1}{n_1}\sum_{t>n_0}\delta_{y_t} P ξ 1 = n 1 1 ∑ t > n 0 δ y t . The block sizes n 0 = n 0 ( n ) n_0=n_0(n) n 0 = n 0 ( n ) and n 1 = n 1 ( n ) n_1=n_1(n) n 1 = n 1 ( n ) are indexed by the total sample size n n n , and throughout we require
n 0 ∧ n 1 ⟶ ∞ , n 1 log n ⟶ ∞ , (10) n_0\wedge n_1\longrightarrow\infty,\qquad\frac{n_1}{\log n}\longrightarrow\infty, \tag*{(10)} n 0 ∧ n 1 ⟶ ∞ , log n n 1 ⟶ ∞ , (10)
the second condition holding for instance when n 1 n_1 n 1 is a fixed fraction of n n n .
Synthetic noise for the estimation stage
The model law P θ P_\theta P θ is available through simulation. Fix a synthetic sample size m = m ( n 0 ) ∈ N m=m(n_0)\in\mathbb{N} m = m ( n 0 ) ∈ N and draw,
x ~ 1 , … , x ~ m ∼ i . i . d . ν , P ^ θ , m : = 1 m ∑ i = 1 m δ G ( θ , x ~ i ) . (11) \widetilde{x}_1,\ldots,\widetilde{x}_m\mathrel{\overset{\mathrm{i.i.d.}}{\sim}}\nu,\qquad\widehat{P}_{\theta,m}:=\frac{1}{m}\sum_{i=1}^{m}\delta_{G(\theta,\widetilde{x}_i)}. \tag*{(11)} x 1 , … , x m ∼ i.i.d. ν , P θ , m := m 1 i = 1 ∑ m δ G ( θ , x i ) . (11)
The same noise draws are used for every θ \theta θ . The empirical measure P ^ θ , m \widehat{P}_{\theta,m} P θ , m is the sample average approximation (SAA) of P θ P_\theta P θ [36 Ch. 5] , and it plays the role of the scenario generation step of Pflug and Pichler [33 ] . It is also the single-replicate Monte Carlo approximation of the minimum expected Wasserstein estimator used in the computations of Bernton et al. [5 ] , where the noise is likewise drawn once and θ \theta θ is optimized with the draws held fixed.
Together with the split, the synthetic sample forms the filtration
F 0 = σ ( ξ 0 , x ~ 1 : m ) ⊂ F 1 = σ ( ξ 0 , x ~ 1 : m , ξ 1 ) . (12) \mathcal{F}_0=\sigma(\xi_0,\widetilde{x}_{1:m})\subset\mathcal{F}_1=\sigma(\xi_0,\widetilde{x}_{1:m},\xi_1). \tag*{(12)} F 0 = σ ( ξ 0 , x 1 : m ) ⊂ F 1 = σ ( ξ 0 , x 1 : m , ξ 1 ) . (12)
Because x ~ 1 : m \widetilde{x}_{1:m} x 1 : m is independent of the data, conditioning on F 0 \mathcal{F}_0 F 0 leaves ξ 1 \xi_1 ξ 1 an i.i.d. sample from the law that generated the data.
The recourse mesh: the N 1 N_1 N 1 -medoid of simulated noise
The recourse stage needs a fixed, finite set of model atoms at which a departure from the model can be reported. We obtain them by pushing finitely many noise values through the fitted mechanism, and we choose these noise values to represent ν \nu ν as well as N 1 N_1 N 1 points can, in the sense of optimal quantization [20 ] .
Optimal quantization. Fix a quantization (pseudo)metric d Q d_Q d Q on X \mathcal{X} X , Borel measurable on X × X \mathcal{X} \times\mathcal{X} X × X . Fix an exponent r ≥ 1 r \ge1 r ≥ 1 . For a mesh Γ = { x ˉ 1 , … , x ˉ N 1 } ⊂ X \Gamma= \{\bar{x}_1,\ldots,\bar{x}_{N_1}\} \subset\mathcal{X} Γ = { x ˉ 1 , … , x ˉ N 1 } ⊂ X let
C j : = { x ∈ X : j = arg min j ′ d Q ( x , x ˉ j ′ ) } , ties broken by lowest index, (13) C_j := \left\{x \in\mathcal{X}: j = \underset{j'}{\arg\min}\ d_Q(x,\bar{x}_{j'})\right\}, \qquad\text{ties broken by lowest index,} \tag*{(13)} C j := { x ∈ X : j = j ′ arg min d Q ( x , x ˉ j ′ ) } , ties broken by lowest index, (13)
be its Voronoi cells, q j : = ν ( C j ) q_j := \nu(C_j) q j := ν ( C j ) their masses, and
e r ( Γ ; ν ) : = ( ∫ X min j ≤ N 1 d Q ( x , x ˉ j ) r ν ( d x ) ) 1 / r (14) e_r(\Gamma;\nu) := \left(\int_{\mathcal{X}} \min_{j \le N_1} d_Q(x,\bar{x}_j)^r \,\nu(dx)\right)^{1/r} \tag*{(14)} e r ( Γ ; ν ) := ( ∫ X j ≤ N 1 min d Q ( x , x ˉ j ) r ν ( d x ) ) 1/ r (14)
its quantization error. Optimal quantizers exist for X = R k \mathcal{X} = \mathbb{R}^k X = R k when d Q d_Q d Q is a metric and
∫ d Q ( x 0 , x ) r ν ( d x ) < ∞ \int d_Q(x_0,x)^r \,\nu(dx) < \infty ∫ d Q ( x 0 , x ) r ν ( d x ) < ∞
[20 , 28 ] . In a general Polish space an optimal quantizer need not exist.
Construction from simulated noise. Because ν \nu ν is available only through simulation, the mesh is computed from simulated noise
x ( 1 ) , … , x ( M ) ∼ i . i . d . ν , (15) x^{(1)},\ldots,x^{(M)} \overset{\mathrm{i.i.d.}}{\sim} \nu, \tag*{(15)} x ( 1 ) , … , x ( M ) ∼ i.i.d. ν , (15)
which can also be subsampled from the m m m synthetic samples in previous stage with M < m M < m M < m . We take the mesh to be their N 1 N_1 N 1 -medoid, that is,
Γ ^ ∈ arg min Γ ⊆ { x ( 1 ) , … , x ( M ) } ∣ Γ ∣ = N 1 { 1 M ∑ i ≤ M min x ˉ ∈ Γ d Q ( x ( i ) , x ˉ ) r } , (16) \widehat{\Gamma} \in\underset{\substack{\Gamma\subseteq\{x^{(1)},\ldots,x^{(M)}\}\\|\Gamma|=N_1}}{\arg\min} \left\{\frac{1}{M}\sum_{i \le M}\min_{\bar{x}\in\Gamma} d_Q(x^{(i)},\bar{x})^r\right\}, \tag*{(16)} Γ ∈ Γ ⊆ { x ( 1 ) , … , x ( M ) } ∣Γ∣ = N 1 arg min { M 1 i ≤ M ∑ x ˉ ∈ Γ min d Q ( x ( i ) , x ˉ ) r } , (16)
computed approximately by Algorithm 2 of § 7.3 . Every mesh point is a genuine draw from ν \nu ν , so G ( θ , x ˉ j ) G(\theta,\bar{x}_j) G ( θ , x ˉ j ) is always defined and typical of the model.
Raw and merged atoms. The raw atoms are G ( θ , x ˉ j ) G(\theta,\bar{x}_j) G ( θ , x ˉ j ) , j = 1 , … , N 1 j=1,\ldots,N_1 j = 1 , … , N 1 . When G G G is many-to-one, distinct mesh points can have the same image. We therefore merge coinciding images. Let z 1 ( θ ) , … , z L ( θ ) ( θ ) z_1(\theta),\ldots,z_{L(\theta)}(\theta) z 1 ( θ ) , … , z L ( θ ) ( θ ) be the distinct values among { G ( θ , x ˉ j ) } j ≤ N 1 \{G(\theta,\bar{x}_j)\}_{j\le N_1} { G ( θ , x ˉ j ) } j ≤ N 1 , and let
I ℓ ( θ ) : = { j ≤ N 1 : G ( θ , x ˉ j ) = z ℓ ( θ ) } , ℓ = 1 , … , L ( θ ) , (17) I_\ell(\theta) := \{j \le N_1 : G(\theta,\bar{x}_j) = z_\ell(\theta)\}, \qquad\ell= 1,\ldots,L(\theta), \tag*{(17)} I ℓ ( θ ) := { j ≤ N 1 : G ( θ , x ˉ j ) = z ℓ ( θ )} , ℓ = 1 , … , L ( θ ) , (17)
be the fibers , labelled so that min I 1 ( θ ) < min I 2 ( θ ) < ⋯ \min I_1(\theta) < \min I_2(\theta) < \cdots min I 1 ( θ ) < min I 2 ( θ ) < ⋯ . The fibers partition the mesh and the molecular model measure on the merged atoms is
P θ , w : = ∑ ℓ = 1 L ( θ ) w ℓ δ z ℓ ( θ ) , w ∈ Δ L ( θ ) − 1 , (18) P_{\theta,\mathbf{w}} := \sum_{\ell=1}^{L(\theta)} w_\ell\delta_{z_\ell(\theta)}, \qquad\mathbf{w} \in\Delta^{L(\theta)-1}, \tag*{(18)} P θ , w := ℓ = 1 ∑ L ( θ ) w ℓ δ z ℓ ( θ ) , w ∈ Δ L ( θ ) − 1 , (18)
where Δ L − 1 = { w ∈ [ 0 , 1 ] L : ∑ ℓ w ℓ = 1 } \Delta^{L-1} = \{\mathbf{w} \in[0,1]^L : \sum_\ell w_\ell= 1\} Δ L − 1 = { w ∈ [ 0 , 1 ] L : ∑ ℓ w ℓ = 1 } . The weights w \mathbf{w} w are the model's weights , living on observation-space atoms. When G G G is continuous and injective in x x x the fibers are singletons, L ( θ ) = N 1 L(\theta) = N_1 L ( θ ) = N 1 . When P θ P_\theta P θ is finitely supported, L ( θ ) L(\theta) L ( θ ) is at most the size of the support, however fine the mesh.
Model criticism procedure
The sample split (9) splits the decision as well. The structural parameter is chosen first with the noise law held at its assumed value, and the weights are chosen second with the structure held at its fitted value. The here-and-now decision is therefore the structural parameter θ \theta θ alone and the recourse decision is the weight vector w \mathbf{w} w alone,
X 0 ( ξ 0 ) : = K ⊆ Θ , X 1 ( θ ~ , ξ 1 ) : = Δ L ( θ ~ ) − 1 , (19) X_0(\xi_0) := K \subseteq\Theta,\qquad X_1(\widetilde{\theta},\xi_1) := \Delta^{L(\widetilde{\theta})-1}, \tag*{(19)} X 0 ( ξ 0 ) := K ⊆ Θ , X 1 ( θ , ξ 1 ) := Δ L ( θ ) − 1 , (19)
with K K K the compact search set of Assumption 3 . The stage costs are Wasserstein discrepancies against the two blocks,
Q 0 ( x 0 ; ξ 0 ) : = W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P ^ θ , m ) , Q 1 ( x 0 , x 1 ; ξ 1 ) : = W 1 ( P ^ ξ 1 , P θ ~ , w ) , (20) Q_0(x_0;\xi_0) := W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},\widehat{P}_{\theta,m}),\qquad Q_1(x_0,x_1;\xi_1) := W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_1},P_{\widetilde{\theta},\mathbf{w}}), \tag*{(20)} Q 0 ( x 0 ; ξ 0 ) := W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ , m ) , Q 1 ( x 0 , x 1 ; ξ 1 ) := W 1 ( P ξ 1 , P θ , w ) , (20)
the first formed against the synthetic sample (11) and the second on the merged atoms (18) . Ideally, we would like to compute W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P θ ) W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},P_\theta) W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ ) exactly in the first stage, but this is not feasible for general P θ P_\theta P θ ; we therefore replace P θ P_\theta P θ by its SAA P ^ θ , m \widehat{P}_{\theta,m} P θ , m , and no mesh is used at this stage.
We explain the design of the feasible sets (19) . First, the estimation stage may not touch the weights. Simulating from ν \nu ν itself indicates that when the structure is fitted, the noise law is assumed instead of estimated. Second, the recourse stage may not revise the structure. Were θ \theta θ free at the recourse stage, any noise-law departure could be absorbed by refitting the structure, rendering the diagnostic uninterpretable.
Estimation stage
Let θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 be a draw from Π \Pi Π generating y 1 : n y_{1:n} y 1 : n through the mechanism (7) . We solve the estimation-stage term alone,
θ ~ n 0 ∈ ε n 0 -arg min θ ∈ K W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P ^ θ , m ) , m = m ( n 0 ) , (21) \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} \in\varepsilon_{n_0}\text{-arg min}_{\theta\in K} W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},\widehat{P}_{\theta,m}),\qquad m=m(n_0), \tag*{(21)} θ n 0 ∈ ε n 0 -arg min θ ∈ K W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ , m ) , m = m ( n 0 ) , (21)
where ε -arg min θ f : = { θ : f ( θ ) ≤ ε + inf f } \varepsilon\text{-arg min}_{\theta} f := \{\theta:f(\theta)\leq\varepsilon+\inf f\} ε -arg min θ f := { θ : f ( θ ) ≤ ε + inf f } and ε n 0 ↓ 0 \varepsilon_{n_0}\downarrow0 ε n 0 ↓ 0 . We call θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 the SAA minimum Wasserstein estimator .
When the observations are vector-valued, S = R s S=\mathbb{R}^{s} S = R s with s > 1 s>1 s > 1 , every evaluation of the objective in (21) is a transport linear program between n 0 n_0 n 0 and m m m points (§ 7.1 ), and the search of Algorithm 1 needs hundreds of evaluations. For efficiency we then replace W 1 W_1 W 1 at the estimation stage by the sliced Wasserstein distance, the average of one-dimensional W 1 W_1 W 1 distances between the projections of the two samples on a fixed set of directions ([30 ] ). This changes the estimator, whose consistency is then that of minimum sliced-Wasserstein estimators ([30 ] ) rather than Theorem 1.
For large n 0 n_0 n 0 a consistent estimate behaves like the draw θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 itself, and should therefore look like a typical draw from Π \Pi Π . To test if θ \theta θ is a typical value for the prior Π \Pi Π , we set up the hypothesis with significance level α = 0.05 \alpha=0.05 α = 0.05 :
H 0 : θ ∼ Π against H 1 = ¬ H 0 . H_0:\ \theta\sim\Pi\ \text{against}\ H_1=\neg H_0. H 0 : θ ∼ Π against H 1 = ¬ H 0 .
Since we observe only one instantiation of the structural parameter θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 from the prior, indirectly through the data Y 1 , … , Y n Y_1,\ldots,Y_n Y 1 , … , Y n , detection of prior misspecification has low power, regardless of the chosen test. We take a summary statistic T ( θ ) T(\theta) T ( θ ) , by default the Euclidean norm T ( θ ) = ∥ θ ∥ T(\theta)=\lVert\theta\rVert T ( θ ) = ∥ θ ∥ , write F ( t ) : = Π ( T ( θ ) ≤ t ) F(t):=\Pi(T(\theta)\leq t) F ( t ) := Π ( T ( θ ) ≤ t ) and F ( t − ) : = Π ( T ( θ ) < t ) F(t^-):=\Pi(T(\theta)<t) F ( t − ) := Π ( T ( θ ) < t ) , and set
U = F ( t − ) + V Π ( T ( θ ) = t ) , t = T ( θ ~ n 0 ) , V ∼ Unif ( 0 , 1 ) independent of the data , U=F(t^-)+V\Pi(T(\theta)=t),\qquad t=T(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}),\qquad V\sim\operatorname{Unif}(0,1)\ \text{independent of the data}, U = F ( t − ) + V Π ( T ( θ ) = t ) , t = T ( θ n 0 ) , V ∼ Unif ( 0 , 1 ) independent of the data ,
and the p p p -value to be
p = 2 min { U , 1 − U } . p = 2\min\{U, 1-U\}. p = 2 min { U , 1 − U } .
The central estimation-stage result is the strong consistency of θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 (Theorem 1, Appendix § 12 ). Under Assumptions 1–3, for any measurable ε n 0 \varepsilon_{n_0} ε n 0 -approximate minimizer θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 of Equation (21) with ε n 0 ↓ 0 \varepsilon_{n_0} \downarrow0 ε n 0 ↓ 0 , and if the synthetic sample grows with the estimation block, m = m ( n 0 ) → ∞ m=m(n_0)\to\infty m = m ( n 0 ) → ∞ ,
lim n 0 → ∞ ∥ θ ~ n 0 − θ 0 ∥ = 0 almost surely . \lim_{n_0\to\infty}\left\|\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}-\theta_0\right\|=0 \quad\text{almost surely}. n 0 → ∞ lim θ n 0 − θ 0 = 0 almost surely .
Hence, θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 concentrates near θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 for large n 0 n_0 n 0 , implying θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 should be a typical draw from the prior Π \Pi Π . Deviation suggests either the prior or the noise law may be misspecified. Since the structural parameter, the noise law, and the structural equation are all entangled, we assume misspecification in the structural equation G G G can be absorbed in the noise law and when we identify misspecification in the noise law, we may also attribute it to the structure G G G , depending on the context (see the phylogenetic example in § 6.2 ).
To protect the influence of noise law misspecification on the structural parameter. We show the estimator θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 is qualitatively robust. Define the estimation functional T T T on ( P 1 ( S ) , W 1 ) (\mathcal{P}_1(S),W_1) ( P 1 ( S ) , W 1 ) by T ( Q ) ∈ arg min θ ∈ K W 1 ( Q , P θ ) T(Q)\in\arg\min_{\theta\in K}W_1(Q,P_\theta) T ( Q ) ∈ arg min θ ∈ K W 1 ( Q , P θ ) , so that θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 is an approximation of T ( P ^ ξ 0 ) T(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0}) T ( P ξ 0 ) ; we say T T T is qualitatively robust at the model if it is continuous at P θ 0 P_{\theta_0} P θ 0 (Hampel, [21 ] ). In Proposition 2 we show that if Q k → P θ 0 Q_k\to P_{\theta_0} Q k → P θ 0 in W 1 W_1 W 1 , then every sequence of approximate minimizers of θ ↦ W 1 ( Q k , P θ ) \theta\mapsto W_1(Q_k,P_\theta) θ ↦ W 1 ( Q k , P θ ) over K K K , and likewise of its SAA version, converges to θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 . This yields qualitative robustness ( Huber and Ronchetti, [23 ] ), namely continuity of T T T at the model on ( P 1 ( S ) , W 1 ) (\mathcal{P}_1(S),W_1) ( P 1 ( S ) , W 1 ) , and stability under small W 1 W_1 W 1 mismatch; related robustness properties of minimum-dissimilarity estimators are established by Bassetti and Regazzini (2006), and illustrated numerically under misspecification and heavy tails by Bernton et al. [5 ] .
Recourse stage
Fix θ ~ : = θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}:=\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ := θ n 0 from the previous stage and write z ℓ : = z ℓ ( θ ~ ) z_\ell:=z_\ell(\widetilde{\theta}) z ℓ := z ℓ ( θ ) , ℓ = 1 , … , L : = L ( θ ~ ) \ell=1,\ldots,L:=L(\widetilde{\theta}) ℓ = 1 , … , L := L ( θ ) , for the merged atoms of § 3.5 . The recourse-stage problem is
Q ( θ ~ ) = min w ∈ Δ L − 1 W 1 ( P ^ ξ 1 , P θ ~ , w ) . (22) Q(\widetilde{\theta})=\min_{w\in\Delta^{L-1}}W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_1},P_{\widetilde{\theta},w}). \tag*{(22)} Q ( θ ) = w ∈ Δ L − 1 min W 1 ( P ξ 1 , P θ , w ) . (22)
The recourse problem is solved by Voronoi recourse (Pflug and Pichler, [33 ] ). The minimizer and the value of Equation (22) are
w ~ ℓ = 1 n 1 # { y ∈ ξ 1 : ℓ = arg min ℓ ′ d ( y , z ℓ ′ ) } , Q ( θ ~ ) = 1 n 1 ∑ y ∈ ξ 1 min ℓ d ( y , z ℓ ) . (23) \widetilde{w}_\ell=\frac{1}{n_1}\#\left\{y\in\xi_1:\ell=\arg\min_{\ell'}d(y,z_{\ell'})\right\},\qquad
Q(\widetilde{\theta})=\frac{1}{n_1}\sum_{y\in\xi_1}\min_\ell d(y,z_\ell). \tag*{(23)} w ℓ = n 1 1 # { y ∈ ξ 1 : ℓ = arg ℓ ′ min d ( y , z ℓ ′ ) } , Q ( θ ) = n 1 1 y ∈ ξ 1 ∑ ℓ min d ( y , z ℓ ) . (23)
ties broken by lowest label. Define the observation-space Voronoi cells of the merged atoms and the model’s Voronoi masses
w ℓ v o r ( θ ) : = P θ ( V ℓ ( θ ) ) , V ℓ ( θ ) : = { y ∈ S : ℓ = arg min ℓ ′ d ( y , z ℓ ′ ( θ ) ) } . (24) w_\ell^{\mathrm{vor}}(\theta):=P_\theta(V_\ell(\theta)),\qquad
V_\ell(\theta):=\left\{y\in S:\ell=\arg\min_{\ell'}d(y,z_{\ell'}(\theta))\right\}. \tag*{(24)} w ℓ vor ( θ ) := P θ ( V ℓ ( θ )) , V ℓ ( θ ) := { y ∈ S : ℓ = arg ℓ ′ min d ( y , z ℓ ′ ( θ )) } . (24)
ties broken by lowest label. If P θ P_\theta P θ is purely atomic and every atom of P θ P_\theta P θ is a merged atom, each cell contains exactly one atom of P θ P_\theta P θ and
w ℓ v o r ( θ ) = P θ ( { z ℓ ( θ ) } ) = ν { x ∈ X : G ( θ , x ) = z ℓ ( θ ) } , (25) w_\ell^{\mathrm{vor}}(\theta)=P_\theta(\{z_\ell(\theta)\})=\nu\{x\in\mathcal{X}:G(\theta,x)=z_\ell(\theta)\}, \tag*{(25)} w ℓ vor ( θ ) = P θ ({ z ℓ ( θ )}) = ν { x ∈ X : G ( θ , x ) = z ℓ ( θ )} , (25)
the probability mass function of the model at the atom. In that case (23) is the relative frequency of each support value in the held-out block, and held-out values outside the model’s support are counted into the nearest atom, typically an extreme one.
At the recourse stage we localize the residual misspecification in the noise law. In Theorem 2, Appendix § 12 , we show that almost surely, as n 0 , n 1 → ∞ n_0,n_1\to\infty n 0 , n 1 → ∞ , the number of merged atoms eventually equals L ( θ 0 ) L(\theta_0) L ( θ 0 ) and, for each ℓ \ell ℓ ,
w ~ ℓ → w ℓ v o r ( θ 0 ) , w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) → w ℓ v o r ( θ 0 ) , ∑ ℓ w ~ ℓ δ z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) → W 1 ∑ ℓ w ℓ v o r ( θ 0 ) δ z ℓ ( θ 0 ) . \widetilde{w}_{\ell}\to w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\theta_0),\qquad w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})\to w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\theta_0),\qquad\sum_{\ell}\widetilde{w}_{\ell}\delta_{z_{\ell}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})}\xrightarrow{\mathrm{W}_1}\sum_{\ell}w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\theta_0)\delta_{z_{\ell}(\theta_0)}. w ℓ → w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) , w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) → w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) , ℓ ∑ w ℓ δ z ℓ ( θ n 0 ) W 1 ℓ ∑ w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) δ z ℓ ( θ 0 ) .
Condition on F 0 \mathcal{F}_0 F 0 , which fixes θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 , and hence fixes the merged atoms and the cells V ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) V_{\ell}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) V ℓ ( θ n 0 ) . This leaves the held-out observations i.i.d. from the law that actually generated them, and write
p ℓ : = P ( Y ∈ V ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) ∣ F 0 ) , ℓ = 1 , … , L , (26) p_{\ell}:=\mathbb{P}\left(Y\in V_{\ell}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})\mid\mathcal{F}_0\right),\qquad\ell=1,\ldots,L, \tag*{(26)} p ℓ := P ( Y ∈ V ℓ ( θ n 0 ) ∣ F 0 ) , ℓ = 1 , … , L , (26)
for the resulting cell probabilities. Since the cells partition S S S we have ∑ ℓ p ℓ = 1 \sum_{\ell}p_{\ell}=1 ∑ ℓ p ℓ = 1 , and Equation (23) counts each held-out observation into exactly one of them, so by construction
( n 1 w ~ 1 , … , n 1 w ~ L ) ∣ F 0 ∼ Multinomial ( n 1 ; p 1 , … , p L ) . (27) (n_1\widetilde{w}_1,\ldots,n_1\widetilde{w}_L)\mid\mathcal{F}_0\sim\operatorname{Multinomial}(n_1;p_1,\ldots,p_L). \tag*{(27)} ( n 1 w 1 , … , n 1 w L ) ∣ F 0 ∼ Multinomial ( n 1 ; p 1 , … , p L ) . (27)
The counts are not independent across cells as they sum to n 1 n_1 n 1 by construction, and
sd ( w ~ ℓ ∣ F 0 ) = p ℓ ( 1 − p ℓ ) n 1 , corr ( w ~ ℓ , w ~ ℓ ′ ∣ F 0 ) = − p ℓ p ℓ ′ ( 1 − p ℓ ) ( 1 − p ℓ ′ ) . (28) \operatorname{sd}(\widetilde{w}_{\ell}\mid\mathcal{F}_0)=\sqrt{\frac{p_{\ell}(1-p_{\ell})}{n_1}},\qquad\operatorname{corr}(\widetilde{w}_{\ell},\widetilde{w}_{\ell'}\mid\mathcal{F}_0)=-\sqrt{\frac{p_{\ell}p_{\ell'}}{(1-p_{\ell})(1-p_{\ell'})}}. \tag*{(28)} sd ( w ℓ ∣ F 0 ) = n 1 p ℓ ( 1 − p ℓ ) , corr ( w ℓ , w ℓ ′ ∣ F 0 ) = − ( 1 − p ℓ ) ( 1 − p ℓ ′ ) p ℓ p ℓ ′ . (28)
Replacing p ℓ p_{\ell} p ℓ by its value under the fitted model, w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) , gives the per-cell error bar for the diagnostic. With continuous observations and singleton fibers the masses are of order 1 / N 1 1/N_1 1/ N 1 and the correlations are O ( N 1 − 1 ) O(N_1^{-1}) O ( N 1 − 1 ) . With discrete observations the masses are the model’s probability mass function (25) and need not be small, so the correlations should be kept in mind when a few atoms carry most of the mass. The signal-to-noise ratio of cell ℓ \ell ℓ is
w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) sd ( w ~ ℓ ∣ F 0 ) ≈ n 1 w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) 1 − w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) ≥ e ℓ , e ℓ : = n 1 w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) , \frac{w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})}{\operatorname{sd}(\widetilde{w}_{\ell}\mid\mathcal{F}_0)}\approx\sqrt{\frac{n_1w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})}{1-w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})}}\ge\sqrt{e_{\ell}},\qquad e_{\ell}:=n_1w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}), sd ( w ℓ ∣ F 0 ) w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) ≈ 1 − w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) n 1 w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) ≥ e ℓ , e ℓ := n 1 w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) ,
the square root of the expected count. In the continuous case e ℓ e_{\ell} e ℓ is of order n 1 / N 1 n_1/N_1 n 1 / N 1 , so refining the recourse mesh trades a finer resolution for a noisier estimate of every individual weight; in the discrete case the resolution is capped by the support and refining the mesh beyond it has no effect on the atoms. A practical default is to choose N 1 N_1 N 1 so that every expected count e ℓ e_{\ell} e ℓ is at least in the tens, which is also suggested by Pflug and Pichler [33 ] for optimal quantization. This also guarantees the signal-to-noise ratio is at least 3, which satisfies the limit of detection standard in Borman and Elder [7 ] .
The natural test compares the observed counts in Equation (27) with the counts the fitted model predicts. Conditionally on F 0 \mathcal{F}_0 F 0 , we hypothesize
H 0 : p ℓ = w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) for every ℓ = 1 , … , L , H 1 : p ℓ ≠ w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) for some ℓ . (29) H_0:p_{\ell}=w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})\ \text{for every }\ell=1,\ldots,L,\qquad H_1:p_{\ell}\ne w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})\ \text{for some }\ell. \tag*{(29)} H 0 : p ℓ = w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) for every ℓ = 1 , … , L , H 1 : p ℓ = w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) for some ℓ . (29)
H 0 H_0 H 0 asserts that the fitted model reproduces the held-out cell probabilities. The Pearson statistic is
T n 1 : = ∑ ℓ = 1 L ( n 1 w ~ ℓ − n 1 w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) ) 2 n 1 w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) , T n 1 ∣ F 0 ⟹ χ L − 1 2 (30) T_{n_1}:=\sum_{\ell=1}^{L}\frac{(n_1\widetilde{w}_{\ell}-n_1w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}))^2}{n_1w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})},\qquad T_{n_1}\mid\mathcal{F}_0\Longrightarrow\chi^2_{L-1} \tag*{(30)} T n 1 := ℓ = 1 ∑ L n 1 w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) ( n 1 w ℓ − n 1 w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) ) 2 , T n 1 ∣ F 0 ⟹ χ L − 1 2 (30)
under H 0 H_0 H 0 as n 1 → ∞ n_1 \to\infty n 1 → ∞ , and we reject when T n 1 T_{n_1} T n 1 exceeds the ( 1 − α ) (1-\alpha) ( 1 − α ) quantile of χ L − 1 2 \chi^2_{L-1} χ L − 1 2 . The test is calibrated by the split as θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 is F 0 \mathcal{F}_0 F 0 -measurable and ξ 1 \xi_1 ξ 1 is independent of F 0 \mathcal{F}_0 F 0 . Following the procedure in Cochran, [9 ] , adjacent cells are pooled until every expected count e ℓ e_\ell e ℓ is at least 5, the degrees of freedom being reduced to the number of pooled cells minus one.
If we reject the null hypothesis, the optimized recourse weight profile w ~ \widetilde{w} w provides a visual diagnostic for which aspects of the noise law or structure are misspecified. The optimized w ~ \widetilde{w} w is compared atom by atom with the reference weight w vor ( θ ~ n 0 ) w^{\operatorname{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) w vor ( θ n 0 ) , with per-cell error bar (28) widened from one standard deviation to 1 − α 1-\alpha 1 − α coverage. When the correlations in (28) are negligible, we may treat the bars as bona fide 100 ( 1 − α ) % 100(1-\alpha)\% 100 ( 1 − α ) % confidence intervals. The discrepancy between w ~ \widetilde{w} w and w vor ( θ ~ n 0 ) w^{\operatorname{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) w vor ( θ n 0 ) says which part of the noise distribution is wrong; by Remark 1 it does so at the level of the fibers of the fitted mechanism.
Assumptions
In this section we collect assumptions that are sufficient for propositions, lemmas and theorems in the Appendix.
Assumption 1 (L 1 L^1 L 1 -modulus of the mechanism).
(i) (envelope ) for some (hence every) y 0 ∈ S y_0 \in S y 0 ∈ S and every compact K ′ ⊆ Θ K' \subseteq\Theta K ′ ⊆ Θ ,
∫ X sup θ ∈ K ′ d ( y 0 , G ( θ , x ) ) ν ( d x ) < ∞ ; \int_{\mathcal{X}} \sup_{\theta\in K'} d(y_0,G(\theta,x)) \,\nu(\mathrm{d}x) < \infty; ∫ X θ ∈ K ′ sup d ( y 0 , G ( θ , x )) ν ( d x ) < ∞ ; (ii) (continuity in L 1 ( ν ) L^1(\nu) L 1 ( ν ) ) for every θ ∈ Θ \theta\in\Theta θ ∈ Θ ,
ω θ ( δ ) : = ∫ X sup θ ′ ∈ Θ : ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ d ( G ( θ ′ , x ) , G ( θ , x ) ) ν ( d x ) ⟶ 0 ( δ ↓ 0 ) . \omega_\theta(\delta) := \int_{\mathcal{X}} \sup_{\substack{\theta' \in\Theta:\\ \lVert\theta'-\theta\rVert<\delta}} d(G(\theta',x),G(\theta,x)) \,\nu(\mathrm{d}x) \longrightarrow0 \quad(\delta\downarrow0). ω θ ( δ ) := ∫ X θ ′ ∈ Θ : ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ sup d ( G ( θ ′ , x ) , G ( θ , x )) ν ( d x ) ⟶ 0 ( δ ↓ 0 ) .
Assumption 1(i) implies E d ( y 0 , Y 1 ) < ∞ \mathbb{E}d(y_0,Y_1)<\infty E d ( y 0 , Y 1 ) < ∞ , that is P θ ∈ P 1 ( S ) P_\theta\in\mathcal{P}_1(S) P θ ∈ P 1 ( S ) , by taking K ′ K' K ′ as a singleton. Assumption 1(ii) makes θ ↦ P θ \theta\mapsto P_\theta θ ↦ P θ continuous in W 1 W_1 W 1 (Lemma 1 ), which is equivalent to Assumption 2.2 of Bernton et al. [5 ] .
Assumption 2 (Identifiability). θ ≠ θ ′ ⇒ W 1 ( P θ , P θ ′ ) > 0 \theta\ne\theta' \Rightarrow W_1(P_\theta,P_{\theta'})>0 θ = θ ′ ⇒ W 1 ( P θ , P θ ′ ) > 0 .
Assumption 3 (Compact search set). The estimation stage (21) is solved over a compact set K ⊆ Θ K \subseteq\Theta K ⊆ Θ with θ 0 ∈ K \theta_0 \in K θ 0 ∈ K .
Assumption 3 implies Assumption 2.3 of Bernton et al. [5 ] on the search set, and it serves synthetic approximation accuracy. P ^ θ , m \widehat{P}_{\theta,m} P θ , m approximates P θ P_\theta P θ uniformly only on compacts (Lemma 3 ). In practice K K K is the box over which Algorithm 1 searches, chosen to carry prior mass close to one.
The recourse assumptions concern the merged atoms of § 3.5 at the fixed mesh { x ˉ j } j ≤ N 1 \{\bar{x}_j\}_{j\le N_1} { x ˉ j } j ≤ N 1 . Define the exceptional set
D : = { θ ∈ Θ : the fiber partition { I ℓ ( ⋅ ) } is not constant on any neighborhood of θ } ∪ ⋃ j ≤ N 1 { θ ∈ Θ : G ( ⋅ , x ˉ j ) is discontinuous at θ } . (31) D := \left\{\theta\in\Theta: \text{the fiber partition } \{I_\ell(\cdot)\} \text{ is not constant on any neighborhood of } \theta\right\}
\cup\bigcup_{j\le N_1}\left\{\theta\in\Theta: G(\cdot,\bar{x}_j) \text{ is discontinuous at } \theta\right\}. \tag*{(31)} D := { θ ∈ Θ : the fiber partition { I ℓ ( ⋅ )} is not constant on any neighborhood of θ } ∪ j ≤ N 1 ⋃ { θ ∈ Θ : G ( ⋅ , x ˉ j ) is discontinuous at θ } . (31)
Assumption 4 (Local stability of the merged atoms). The prior does not charge the exceptional set, Π ( D ) = 0 \Pi(D)=0 Π ( D ) = 0 .
Table 1 (PDF p. 12). Examples and the condition giving Assumption 5.
For θ 0 ∉ D \theta_0 \notin D θ 0 ∈ / D there is a neighborhood U U U of θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 on which the fibers, hence the number of atoms L ( θ ) = L ( θ 0 ) L(\theta)=L(\theta_0) L ( θ ) = L ( θ 0 ) and their labels, are constant, and on which each atom z ℓ ( θ ) = G ( θ , x ˉ j ) z_\ell(\theta)=G(\theta,\bar{x}_j) z ℓ ( θ ) = G ( θ , x ˉ j ) , j ∈ I ℓ ( θ 0 ) j\in I_\ell(\theta_0) j ∈ I ℓ ( θ 0 ) , is continuous at θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 . For θ ∈ U \theta\in U θ ∈ U the cells V ℓ ( θ ) V_\ell(\theta) V ℓ ( θ ) of (24) are therefore defined with a common number of atoms and common labels, and the following maps make sense.
Assumption 5 (Continuity of the cell masses). Almost surely under Π \Pi Π , for every ℓ ≤ L ( θ 0 ) \ell\le L(\theta_0) ℓ ≤ L ( θ 0 ) the maps
θ ↦ P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ) ) and θ ↦ P θ ( V ℓ ( θ ) ) \theta\mapsto P_{\theta_0}(V_\ell(\theta)) \qquad\text{and} \qquad\theta\mapsto P_\theta(V_\ell(\theta)) θ ↦ P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ )) and θ ↦ P θ ( V ℓ ( θ ))
are continuous at θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 .
Assumption 5 is exactly what the recourse consistency theorem uses. The first map controls the population target of the recourse weights, the second the model’s own Voronoi masses. It is not checked directly; instead, either of the following two conditions implies it (Lemma 6 , Appendix § 12 ). The first suits continuous observations and atoms that move with θ \theta θ ; the second suits lattice-valued observations, whose atoms do not move.
(5a) (Boundary-null cells. ) Almost surely under Π \Pi Π , P θ 0 P_{\theta_0} P θ 0 does not charge the bisectors of the merged atoms,
P θ 0 ( ⋃ ℓ ≠ ℓ ′ { y ∈ S : d ( y , z ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) = d ( y , z ℓ ′ ( θ 0 ) ) } ) = 0. P_{\theta_0}\left(\bigcup_{\ell\ne\ell'}\{y\in S:d(y,z_\ell(\theta_0))=d(y,z_{\ell'}(\theta_0))\}\right)=0. P θ 0 ℓ = ℓ ′ ⋃ { y ∈ S : d ( y , z ℓ ( θ 0 )) = d ( y , z ℓ ′ ( θ 0 ))} = 0.
(5b) (Fixed atoms on a discrete support. ) Almost surely under Π \Pi Π there are a neighborhood U ′ U' U ′ of θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 and a uniformly discrete set Y ⊂ S \mathcal{Y}\subset S Y ⊂ S , i.e. η : = inf { d ( y , y ′ ) : y ≠ y ′ ∈ Y } > 0 \eta:=\inf\{d(y,y'):y\ne y'\in\mathcal{Y}\}>0 η := inf { d ( y , y ′ ) : y = y ′ ∈ Y } > 0 , such that (i) z ℓ ( θ ) = z ℓ ( θ 0 ) z_\ell(\theta)=z_\ell(\theta_0) z ℓ ( θ ) = z ℓ ( θ 0 ) for every ℓ \ell ℓ and every θ ∈ U ′ \theta\in U' θ ∈ U ′ , and (ii) P θ ( Y ) = 1 P_\theta(\mathcal{Y})=1 P θ ( Y ) = 1 for every θ ∈ U ′ \theta\in U' θ ∈ U ′ .
The verification of Assumptions 1–5 for a location–scale family, for Poisson counts and for Ornstein–Uhlenbeck paths is given in Appendix § 13 . Table 1 summarizes which condition gives Assumption 5 in each example of the paper. Continuous observations whose atoms move with θ \theta θ are covered by (5a) and integer-valued observations are covered by (5b).
Experiments
We illustrate the procedure on four models: a Gaussian location–scale family, the number of segregating sites under Kingman’s coalescent, a pure birth process, and an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck diffusion. In every example the noise is simulated in the coordinates in which the mechanism is written, and the recourse mesh is the N 1 N_1 N 1 -medoid of a subsample of the synthetic noise draws (§ 3.5 ). The estimation stage is Algorithm 1. For scalar observations the objective is the exact W 1 W_1 W 1 distance between the two empirical measures; for vector-valued observations it is the sliced Wasserstein distance over the coordinate axes and 50 random directions [30 ] . The quantization metric d Q d_Q d Q of the mesh (Algorithm 2, with exponent r = 2 r=2 r = 2 ) and the metric d d d of the recourse stage (Algorithm 3) are stated for each example below. Each held-out cell weight is compared with the model’s own Voronoi mass w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) w_\ell^{\mathrm{vor}}(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0}) w ℓ vor ( θ ~ n 0 ) through the exact pointwise binomial 95% interval implied by (27) ; cells above the interval are reported as excess and cells below it as deficit . In each example the structural parameter θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 is a single draw from the prior, and the prior test of the estimation stage is reported before the recourse. Table 2 summarizes the four experiments.
Table 2. Summary of the experiments: noise law, quantization metric d Q d_Q d Q of the mesh, recourse metric d d d , the misspecification, and the p p p -value of the recourse Pearson test on one data set under correct specification and under the misspecification.
Table 3. Location–scale family: estimation stage. Minimum-W 1 W_1 W 1 estimate (Algorithm 1) against maximum likelihood; truth ( μ ⋆ , σ ⋆ ) = ( 0.684 , 0.876 ) (\mu_\star,\sigma_\star)=(0.684,0.876) ( μ ⋆ , σ ⋆ ) = ( 0.684 , 0.876 ) .
Gaussian location–scale family
Model and misspecifications. The mechanism is
Y = G ( θ , X ) = μ + σ X , X ∼ ν = N ( 0 , 1 ) , θ = ( μ , σ 2 ) , Y=G(\theta,X)=\mu+\sigma X,\qquad X\sim\nu=\mathcal{N}(0,1),\qquad\theta=(\mu,\sigma^2), Y = G ( θ , X ) = μ + σ X , X ∼ ν = N ( 0 , 1 ) , θ = ( μ , σ 2 ) ,
with the normal–inverse-gamma prior
σ 2 ∼ InvGamma ( 3 , 2 ) ; μ ∣ σ 2 ∼ N ( 0 , σ 2 ) . \sigma^2\sim\operatorname{InvGamma}(3,2);\qquad\mu\mid\sigma^2\sim\mathcal{N}(0,\sigma^2). σ 2 ∼ InvGamma ( 3 , 2 ) ; μ ∣ σ 2 ∼ N ( 0 , σ 2 ) .
The single draw is θ 0 = ( 0.684 , 0.767 ) \theta_0=(0.684,0.767) θ 0 = ( 0.684 , 0.767 ) . We use n = 5000 n=5000 n = 5000 observations split into n 0 = 4000 n_0=4000 n 0 = 4000 and n 1 = 1000 n_1=1000 n 1 = 1000 , a synthetic sample of m = 10 4 m=10^4 m = 1 0 4 standard normal draws, and a mesh of N 1 = 100 N_1=100 N 1 = 100 medoids of M = 2000 M=2000 M = 2000 of them, so that n 1 / N 1 = 10 n_1/N_1=10 n 1 / N 1 = 10 . The quantization metric is d Q ( x , x ′ ) = ∣ x − x ′ ∣ d_Q(x,x')=|x-x'| d Q ( x , x ′ ) = ∣ x − x ′ ∣ on the noise space X = R \mathcal{X}=\mathbb{R} X = R , and the recourse metric is d ( y , y ′ ) = ∣ y − y ′ ∣ d(y,y')=|y-y'| d ( y , y ′ ) = ∣ y − y ′ ∣ on S = R S=\mathbb{R} S = R .
Three laws generate the data: the model’s own law N ( μ ⋆ , σ ⋆ 2 ) \mathcal{N}(\mu_\star,\sigma_\star^2) N ( μ ⋆ , σ ⋆ 2 ) (normal); heavy tails, μ ⋆ + σ ⋆ t 2 \mu_\star+\sigma_\star t_2 μ ⋆ + σ ⋆ t 2 (t2), and gross errors, where 5% of the observations are replaced by draws from N ( μ ⋆ + 10 σ ⋆ , 0.5 2 ) \mathcal{N}(\mu_\star+10\sigma_\star,0.5^2) N ( μ ⋆ + 10 σ ⋆ , 0. 5 2 ) before the split (contam).
Estimation stage and prior test. Table 3 compares the minimum-W 1 W_1 W 1 estimate with the maximum likelihood estimate. Under correct specification the two agree. Under t 2 t_2 t 2 the sample standard deviation is dominated by extreme observations, whereas the minimum-W 1 W_1 W 1 estimate is less sensitive (σ ~ = 1.27 \tilde{\sigma}=1.27 σ ~ = 1.27 against σ ^ = 3.23 \hat{\sigma}=3.23 σ ^ = 3.23 ). Under contamination the maximum likelihood estimate of σ \sigma σ is off by 1.25 and that of μ \mu μ by 0.45, about 16 and 4.5 times the corresponding errors of the minimum-W 1 W_1 W 1 fit. This demonstrates qualitative robustness of Proposition 2.
Prior misspecification. The prior test of § 4 scores ∥ θ ~ ∥ \lVert\tilde{\theta}\rVert ∥ θ ~ ∥ against its law under a candidate prior. Under the prior that generated θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 , the fit to the normal data is typical (p = 0.99 p = 0.99 p = 0.99 ). We then score the same θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ against five misspecified normal–inverse-gamma priors ( α 0 , β 0 , m 0 , κ 0 ) (\alpha_0,\beta_0,m_0,\kappa_0) ( α 0 , β 0 , m 0 , κ 0 ) (Figure 2 ). Only the two gross misspecifications are rejected at the 5% level: a prior mean shifted to m 0 = 5 m_0 = 5 m 0 = 5 and a rescaled inverse-gamma with ( α 0 , β 0 ) = ( 10 , 30 ) (\alpha_0,\beta_0) = (10,30) ( α 0 , β 0 ) = ( 10 , 30 ) (both p < 10 − 4 p < 10^{-4} p < 1 0 − 4 ). The milder misspecifications are not detected: a shift to m 0 = 2 m_0 = 2 m 0 = 2 (p = 0.09 p = 0.09 p = 0.09 ), a prior on σ 2 \sigma^2 σ 2 concentrated around 0.25 (p = 0.13 p = 0.13 p = 0.13 ), and a prior with κ 0 = 25 \kappa_0 = 25 κ 0 = 25 (p = 0.61 p = 0.61 p = 0.61 ). The prior test sees a single draw θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 through a single statistic, so it has power only when the prior is grossly misspecified, in the sense that the realized θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ falls in the far tail of the law of ∥ θ ∥ \lVert\theta\rVert ∥ θ ∥ . The last row shows that a change in the prior spread of one coordinate can leave the law of ∥ θ ∥ \lVert\theta\rVert ∥ θ ∥ almost unchanged.
Figure 2. Gaussian location–scale family: prior law of ∥ θ ∥ \lVert\theta\rVert ∥ θ ∥ , with the observed ∥ θ ~ ∥ \lVert\tilde{\theta}\rVert ∥ θ ~ ∥ in red, under the correct prior ( α 0 , β 0 , m 0 , κ 0 ) = ( 3 , 2 , 0 , 1 ) (\alpha_0,\beta_0,m_0,\kappa_0) = (3, 2, 0, 1) ( α 0 , β 0 , m 0 , κ 0 ) = ( 3 , 2 , 0 , 1 ) and five misspecified normal–inverse-gamma priors.
Recourse stage. Figure 3 shows the recourse weights against the model’s Voronoi masses and Figure 4 their ratio on a logarithmic scale with a simulated 95% null envelope. Under correct specification 4 of the 100 cells fall outside their pointwise interval, against 3.05 expected, and the Pearson test gives p = 0.59 p = 0.59 p = 0.59 . Under t 2 t_2 t 2 the two boundary cells carry about 61 and 28 times their model mass. We view this as a signature of a noise law with heavier tails than the model. Under contamination the profile is one-sided. The top cell carries 257 times its model mass. The Pearson test rejects decisively in both cases (p = 6 × 10 − 26 p = 6 \times10^{-26} p = 6 × 1 0 − 26 and 6 × 10 − 20 6 \times10^{-20} 6 × 1 0 − 20 ).
Figure 3. Gaussian location–scale family: optimized recourse weights w ~ ℓ \tilde{w}_{\ell} w ~ ℓ (bars) against the model’s Voronoi masses w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\tilde{\theta}_{n0}) w ℓ vor ( θ ~ n 0 ) (black ticks) with pointwise 95% binomial intervals (whiskers), for the normal , t2 and contam data. Red diamonds: cells above the interval (excess); blue diamonds: cells below it (deficit). Cells are ordered by their atom.
Figure 4. Gaussian location–scale family: w ~ ℓ / w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) \tilde{w}_{\ell}/w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\tilde{\theta}_{n0}) w ~ ℓ / w ℓ vor ( θ ~ n 0 ) on a logarithmic scale. Grey band: pointwise 95% null envelope at each case’s θ ~ n 0 \tilde{\theta}_{n0} θ ~ n 0 ; red and blue crosses: cells above and below the band.
Calibration and power. Over 400 replicate data sets of the whole pipeline, with the synthetic sample and the mesh held fixed, the rejection rate at the 5% level is 0.040 (Monte Carlo standard error 0.010) under correct specification, and 1.00 under both alternatives (Figure 5 ).
Figure 5. Gaussian location–scale family: rejection rate of the recourse χ 2 \chi^2 χ 2 test at the 5% level over 400 replicates, with exact 95% intervals; the normal bar is the size.
Segregating sites under the coalescent
Model and misspecification. A sample of n = 10 n = 10 n = 10 sequences from a locus has a genealogy given by Kingman’s coalescent, Kingman [26 ] , and mutations fall on its branches as a Poisson process. We write the noise as the coalescence exponentials E 2 , … , E n E_2,\ldots,E_n E 2 , … , E n and a unit-rate Poisson clock N N N for the mutations, and the mechanism as
S n = G ( θ , x ) = N ( θ L n / 2 ) , L n = ∑ k = 2 n 2 E k k − 1 , S_n = G(\theta,x) = N(\theta L_n/2), \qquad L_n = \sum_{k=2}^{n}\frac{2E_k}{k-1}, S n = G ( θ , x ) = N ( θ L n /2 ) , L n = k = 2 ∑ n k − 1 2 E k ,
the number of clock arrivals by internal time θ L n / 2 \theta L_n/2 θ L n /2 , so that S n ∣ L n ∼ Poisson ( θ L n / 2 ) S_n \mid L_n \sim\operatorname{Poisson}(\theta L_n/2) S n ∣ L n ∼ Poisson ( θ L n /2 ) Watterson [42 ] . Observations are counts at independent loci. The probability mass function of S n S_n S n is known Tavaré (1984), so the Voronoi masses are exact. The mesh is the N 1 = 300 N_1 = 300 N 1 = 300 -medoid of M = 2500 M = 2500 M = 2500 synthetic noise draws. The quantization metric d Q d_Q d Q is the Euclidean distance between two standardized summaries of a noise draw, the genealogy length log L n \log L_n log L n and the clock rate log R \log R log R , R = 10 / P 10 R = 10/P_{10} R = 10/ P 10 , where P 10 P_{10} P 10 is the tenth arrival of the mutation clock. The quantization is a pseudometric in the space
( ( E 2 , … , E 10 ) ⊤ , ( ϵ 1 , … ) ⊤ ) ∈ ( 0 , ∞ ) 9 × ( 0 , ∞ ) N , \left((E_2,\ldots,E_{10})^\top,(\epsilon_1,\ldots)^\top\right)\in(0,\infty)^9\times(0,\infty)^{\mathbb{N}}, ( ( E 2 , … , E 10 ) ⊤ , ( ϵ 1 , … ) ⊤ ) ∈ ( 0 , ∞ ) 9 × ( 0 , ∞ ) N ,
where ϵ k ∼ i . i . d . Exp ( 1 ) \epsilon_k \overset{\mathrm{i.i.d.}}{\sim} \operatorname{Exp}(1) ϵ k ∼ i.i.d. Exp ( 1 ) represents the waiting times in the unit-rate Poisson process. The recourse metric is d ( y , y ′ ) = ∣ y − y ′ ∣ d(y,y') = |y-y'| d ( y , y ′ ) = ∣ y − y ′ ∣ on the counts, S = R S = \mathbb{R} S = R . The prior is LogNormal ( log 5 , 0.5 2 ) \operatorname{LogNormal}(\log5,0.5^2) LogNormal ( log 5 , 0. 5 2 ) and θ 0 = 8.48 \theta_0 = 8.48 θ 0 = 8.48 ; n 0 = 4000 n_0 = 4000 n 0 = 4000 , n 1 = 1000 n_1 = 1000 n 1 = 1000 , m = 10 4 m = 10^4 m = 1 0 4 . The misspecification is exponential population growth at rate g = 0.7 g = 0.7 g = 0.7 Slatkin and Hudson [37 ] . Backwards in time k k k lineages coalesce at rate ( k 2 ) e g t \binom{k}{2}e^{gt} ( 2 k ) e g t , which makes the genealogies more star-like and their total length larger.
Estimation stage. The minimum-W 1 W_1 W 1 estimate agrees with Watterson’s estimator in both cases (8.36 against 8.37 under correct specification, 5.95 against 5.94 under growth), and the prior test finds θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ typical (p = 0.30 p = 0.30 p = 0.30 and 0.73; p = 0.29 p = 0.29 p = 0.29 at θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 ).
Recourse stage. The 300 mesh points merge into 63 count atoms under correct specification and 46 under growth (Figure 6 ). Under correct specification no atom is flagged and the Pearson test gives p = 0.83 p = 0.83 p = 0.83 ; under growth it gives p = 3 × 10 − 9 p = 3 \times10^{-9} p = 3 × 1 0 − 9 . The noise-space display of Remark 1 (Figure 7 ) shows how the misspecification appears in the noise coordinates of the fitted model. The mesh points in the excess fibers have long genealogies (median L n = 6.5 L_n = 6.5 L n = 6.5 ), whereas those in the deficit fibers have short genealogies (L n = 3.0 L_n = 3.0 L n = 3.0 ). At the same time the display makes the non-identifiability of Remark 1 explicit. The data cannot tell a longer genealogy from a slower mutation clock and vice versa. The departure is reported along the bands, as a joint statement about tree length and mutation rate.
Figure 6. Segregating sites: recourse weights on the merged count atoms against the exact Voronoi masses, for the constant-size (correct) and exponential-growth (growth) data. Red and blue diamonds: excess and deficit at the pointwise 95% level.
Figure 7. Segregating sites: the recourse lifted to the noise mesh (Remark 1). Each mesh point is placed at its genealogy length L n L_n L n and clock rate R R R (log scales) and coloured by log 2 ( w ~ ℓ / w v o r ) \log_{2}(\tilde{w}_{\ell}/w^{\mathrm{vor}}) log 2 ( w ~ ℓ / w vor ) of its fiber; red and blue crosses mark fibers with excess and deficit. The fibers are bands of constant L n R L_nR L n R .
Yule process
Model and misspecification. A population starts from z 0 = 5 z_0 = 5 z 0 = 5 individuals, each giving birth at rate λ \lambda λ and none dying. Each replicate is recorded at t = 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 t = 1, 2, 3, 4 t = 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , so Y = ( Z ( 1 ) , … , Z ( 4 ) ) ∈ R 4 Y = (Z(1), \ldots, Z(4)) \in\mathbb{R}^4 Y = ( Z ( 1 ) , … , Z ( 4 )) ∈ R 4 and θ = λ \theta= \lambda θ = λ . By (8) with a single reaction channel,
Z ( t ) = z 0 + ∫ 0 t ∫ 0 ∞ 1 { u ≤ λ Z ( s − ) } N ( d s , d u ) , Z(t) = z_0 + \int_0^t \int_0^\infty\mathbf{1}\{u \le\lambda Z(s-)\} N(\mathrm{d}s,\mathrm{d}u), Z ( t ) = z 0 + ∫ 0 t ∫ 0 ∞ 1 { u ≤ λ Z ( s − )} N ( d s , d u ) ,
and the noise is the Poisson sample path N N N , simulated on the window [ 0 , 4 ] × [ 0 , 150 ] [0,4] \times[0,150] [ 0 , 4 ] × [ 0 , 150 ] . An atom ( s , u ) (s,u) ( s , u ) is a candidate birth at time s s s , accepted when u ≤ λ Z ( s − ) u \le\lambda Z(s-) u ≤ λ Z ( s − ) . The mesh is the 150-medoid of 1500 of m = 2000 m = 2000 m = 2000 synthetic configurations. The quantization metric d Q d_Q d Q is the Euclidean distance between the atom counts of two configurations on a grid of rectangles of [ 0 , 4 ] × [ 0 , 32 ] [0,4] \times[0,32] [ 0 , 4 ] × [ 0 , 32 ] (8 time bins of width 0.5 times 5 height bins with edges 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32), a pseudometric on the space of point configurations. The recourse metric is the Euclidean distance on S = R 4 S = \mathbb{R}^4 S = R 4 . Since the law of ( Z ( 1 ) , … , Z ( 4 ) ) (Z(1), \ldots, Z(4)) ( Z ( 1 ) , … , Z ( 4 )) has no tractable form, the Voronoi masses are frequencies over 40,000 paths simulated from the fitted model. The prior is λ ∼ LogNormal ( log 0.5 , 0.15 2 ) \lambda\sim\operatorname{LogNormal}(\log0.5, 0.15^2) λ ∼ LogNormal ( log 0.5 , 0.1 5 2 ) , with λ 0 = 0.576 \lambda_0 = 0.576 λ 0 = 0.576 ; n 0 = 4000 n_0 = 4000 n 0 = 4000 , n 1 = 1000 n_1 = 1000 n 1 = 1000 . The data are generated by Gillespie’s direct method [19 ] . The misspecification is a state-dependent birth rate. In saturating the per-capita birth rate is λ 0 K / ( K + z ) \lambda_0K/(K + z) λ 0 K / ( K + z ) with K = 10 K = 10 K = 10 . Therefore, the growth is close to exponential while z ≪ K z \ll K z ≪ K and close to linear in time once z ≫ K z \gg K z ≫ K , whereas the Yule process has a constant per-capita rate and grows exponentially throughout.
Estimation stage. Under correct specification λ ~ = 0.571 \tilde{\lambda} = 0.571 λ ~ = 0.571 , with prior p p p -value 0.37 (0.34 at λ 0 \lambda_0 λ 0 ). Under the saturating rate a single constant rate can only match the average growth over the four time points, and the fit falls to λ ~ = 0.297 \tilde{\lambda} = 0.297 λ ~ = 0.297 , which the prior test flags as atypical (p = 0.0005 p = 0.0005 p = 0.0005 ).
Recourse stage. The mesh merges into 149 and 135 distinct count vectors. Under correct specification 4 cells are flagged against 4.2 expected and the Pearson test gives p = 0.34 p = 0.34 p = 0.34 ; under the saturating rate 33 cells are flagged against 3.9 expected and p = 2 × 10 − 54 p = 2 \times10^{-54} p = 2 × 1 0 − 54 (Figure 8 ). The held-out trajectories grow too fast early and too slowly late for any Yule process. Drawn as trajectories (Figure 9 ), the excess atoms are nearly linear paths and the deficit atoms are the accelerating. Hence, the recourse locates the failure in the shape of the growth curve, which is exactly what the state dependence of the birth rate changes. The mesh points are sample paths of the Poisson random measure N N N , and each is drawn as the counting process
Figure 8. Yule process: recourse weights on the merged count vectors, ordered by Z ( 4 ) Z(4) Z ( 4 ) and then by the earlier counts, for the correct and saturating data. Red and blue diamonds: excess and deficit at the pointwise 95% level.
Figure 9. Yule process: atoms drawn as count trajectories. Top: atoms in observation space. Bottom: the corresponding mesh paths in noise space. Red: excess; blue: deficit; grey: inside.
N λ ~ ( t ) = # { ( s , u ) ∈ N : s ≤ t , u ≤ λ ~ z 0 e λ ~ s } . N_{\tilde{\lambda}}(t) = \#\{(s,u) \in N : s \le t,\ u \le\tilde{\lambda} z_0 e^{\tilde{\lambda}s}\}. N λ ~ ( t ) = # {( s , u ) ∈ N : s ≤ t , u ≤ λ ~ z 0 e λ ~ s } .
In other words, N N N is summarized by the number of atoms below the acceptance level of the fitted model along its mean path z 0 e λ ~ s z_0e^{\tilde{\lambda}s} z 0 e λ ~ s . Note the observation y y y -axes are higher as Z Z Z has a self-reinforcing growth rate λ Z \lambda Z λ Z that the noise summary deliberately leaves out.
Ornstein–Uhlenbeck diffusion
Model and misspecification. The observation is the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck path d Y = − a Y d t + σ d W dY=-aY\,dt+\sigma\,dW d Y = − aY d t + σ d W , Y ( 0 ) = 0 Y(0)=0 Y ( 0 ) = 0 ([39 ] ), written through its Itô map
Y = G ( θ , x ) = σ ( x − a K a x ) , ( K a x ) ( t ) = ∫ 0 t e − a ( t − u ) x ( u ) d u , θ = ( a , σ ) , Y=G(\theta,x)=\sigma\left(x-aK_a x\right),\qquad(K_a x)(t)=\int_0^t e^{-a(t-u)}x(u)\,du,\qquad\theta=(a,\sigma), Y = G ( θ , x ) = σ ( x − a K a x ) , ( K a x ) ( t ) = ∫ 0 t e − a ( t − u ) x ( u ) d u , θ = ( a , σ ) ,
applied to a Brownian path x x x on [ 0 , 2 ] [0,2] [ 0 , 2 ] simulated on 200 steps; K a x K_a x K a x is evaluated exactly for the piecewise-linear interpolation of the path, so no discretization scheme for the stochastic differential equation is involved. The mesh is the 80-medoid of 2000 of m = 10 4 m=10^4 m = 1 0 4 simulated Brownian paths. The quantization metric d Q d_Q d Q is the discretized L 2 L^2 L 2 distance, the Euclidean distance between the values of two paths on the 200-step grid, so the mesh points are Brownian paths and the atoms are OU paths. The recourse metric is the Euclidean distance on S = R 10 S=\mathbb{R}^{10} S = R 10 , a discretized L 2 ( [ 0 , 2 ] ) L^2([0,2]) L 2 ([ 0 , 2 ]) distance between observed paths. The prior is a ∼ LogNormal ( log 2 , 0.3 2 ) a\sim\operatorname{LogNormal}(\log2,0.3^2) a ∼ LogNormal ( log 2 , 0. 3 2 ) , σ ∼ LogNormal ( 0 , 0.3 2 ) \sigma\sim\operatorname{LogNormal}(0,0.3^2) σ ∼ LogNormal ( 0 , 0. 3 2 ) , with θ 0 = ( 2.06 , 1.08 ) \theta_0=(2.06,1.08) θ 0 = ( 2.06 , 1.08 ) ; n 0 = 4000 n_0=4000 n 0 = 4000 , n 1 = 1000 n_1=1000 n 1 = 1000 . The misspecification concerns the noise law. The data are G ( θ 0 , X ) G(\theta_0,X) G ( θ 0 , X ) with X X X the solution of d X = − 1.5 X d t + d W dX=-1.5X\,dt+dW d X = − 1.5 X d t + d W , X ( 0 ) = 0 X(0)=0 X ( 0 ) = 0 (concentrated noise). The driving path moves locally like a Brownian motion but is pulled back towards the origin, so it spreads less.
Estimation stage. Under correct specification θ ~ = ( 2.02 , 1.07 ) \tilde{\theta}=(2.02,1.07) θ ~ = ( 2.02 , 1.07 ) (p = 0.998 p=0.998 p = 0.998 in the prior test, 0.95 0.95 0.95 at θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 ). Under the concentrated noise the fitted model compensates by a much stronger mean reversion, θ ~ = ( 5.00 , 1.22 ) \tilde{\theta}=(5.00,1.22) θ ~ = ( 5.00 , 1.22 ) , which the prior test flags as atypical (p = 0.002 p=0.002 p = 0.002 ).
Recourse stage. Under correct specification 4 of the 80 cells are flagged against 2.7 expected and the Pearson test gives p = 0.04 p=0.04 p = 0.04 ; this is a single data set, on which a p p p -value below 0.05 under the null has probability 0.05, and the Gaussian example shows that the test holds its level. Under the concentrated noise 13 cells are flagged against 2.6 expected and p = 2 × 10 − 12 p=2\times10^{-12} p = 2 × 1 0 − 12 (Figure 10 ). Because the noise is a Brownian path, the diagnostic is read off paths (§ 4.2 ). In noise space (Figure 11 , bottom row) the deficit cells are exactly the mesh paths with large excursions and the excess cells the paths that stay near the origin. The recourse recovers that the driving noise is more concentrated than Wiener measure.
Figure 10. Ornstein–Uhlenbeck diffusion: recourse weights on the mesh paths, ordered by the end point Z ( T ) Z(T) Z ( T ) of the atom, for the correct and concentrated_noise data. Red and blue diamonds: excess and deficit.
Figure 11. Ornstein–Uhlenbeck diffusion: cells outside the pointwise 95% band, as paths. Top: atoms in observation space. Bottom: the corresponding mesh paths in noise space. Red: excess; blue: deficit; grey: inside.
Computation
The estimation stage minimizes W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P ^ θ , m ) W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},\widehat{P}_{\theta,m}) W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ , m ) over θ ∈ K \theta\in K θ ∈ K and the recourse stage minimizes W 1 ( P ^ ξ 1 , P ~ θ ~ n 0 , w ) W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_1},\widetilde{P}_{\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0},w}) W 1 ( P ξ 1 , P θ n 0 , w ) over w ∈ Δ L − 1 w \in\Delta^{L-1} w ∈ Δ L − 1 . The first compares two empirical measures, the data and the synthetic sample; the second compares an empirical measure with a molecular measure on the merged atoms.
Evaluating the estimation-stage objective
Write a = ( a t ) a=(a_t) a = ( a t ) for the weights of P ^ ξ 0 \widehat{P}_{\xi_0} P ξ 0 and b = ( b i ) b=(b_i) b = ( b i ) for those of P ^ θ , m \widehat{P}_{\theta,m} P θ , m (at the recourse stage, source P ^ ξ 1 \widehat{P}_{\xi_1} P ξ 1 and b = w b=w b = w ), and let C t i = d ( y t , G ( θ , x ~ i ) ) C_{ti}=d(y_t,G(\theta,\widetilde{x}_i)) C t i = d ( y t , G ( θ , x i )) be the ground-cost matrix. Then
W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P ^ θ , m ) = min π ≥ 0 ⟨ C , π ⟩ s.t. π 1 = a , π T 1 = b , (32) W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},\widehat{P}_{\theta,m})=\min_{\pi\geq0}\langle C,\pi\rangle\quad\text{s.t.}\quad\pi\mathbf{1}=a,\ \pi^\mathsf{T}\mathbf{1}=b, \tag*{(32)} W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ , m ) = π ≥ 0 min ⟨ C , π ⟩ s.t. π 1 = a , π T 1 = b , (32)
which is solved by the transportation (network) simplex or any linear-programming solver [32 ] . A standard implementation is [14 ] .
High-dimensional approximation: sliced W 1 W_1 W 1 . For s > 1 s>1 s > 1 the program (32) has n 0 m n_0m n 0 m variables and must be solved at every point visited by Algorithm 1. We therefore use, at the estimation stage only, the sliced distance
SW 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P ^ θ , m ) : = 1 P ∑ p = 1 P W 1 ( ( π p ) # P ^ ξ 0 , ( π p ) # P ^ θ , m ) , π p ( y ) = ⟨ v p , y ⟩ , \operatorname{SW}_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},\widehat{P}_{\theta,m}):=\frac{1}{P}\sum_{p=1}^{P}W_1\left((\pi_p)_\#\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},(\pi_p)_\#\widehat{P}_{\theta,m}\right),\qquad\pi_p(y)=\langle v_p,y\rangle, SW 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ , m ) := P 1 p = 1 ∑ P W 1 ( ( π p ) # P ξ 0 , ( π p ) # P θ , m ) , π p ( y ) = ⟨ v p , y ⟩ ,
over a fixed set of unit directions v 1 , … , v P v_1,\ldots,v_P v 1 , … , v P drawn once together with the synthetic noise (in our experiments the coordinate axes and 50 random directions). Each term is a one-dimensional distance between two sorted samples, W 1 ( μ , ν ) = ∫ R ∣ F μ − F ν ∣ W_1(\mu,\nu)=\int_{\mathbb{R}}|F_\mu-F_\nu| W 1 ( μ , ν ) = ∫ R ∣ F μ − F ν ∣ .
Estimation stage: a derivative-free search over θ \theta θ
The objective F n 0 ( θ ) : = W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P ^ θ , m ) F_{n_0}(\theta):=W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},\widehat{P}_{\theta,m}) F n 0 ( θ ) := W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ , m ) is in general not differentiable in θ \theta θ . We therefore use a single derivative-free search, Algorithm 1. It requires only evaluations of F n 0 F_{n_0} F n 0 , each of which is one of the transport problems of § 7.1 . The grid phase locates the global basin, which matters because F n 0 F_{n_0} F n 0 may be multimodal; the Nelder–Mead phase [31 ] refines within it. The search is embarrassingly parallel.
Recourse mesh: computing the N 1 N_1 N 1 -medoid
The mesh of § 3.5 is the N 1 N_1 N 1 -medoid (16) , which minimizes the empirical distortion
e r ( Γ ; ν M ) r = M − 1 ∑ i ≤ M min j ≤ N 1 d Q ( x ( i ) , x ˉ j ) r , ν M : = M − 1 ∑ i ≤ M δ x ( i ) , e_r(\Gamma;\nu_M)^r=M^{-1}\sum_{i\leq M}\min_{j\leq N_1}d_Q(x^{(i)},\bar{x}_j)^r,\qquad\nu_M:=M^{-1}\sum_{i\leq M}\delta_{x^{(i)}}, e r ( Γ ; ν M ) r = M − 1 i ≤ M ∑ j ≤ N 1 min d Q ( x ( i ) , x ˉ j ) r , ν M := M − 1 i ≤ M ∑ δ x ( i ) ,
over meshes of N 1 N_1 N 1 sample points. Algorithm 2 combines a randomized seeding with a guarantee and a local improvement that never increases the distortion.
Recourse-stage algorithm
With θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 frozen, the recourse requires no optimization. Equation (23) [33 Lem. 4.9] says the optimal weights are nearest-atom counts and the value is the mean nearest-atom distance, so the entire stage is a merge followed by a nearest-neighbour pass over the held-out block ξ 1 \xi_1 ξ 1 . The output of Algorithm 3 is exactly the recourse optimum.
Algorithm 1 Estimation stage: derivative-free search for Equation (21) .
Require: estimation block ξ 0 \xi_0 ξ 0 ; synthetic noise x ~ 1 : m \tilde{x}_{1:m} x ~ 1 : m drawn once from ν \nu ν ; search box K K K ; grid θ ( 1 ) , … , θ ( G ) ∈ K \theta^{(1)},\ldots,\theta^{(G)} \in K θ ( 1 ) , … , θ ( G ) ∈ K of mesh width h h h ; number of starts r ≤ G r \le G r ≤ G ; tolerance ϵ > 0 \epsilon> 0 ϵ > 0
for g = 1 , … , G g = 1,\ldots,G g = 1 , … , G in parallel do
F g ← W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P ^ θ ( g ) , m ) F_g \leftarrow W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},\widehat{P}_{\theta^{(g)},m}) F g ← W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ ( g ) , m ) (§ 7.1 )
end for
let ϑ ( 1 ) , … , ϑ ( r ) \vartheta^{(1)},\ldots,\vartheta^{(r)} ϑ ( 1 ) , … , ϑ ( r ) be the r r r grid points with the smallest values F g F_g F g
for c = 1 , … , r c = 1,\ldots,r c = 1 , … , r in parallel do
run Nelder–Mead on F n 0 F_{n_0} F n 0 from ϑ ( c ) \vartheta^{(c)} ϑ ( c ) , with F n 0 : = + ∞ F_{n_0} := +\infty F n 0 := + ∞ outside K K K , until the simplex values differ by less than ϵ \epsilon ϵ ; record its best vertex ϑ ^ ( c ) \widehat{\vartheta}^{(c)} ϑ ( c )
end for
return θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 , the point with the smallest objective among { θ ( g ) } g ≤ G ∪ { ϑ ^ ( c ) } c ≤ r \{\theta^{(g)}\}_{g \le G} \cup\{\widehat{\vartheta}^{(c)}\}_{c \le r} { θ ( g ) } g ≤ G ∪ { ϑ ( c ) } c ≤ r
Algorithm 2 Recourse mesh: approximate N 1 N_1 N 1 -medoid of simulated noise.
Require: synthetic noise x ~ 1 : m \tilde{x}_{1:m} x ~ 1 : m of the estimation stage (or a sampler for ν \nu ν ); mesh size N 1 N_1 N 1 ; subsample size M ≤ m M \le m M ≤ m ; quantization (pseudo)metric d Q d_Q d Q ; exponent r ≥ 1 r \ge1 r ≥ 1 ; tolerance ϵ > 0 \epsilon> 0 ϵ > 0 ; seed
draw a random subsample x ( 1 ) , … , x ( M ) x^{(1)},\ldots,x^{(M)} x ( 1 ) , … , x ( M ) of x ~ 1 : m \tilde{x}_{1:m} x ~ 1 : m (reduce M M M if the search below is too slow)
(seeding, k-medoids++) x ˉ 1 ← x ( i ) \bar{x}_1 \leftarrow x^{(i)} x ˉ 1 ← x ( i ) with i i i uniform on { 1 , … , M } \{1,\ldots,M\} { 1 , … , M } ; for j = 2 , … , N 1 j = 2,\ldots,N_1 j = 2 , … , N 1 , x ˉ j ← x ( i ) \bar{x}_j \leftarrow x^{(i)} x ˉ j ← x ( i ) with probability proportional to min j ′ < j d Q ( x ( i ) , x ˉ j ′ ) r \min_{j' < j}d_Q(x^{(i)},\bar{x}_{j'})^r min j ′ < j d Q ( x ( i ) , x ˉ j ′ ) r
repeat
(assignment) assign each x ( i ) x^{(i)} x ( i ) to its nearest mesh point, ties broken by lowest index
(medoid update) replace each x ˉ j \bar{x}_j x ˉ j by the sample point of its cell that minimizes ∑ i ∈ C j d Q ( x ( i ) , ⋅ ) r \sum_{i \in C_j}d_Q(x^{(i)},\cdot)^r ∑ i ∈ C j d Q ( x ( i ) , ⋅ ) r
(swap) replace a mesh point x ˉ j \bar{x}_j x ˉ j by a sample point x ( i ) x^{(i)} x ( i ) whenever this lowers the empirical distortion
until the empirical distortion decreases by less than ϵ \epsilon ϵ
q j ← q_j \leftarrow q j ← frequency of cell C j C_j C j among the synthetic draws not in the subsample (or among fresh draws from ν \nu ν )
return mesh { x ˉ j } j ≤ N 1 \{\bar{x}_j\}_{j \le N_1} { x ˉ j } j ≤ N 1 , masses { q j } j ≤ N 1 \{q_j\}_{j \le N_1} { q j } j ≤ N 1 , and the seed
Algorithm 3 Recourse stage: closed-form solution of Equation (22) and the calibrated test.
Require: held-out block ξ 1 \xi_1 ξ 1 ; fitted θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 ; mesh { x ˉ j } j = 1 N 1 \{\bar{x}_j\}_{j=1}^{N_1} { x ˉ j } j = 1 N 1 from Algorithm 2
raw atoms G ( θ ~ n 0 , x ˉ j ) G(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0},\bar{x}_j) G ( θ n 0 , x ˉ j ) for j = 1 , … , N 1 j = 1,\ldots,N_1 j = 1 , … , N 1
(merge) sort or hash the raw atoms and group equal values into the fibers I ℓ I_\ell I ℓ of (17), labelled by smallest index; obtain distinct atoms z 1 , … , z L z_1,\ldots,z_L z 1 , … , z L
build a nearest-neighbour index on { z ℓ } \{z_\ell\} { z ℓ }
for t ∈ ξ 1 t \in\xi_1 t ∈ ξ 1 do
ℓ ( t ) ← arg min ℓ d ( y t , z ℓ ) \ell(t) \leftarrow\arg\min_\ell d(y_t,z_\ell) ℓ ( t ) ← arg min ℓ d ( y t , z ℓ ) , ties broken by lowest label; d t ← d ( y t , z ℓ ( t ) ) d_t \leftarrow d(y_t,z_{\ell(t)}) d t ← d ( y t , z ℓ ( t ) )
end for
w ~ ℓ ← # { t : ℓ ( t ) = ℓ } / n 1 \widetilde{w}_\ell\leftarrow\#\{t:\ell(t)=\ell\}/n_1 w ℓ ← # { t : ℓ ( t ) = ℓ } / n 1 for ℓ = 1 , … , L \ell= 1,\ldots,L ℓ = 1 , … , L ; Q ( θ ~ n 0 ) ← n 1 − 1 ∑ t ∈ ξ 1 d t Q(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) \leftarrow n_1^{-1}\sum_{t\in\xi_1}d_t Q ( θ n 0 ) ← n 1 − 1 ∑ t ∈ ξ 1 d t
w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) ← P θ ~ n 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) ) w_\ell^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) \leftarrow P_{\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}}(V_\ell(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})) w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) ← P θ n 0 ( V ℓ ( θ n 0 )) for ℓ = 1 , … , L \ell= 1,\ldots,L ℓ = 1 , … , L , by simulation from the fitted model (for atoms of P θ ~ n 0 P_{\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}} P θ n 0 , the empirical frequency of { G ( θ ~ n 0 , X ) = z ℓ } \{G(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0},X)=z_\ell\} { G ( θ n 0 , X ) = z ℓ } , cf. (25))
pool cells with small expected count n 1 w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) n_1w_\ell^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) n 1 w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) ; compute T n 1 T_{n_1} T n 1 of (30) and its χ 2 \chi^2 χ 2 p p p -value
return weights w ~ \widetilde{w} w , value Q ( θ ~ n 0 ) Q(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) Q ( θ n 0 ) , test result, and the diagnostic profile w ~ ℓ \widetilde{w}_\ell w ℓ against w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) w_\ell^{\mathrm{vor}}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) w ℓ vor ( θ n 0 ) on the merged atoms
Discussion
We have cast model criticism for structural models Y = G ( θ , X ) Y = G(\theta, X) Y = G ( θ , X ) as a sequential two-stage stochastic program on a sample split. The estimation stage fits the structure with the noise law held at its assumed value, by a robust minimum-Wasserstein estimator computed by sample average approximation. The recourse stage freezes the structure and lets the held-out data reweight the atoms of the fitted model. The recourse has a closed form, so the procedure requires no choice of test statistic. The same object, the vector of held-out cell frequencies on the atoms of the fitted model, serves both as a calibrated test and as a diagnostic that says where the model fails. The four experiments show the diagnostic separating symmetric tail defects from one-sided gross errors, exposing population growth through the shape of the law of the number of segregating sites, locating a state-dependent birth rate in the shape of the growth curve, and recovering that a driving noise is more concentrated than Brownian motion.
Ratmann et al. [34 ] proposed model criticism within approximate Bayesian computation. The ABC tolerance is replaced by an error term on each summary statistic, and the posterior of these errors, computed jointly with the parameters, signals which summaries the model fails to reproduce. That approach shares our setting, models that can be simulated but whose likelihood is not available, and our aim of reporting where a model fails. It differs in two respects. First, its diagnostic is expressed in the summary statistics chosen by the analyst, whereas ours is expressed on the atoms of the fitted model, i.e. on regions of the noise space, and requires no summary. The price is that the diagnostic is resolved only up to the fibers of the fitted mechanism (Remark 1). Second, the posterior of the errors is a Bayesian summary without calibration, whereas the split makes the recourse counts conditionally multinomial and the Pearson test calibrated.
We conclude with limitations. The theory requires i.i.d. replicates, so a single long trajectory of a process is not covered. The recourse identifies the noise law only on the σ \sigma σ -algebra generated by the fitted mechanism, so a departure is reported jointly for all noise values in a fiber as demonstrated in the coalescent example. The resolution of the diagnostic is bounded by the mesh, and refining the mesh trades resolution for noisier cell weights through the ratio n 1 / N 1 n_1/N_1 n 1 / N 1 . The reference masses are plug-ins at θ ~ \tilde{\theta} θ ~ , which adds to Pearson’s statistic an amount of order n 1 / n 0 n_1/n_0 n 1 / n 0 . Therefore, the estimation block should be several times larger than the held-out block. Finally, since the structure, the noise law and the prior are all entangled, a misspecified structure can be absorbed into the noise law and reported as a noise-law departure.
Code Availability
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Professors David Blei and Simon Tavaré for their helpful comments on this manuscript. RYW acknowledges support from the Herbert and Florence Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics at Columbia University.
Competing Interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Proofs
Estimation stage
Proposition 1 (Wasserstein strong law). Let Assumption 1(i) hold and let Y 1 , Y 2 , … ∼ i i d P θ 0 Y_1,Y_2,\ldots\overset{\mathrm{iid}}{\sim} P_{\theta_0} Y 1 , Y 2 , … ∼ iid P θ 0 . Then
P { lim m → ∞ W 1 ( 1 m ∑ t = 1 m δ Y t , P θ 0 ) = 0 } = 1. \mathbb{P}\left\{\lim_{m\to\infty} W_1\left(\frac{1}{m}\sum_{t=1}^{m}\delta_{Y_t},P_{\theta_0}\right)=0\right\}=1. P { m → ∞ lim W 1 ( m 1 t = 1 ∑ m δ Y t , P θ 0 ) = 0 } = 1. Consequently, W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P θ 0 ) → 0 W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},P_{\theta_0})\to0 W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ 0 ) → 0 as n 0 → ∞ n_0\to\infty n 0 → ∞ and W 1 ( P ^ ξ 1 , P θ 0 ) → 0 W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_1},P_{\theta_0})\to0 W 1 ( P ξ 1 , P θ 0 ) → 0 as n 1 → ∞ n_1\to\infty n 1 → ∞ , both almost surely. The same holds with P θ 0 P_{\theta_0} P θ 0 replaced by P θ P_\theta P θ for any fixed θ ∈ Θ \theta\in\Theta θ ∈ Θ and the sample replaced by G ( θ , x ~ 1 : m ) G(\theta,\widetilde{x}_{1:m}) G ( θ , x 1 : m ) .
Proof of Proposition 1. This is Villani [41 ] combined with the strong law of large numbers for the empirical measure and its first moment. Quantitative rates are available under higher moments (Fournier and Guillin, [15 ] ). □
Lemma 1 (Wasserstein-continuity of the model map). Under Assumption 1 , for all θ , θ ′ ∈ Θ \theta,\theta'\in\Theta θ , θ ′ ∈ Θ with ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ \lVert\theta'-\theta\rVert<\delta ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ ,
W 1 ( P θ , P θ ′ ) ≤ ∫ X d ( G ( θ , x ) , G ( θ ′ , x ) ) ν ( d x ) ≤ ω θ ( δ ) . W_1(P_\theta,P_{\theta'})\le\int_{\mathcal{X}}d(G(\theta,x),G(\theta',x))\,\nu(dx)\le\omega_\theta(\delta). W 1 ( P θ , P θ ′ ) ≤ ∫ X d ( G ( θ , x ) , G ( θ ′ , x )) ν ( d x ) ≤ ω θ ( δ ) . In particular θ k → θ \theta_k\to\theta θ k → θ implies W 1 ( P θ k , P θ ) → 0 W_1(P_{\theta_k},P_\theta)\to0 W 1 ( P θ k , P θ ) → 0 , hence P θ k ⇒ P θ P_{\theta_k}\Rightarrow P_\theta P θ k ⇒ P θ .
Proof of Lemma 1. The law of ( G ( θ , X ) , G ( θ ′ , X ) ) (G(\theta,X),G(\theta',X)) ( G ( θ , X ) , G ( θ ′ , X )) , X ∼ ν X\sim\nu X ∼ ν , is a coupling of P θ P_\theta P θ and P θ ′ P_{\theta'} P θ ′ . Since
W 1 ( P θ , P θ ′ ) = inf π ∈ Π ( ν , ν ) ∫ X × X d ( G ( θ , x 1 ) , G ( θ ′ , x 2 ) ) π ( d x 1 , d x 2 ) , W_1(P_\theta,P_{\theta'})=\inf_{\pi\in\Pi(\nu,\nu)}\int_{\mathcal{X}\times\mathcal{X}}d(G(\theta,x_1),G(\theta',x_2))\,\pi(dx_1,dx_2), W 1 ( P θ , P θ ′ ) = π ∈ Π ( ν , ν ) inf ∫ X × X d ( G ( θ , x 1 ) , G ( θ ′ , x 2 )) π ( d x 1 , d x 2 ) ,
the first inequality holds. The second is the definition of ω θ \omega_\theta ω θ . Continuity follows from Assumption 1(ii) , and W 1 W_1 W 1 convergence implies weak convergence (Villani, [41 ] ). □
Lemma 2 (Continuity of the exact objective and the synthetic error). For every fixed Q ∈ P 1 ( S ) Q\in\mathcal{P}_1(S) Q ∈ P 1 ( S ) , the map θ ↦ W 1 ( Q , P θ ) \theta\mapsto W_1(Q,P_\theta) θ ↦ W 1 ( Q , P θ ) is continuous on Θ \Theta Θ under Assumption 1 , and for every θ \theta θ and m m m ,
∣ W 1 ( Q , P ^ θ , m ) − W 1 ( Q , P θ ) ∣ ≤ W 1 ( P θ , P ^ θ , m ) . \left|W_1(Q,\widehat{P}_{\theta,m})-W_1(Q,P_\theta)\right|\le W_1(P_\theta,\widehat{P}_{\theta,m}). W 1 ( Q , P θ , m ) − W 1 ( Q , P θ ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ , P θ , m ) .
Proof of Lemma 2. Both statements follow from the reverse triangle inequality,
∣ W 1 ( Q , μ ) − W 1 ( Q , μ ′ ) ∣ ≤ W 1 ( μ , μ ′ ) , \left|W_1(Q,\mu)-W_1(Q,\mu')\right|\le W_1(\mu,\mu'), ∣ W 1 ( Q , μ ) − W 1 ( Q , μ ′ ) ∣ ≤ W 1 ( μ , μ ′ ) ,
with ( μ , μ ′ ) = ( P θ , P θ ′ ) (\mu,\mu')=(P_\theta,P_{\theta'}) ( μ , μ ′ ) = ( P θ , P θ ′ ) and Lemma 1 for the first, and ( μ , μ ′ ) = ( P ^ θ , m , P θ ) (\mu,\mu')=(\widehat{P}_{\theta,m},P_\theta) ( μ , μ ′ ) = ( P θ , m , P θ ) for the second. □
Lemma 3 (Uniform synthetic approximation). Let Assumption 1 hold and let K ⊆ Θ K\subseteq\Theta K ⊆ Θ be compact. Then
Δ m : = sup θ ∈ K W 1 ( P θ , P ^ θ , m ) ⟶ 0 almost surely as m → ∞ . \Delta_m:=\sup_{\theta\in K}W_1(P_\theta,\widehat{P}_{\theta,m})\longrightarrow0\qquad\text{almost surely as }m\to\infty. Δ m := θ ∈ K sup W 1 ( P θ , P θ , m ) ⟶ 0 almost surely as m → ∞.
Proof of Lemma 3. For θ ∈ K \theta\in K θ ∈ K and δ > 0 \delta>0 δ > 0 , define
Δ θ , δ ( x ) : = sup θ ′ ∈ Θ , ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ d ( G ( θ ′ , x ) , G ( θ , x ) ) , \Delta_{\theta,\delta}(x):=\sup_{\theta'\in\Theta,\ \lVert\theta'-\theta\rVert<\delta}d(G(\theta',x),G(\theta,x)), Δ θ , δ ( x ) := θ ′ ∈ Θ , ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ sup d ( G ( θ ′ , x ) , G ( θ , x )) ,
such that ∫ Δ θ , δ d ν = ω θ ( δ ) \int\Delta_{\theta,\delta}\,d\nu= \omega_\theta(\delta) ∫ Δ θ , δ d ν = ω θ ( δ ) is finite for small δ \delta δ , this is possible due to Assumption 1(ii). For θ ′ \theta' θ ′ satisfying ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ \lVert\theta' - \theta\rVert< \delta ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ , the triangle inequality, Lemma 1 , and the coupling of P ^ θ , m \widehat{P}_{\theta,m} P θ , m and P ^ θ ′ , m \widehat{P}_{\theta',m} P θ ′ , m that pairs G ( θ , x ~ i ) G(\theta,\widetilde{x}_i) G ( θ , x i ) with G ( θ ′ , x ~ i ) G(\theta',\widetilde{x}_i) G ( θ ′ , x i ) give
W 1 ( P θ ′ , P ^ θ ′ , m ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ ′ , P θ ) + W 1 ( P θ , P ^ θ , m ) + W 1 ( P ^ θ , m , P ^ θ ′ , m ) ≤ ω θ ( δ ) + W 1 ( P θ , P ^ θ , m ) + 1 m ∑ i = 1 m Δ θ , δ ( x ~ i ) . \begin{aligned}
W_1(P_{\theta'},\widehat{P}_{\theta',m}) \le W_1(P_{\theta'},P_\theta) + W_1(P_\theta,\widehat{P}_{\theta,m}) + W_1(\widehat{P}_{\theta,m},\widehat{P}_{\theta',m}) \\
&\le\omega_\theta(\delta) + W_1(P_\theta,\widehat{P}_{\theta,m}) + \frac{1}{m}\sum_{i=1}^{m}\Delta_{\theta,\delta}(\widetilde{x}_i).
\end{aligned} W 1 ( P θ ′ , P θ ′ , m ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ ′ , P θ ) + W 1 ( P θ , P θ , m ) + W 1 ( P θ , m , P θ ′ , m ) ≤ ω θ ( δ ) + W 1 ( P θ , P θ , m ) + m 1 i = 1 ∑ m Δ θ , δ ( x i ) .
Note the same x ~ i \widetilde{x}_i x i generate both synthetic samples. By Proposition 1 applied to P θ P_\theta P θ and the strong law of large numbers applied to Δ θ , δ ( x ~ i ) \Delta_{\theta,\delta}(\widetilde{x}_i) Δ θ , δ ( x i ) , almost surely
lim sup m → ∞ sup ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ W 1 ( P θ ′ , P ^ θ ′ , m ) ≤ 2 ω θ ( δ ) . \limsup_{m\to\infty}\ \sup_{\lVert\theta'-\theta\rVert<\delta} W_1(P_{\theta'},\widehat{P}_{\theta',m}) \le2\omega_\theta(\delta). m → ∞ lim sup ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ sup W 1 ( P θ ′ , P θ ′ , m ) ≤ 2 ω θ ( δ ) .
Fix ϵ > 0 \epsilon> 0 ϵ > 0 . By Assumption 1(ii), each θ ∈ K \theta\in K θ ∈ K has a δ θ > 0 \delta_\theta> 0 δ θ > 0 with ω θ ( δ θ ) ≤ ϵ / 2 \omega_\theta(\delta_\theta) \le\epsilon/2 ω θ ( δ θ ) ≤ ϵ /2 . By compactness finitely many balls { θ ′ ∣ ∥ θ ′ − θ q ∥ < δ θ q } \{\theta' \mid\lVert\theta' - \theta_q\rVert< \delta_{\theta_q}\} { θ ′ ∣ ∥ θ ′ − θ q ∥ < δ θ q } cover K K K . Intersecting the finitely many almost sure events gives lim sup m Δ m ≤ ϵ \limsup_m \Delta_m \le\epsilon lim sup m Δ m ≤ ϵ almost surely. Letting ϵ ↓ 0 \epsilon\downarrow0 ϵ ↓ 0 along a sequence proves the claim. This is a bracketing Glivenko–Cantelli argument in the sense of van der Vaart and Wellner (1996, Thm. 2.4.1).
Lemma 4 (Inverse continuity at θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 ). Under Assumptions 1, 2 and 3 , if θ k ∈ K \theta_k \in K θ k ∈ K and
W 1 ( P θ 0 , P θ k ) → 0 , then ∥ θ k − θ 0 ∥ → 0. W_1(P_{\theta_0},P_{\theta_k}) \to0,\qquad\text{then}\qquad\lVert\theta_k-\theta_0\rVert\to0. W 1 ( P θ 0 , P θ k ) → 0 , then ∥ θ k − θ 0 ∥ → 0.
Proof of Lemma 4. Since K K K is compact, any subsequence of ( θ k ) (\theta_k) ( θ k ) has a further subsequence θ k i → θ ∗ ∈ K \theta_{k_i} \to\theta^* \in K θ k i → θ ∗ ∈ K . By Lemma 1 , W 1 ( P θ k i , P θ ∗ ) → 0 W_1(P_{\theta_{k_i}},P_{\theta^*}) \to0 W 1 ( P θ k i , P θ ∗ ) → 0 , so W 1 ( P θ 0 , P θ ∗ ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ 0 , P θ k i ) + W 1 ( P θ k i , P θ ∗ ) → 0 W_1(P_{\theta_0},P_{\theta^*}) \le W_1(P_{\theta_0},P_{\theta_{k_i}}) + W_1(P_{\theta_{k_i}},P_{\theta^*}) \to0 W 1 ( P θ 0 , P θ ∗ ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ 0 , P θ k i ) + W 1 ( P θ k i , P θ ∗ ) → 0 , which implies θ ∗ = θ 0 \theta^* = \theta_0 θ ∗ = θ 0 by Assumption 2. The subsequence argument then gives θ k → θ 0 \theta_k \to\theta_0 θ k → θ 0 .
Theorem 1 (Strong consistency of θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 ). Suppose Assumptions 1–3 hold, let the synthetic sample size satisfy m = m ( n 0 ) → ∞ m=m(n_0)\to\infty m = m ( n 0 ) → ∞ , and let θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 be any measurable ϵ n 0 \epsilon_{n_0} ϵ n 0 -approximate minimizer of (21) with ϵ n 0 ↓ 0 \epsilon_{n_0}\downarrow0 ϵ n 0 ↓ 0 . Then
∥ θ ~ n 0 − θ 0 ∥ ⟶ 0 almost surely as n 0 → ∞ . \lVert\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}-\theta_0\rVert\longrightarrow0 \qquad\text{almost surely as } n_0\to\infty. ∥ θ n 0 − θ 0 ∥ ⟶ 0 almost surely as n 0 → ∞.
Proof of Theorem 1. Work on the intersection of the almost sure events of Proposition 1 and Lemma 3 , and write Δ : = Δ m ( n 0 ) \Delta:= \Delta_{m(n_0)} Δ := Δ m ( n 0 ) . By Lemma 2 , for every θ ∈ K \theta\in K θ ∈ K , ∣ W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P ^ θ , m ) − W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P θ ) ∣ ≤ Δ |W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},\widehat{P}_{\theta,m})-W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},P_\theta)| \le\Delta ∣ W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ , m ) − W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ ) ∣ ≤ Δ . Since θ 0 , θ ~ n 0 ∈ K \theta_0,\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}\in K θ 0 , θ n 0 ∈ K ,
W 1 ( P θ 0 , P θ ~ n 0 ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ 0 , P ^ ξ 0 ) + W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P ^ θ ~ n 0 , m ) + Δ ≤ W 1 ( P θ 0 , P ^ ξ 0 ) + W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P ^ θ 0 , m ) + ϵ n 0 + Δ W_1(P_{\theta_0},P_{\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}}) \le W_1(P_{\theta_0},\widehat{P}_{\xi_0}) + W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},\widehat{P}_{\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0},m}) + \Delta\le W_1(P_{\theta_0},\widehat{P}_{\xi_0}) + W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},\widehat{P}_{\theta_0,m}) + \epsilon_{n_0} + \Delta W 1 ( P θ 0 , P θ n 0 ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ 0 , P ξ 0 ) + W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ n 0 , m ) + Δ ≤ W 1 ( P θ 0 , P ξ 0 ) + W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ 0 , m ) + ϵ n 0 + Δ
≤ 2 W 1 ( P θ 0 , P ^ ξ 0 ) + ϵ n 0 + 2 Δ ⟶ 0. \le2W_1(P_{\theta_0},\widehat{P}_{\xi_0})+\epsilon_{n_0}+2\Delta\longrightarrow0. ≤ 2 W 1 ( P θ 0 , P ξ 0 ) + ϵ n 0 + 2Δ ⟶ 0.
Lemma 4 concludes ∥ θ ~ n 0 − θ 0 ∥ ⟶ 0 \lVert\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}-\theta_0\rVert\longrightarrow0 ∥ θ n 0 − θ 0 ∥ ⟶ 0 . Equivalently, θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 is an ( ϵ n 0 + 2 Δ ) (\epsilon_{n_0}+2\Delta) ( ϵ n 0 + 2Δ ) -approximate minimizer of θ ↦ W 1 ( P ^ ξ 0 , P θ ) \theta\mapsto W_1(\widehat{P}_{\xi_0},P_\theta) θ ↦ W 1 ( P ξ 0 , P θ ) over K K K , so that the conclusion also follows from Bernton et al. (2019, Thm. 2.1) in its ϵ n \epsilon_n ϵ n -argmin form.
Proposition 2 (Qualitative robustness at the model). Let Assumptions 1–3 hold, let Q k ∈ P 1 ( S ) Q_k\in\mathcal{P}_1(S) Q k ∈ P 1 ( S ) with W 1 ( Q k , P θ 0 ) → 0 W_1(Q_k,P_{\theta_0})\to0 W 1 ( Q k , P θ 0 ) → 0 , and let θ k ∈ K \theta_k\in K θ k ∈ K satisfy W 1 ( Q k , P θ k ) ≤ inf θ ∈ K W 1 ( Q k , P θ ) + ϵ k W_1(Q_k,P_{\theta_k})\le\inf_{\theta\in K}W_1(Q_k,P_\theta)+\epsilon_k W 1 ( Q k , P θ k ) ≤ inf θ ∈ K W 1 ( Q k , P θ ) + ϵ k with ϵ k → 0 \epsilon_k\to0 ϵ k → 0 . Then θ k → θ 0 \theta_k\to\theta_0 θ k → θ 0 . The conclusion persists if P θ P_\theta P θ is replaced by P ^ θ , m \widehat{P}_{\theta,m} P θ , m in the definition of θ k \theta_k θ k , with m = m ( k ) → ∞ m=m(k)\to\infty m = m ( k ) → ∞ .
Proof of Proposition 2. Since θ 0 ∈ K \theta_0 \in K θ 0 ∈ K ,
W 1 ( P θ 0 , P θ k ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ 0 , Q k ) + W 1 ( Q k , P θ k ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ 0 , Q k ) + W 1 ( Q k , P θ 0 ) + ε k → 0 , W_1(P_{\theta_0}, P_{\theta_k}) \le W_1(P_{\theta_0}, Q_k) + W_1(Q_k, P_{\theta_k}) \le W_1(P_{\theta_0}, Q_k) + W_1(Q_k, P_{\theta_0}) + \varepsilon_k \to0, W 1 ( P θ 0 , P θ k ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ 0 , Q k ) + W 1 ( Q k , P θ k ) ≤ W 1 ( P θ 0 , Q k ) + W 1 ( Q k , P θ 0 ) + ε k → 0 ,
and Lemma 4 gives θ k → θ 0 \theta_k \to\theta_0 θ k → θ 0 . For the synthetic version, Lemma 2 shows that an ε k \varepsilon_k ε k -minimizer of θ ↦ W 1 ( Q k , P ~ θ , m ) \theta\mapsto W_1(Q_k, \widetilde{P}_{\theta,m}) θ ↦ W 1 ( Q k , P θ , m ) over K K K is an ( ε k + 2 Δ m ( k ) ) (\varepsilon_k + 2\Delta_{m(k)}) ( ε k + 2 Δ m ( k ) ) -minimizer of θ ↦ W 1 ( Q k , P θ ) \theta\mapsto W_1(Q_k, P_\theta) θ ↦ W 1 ( Q k , P θ ) , with Δ m \Delta_m Δ m of Lemma 3, and the same argument applies, exactly as in the proof of Theorem 1.
Recourse stage
Lemma 5 (Conditional concentration of the recourse weights). Let the data be i.i.d. from P θ 0 P_{\theta_0} P θ 0 and let the regime (10) hold. Write p ℓ : = P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) ) p_\ell:= P_{\theta_0}(V_\ell(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})) p ℓ := P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ n 0 )) , ℓ ≤ L ( θ ~ n 0 ) \ell\le L(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) ℓ ≤ L ( θ n 0 ) , for the population masses of the recourse cells. Then, almost surely,
max ℓ ≤ L ( θ ~ n 0 ) ∣ w ~ ℓ − p ℓ ∣ ⟶ 0 ( n → ∞ ) . \max_{\ell\le L(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})} \left|\widetilde{w}_\ell- p_\ell\right| \longrightarrow0 \qquad(n \to\infty). ℓ ≤ L ( θ n 0 ) max ∣ w ℓ − p ℓ ∣ ⟶ 0 ( n → ∞ ) .
Proof of Lemma 5. Given F 0 \mathcal{F}_0 F 0 , the parameter θ ~ n 0 \widetilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ n 0 , the merged atoms and hence the cells
V 1 ( θ ~ n 0 ) , … , V L ( θ ~ n 0 ) ( θ ~ n 0 ) V_1(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}), \ldots, V_{L(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})}(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) V 1 ( θ n 0 ) , … , V L ( θ n 0 ) ( θ n 0 )
are fixed Borel sets partitioning S S S , and ξ 1 \xi_1 ξ 1 is an i.i.d. sample from P θ 0 P_{\theta_0} P θ 0 independent of F 0 \mathcal{F}_0 F 0 . Hence n 1 w ~ ℓ ∣ F 0 ∼ Binomial ( n 1 , p ℓ ) n_1\widetilde{w}_\ell\mid\mathcal{F}_0 \sim\operatorname{Binomial}(n_1,p_\ell) n 1 w ℓ ∣ F 0 ∼ Binomial ( n 1 , p ℓ ) as in Eq. (27) . Hoeffding’s inequality [22 ] with a union bound over ℓ ≤ L ( θ ~ n 0 ) ≤ N 1 \ell\le L(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0}) \le N_1 ℓ ≤ L ( θ n 0 ) ≤ N 1 gives, for every ϵ > 0 \epsilon> 0 ϵ > 0 ,
P ( max ℓ ≤ L ( θ ~ n 0 ) ∣ w ~ ℓ − p ℓ ∣ > ϵ | F 0 ) ≤ ∑ ℓ ≤ L ( θ ~ n 0 ) P ( ∣ n 1 w ~ ℓ − n 1 p ℓ ∣ > n 1 ϵ | F 0 ) ≤ 2 N 1 e − 2 n 1 ϵ 2 . \mathbb{P}\left(\max_{\ell\le L(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})} \left|\widetilde{w}_\ell- p_\ell\right| > \epsilon\,\middle|\, \mathcal{F}_0\right) \le\sum_{\ell\le L(\widetilde{\theta}_{n_0})} \mathbb{P}\left(\left|n_1\widetilde{w}_\ell- n_1p_\ell\right| > n_1\epsilon\,\middle|\, \mathcal{F}_0\right) \le2N_1e^{-2n_1\epsilon^2}. P ( ℓ ≤ L ( θ n 0 ) max ∣ w ℓ − p ℓ ∣ > ϵ F 0 ) ≤ ℓ ≤ L ( θ n 0 ) ∑ P ( ∣ n 1 w ℓ − n 1 p ℓ ∣ > n 1 ϵ ∣ F 0 ) ≤ 2 N 1 e − 2 n 1 ϵ 2 .
Under regime (10),
n 0 ∧ n 1 → ∞ ; n 1 log ( n ) → ∞ . n_0 \wedge n_1 \to\infty; \qquad\frac{n_1}{\log(n)} \to\infty. n 0 ∧ n 1 → ∞ ; log ( n ) n 1 → ∞.
Hence, n 1 ( n ) ≥ ( 1 / ϵ 2 ) log n n_1(n) \ge(1/\epsilon^2)\log n n 1 ( n ) ≥ ( 1/ ϵ 2 ) log n for all large n n n , and
∑ n 2 N 1 e − 2 n 1 ( n ) ϵ 2 ≤ C + ∑ n 2 N 1 n − 2 < ∞ . \sum_n 2N_1e^{-2n_1(n)\epsilon^2} \le C + \sum_n 2N_1n^{-2} < \infty. n ∑ 2 N 1 e − 2 n 1 ( n ) ϵ 2 ≤ C + n ∑ 2 N 1 n − 2 < ∞.
The Borel–Cantelli lemma gives lim sup n max ℓ ∣ w ~ ℓ − p ℓ ∣ ≤ ϵ \limsup_n \max_\ell|\widetilde{w}_\ell-p_\ell| \le\epsilon lim sup n max ℓ ∣ w ℓ − p ℓ ∣ ≤ ϵ almost surely. Intersecting over ϵ = 1 / q \epsilon= 1/q ϵ = 1/ q , q ∈ N q \in\mathbb{N} q ∈ N , proves the claim.
Lemma 6 (Sufficient conditions for continuity of the cell masses). Let Assumptions 1 and 4 hold and let θ 0 ∉ D \theta_0 \notin D θ 0 ∈ / D . If either (5a) or (5b) holds at θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 , then for every ℓ ≤ L ( θ 0 ) \ell\le L(\theta_0) ℓ ≤ L ( θ 0 ) the maps θ ↦ P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ) ) \theta\mapsto P_{\theta_0}(V_\ell(\theta)) θ ↦ P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ )) and θ ↦ P θ ( V ℓ ( θ ) ) \theta\mapsto P_\theta(V_\ell(\theta)) θ ↦ P θ ( V ℓ ( θ )) are continuous at θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 .
Proof of Lemma 6. Since θ 0 ∉ D \theta_0 \notin D θ 0 ∈ / D , let U U U be a neighborhood of θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 on which the fiber partition is constant, we have
I ℓ ( θ ) = I ℓ ( θ 0 ) , ∀ θ ∈ U , ℓ ≤ L ( θ 0 ) . I_\ell(\theta) = I_\ell(\theta_0), \qquad\forall\theta\in U,\ \ell\le L(\theta_0). I ℓ ( θ ) = I ℓ ( θ 0 ) , ∀ θ ∈ U , ℓ ≤ L ( θ 0 ) .
Let θ k → θ 0 \theta_k \to\theta_0 θ k → θ 0 with θ k ∈ U \theta_k \in U θ k ∈ U . By the continuity part of Assumption 4,
z ℓ ( θ k ) = G ( θ k , x ˉ j ) → z ℓ ( θ 0 ) , ∀ j ∈ I ℓ ( θ 0 ) , ℓ ≤ L ( θ 0 ) . z_\ell(\theta_k) = G(\theta_k,\bar{x}_j) \to z_\ell(\theta_0), \qquad\forall j \in I_\ell(\theta_0),\ \ell\le L(\theta_0). z ℓ ( θ k ) = G ( θ k , x ˉ j ) → z ℓ ( θ 0 ) , ∀ j ∈ I ℓ ( θ 0 ) , ℓ ≤ L ( θ 0 ) .
Under (5a). Let y y y lie off every bisector. That is,
y ∉ { d ( y , z ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) = d ( y , z ℓ ′ ( θ 0 ) ) , ∀ ℓ ′ ≠ ℓ } . y \notin\left\{d(y,z_\ell(\theta_0)) = d(y,z_{\ell'}(\theta_0)),\ \forall\ell' \ne\ell\right\}. y ∈ / { d ( y , z ℓ ( θ 0 )) = d ( y , z ℓ ′ ( θ 0 )) , ∀ ℓ ′ = ℓ } .
The inequalities d ( y , z ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) ≤ d ( y , z ℓ ′ ( θ 0 ) ) d(y,z_{\ell}(\theta_0)) \leq d(y,z_{\ell'}(\theta_0)) d ( y , z ℓ ( θ 0 )) ≤ d ( y , z ℓ ′ ( θ 0 )) are all strict. Since the atoms converge, these strict inequalities hold for z 1 : L ( θ k ) z_{1:L}(\theta_k) z 1 : L ( θ k ) for all large k k k , and
1 V ℓ ( θ k ) ( y ) → 1 V ℓ ( θ 0 ) ( y ) . \mathbf{1}_{V_{\ell}(\theta_k)}(y) \to\mathbf{1}_{V_{\ell}(\theta_0)}(y). 1 V ℓ ( θ k ) ( y ) → 1 V ℓ ( θ 0 ) ( y ) .
By (5a) this holds P θ 0 P_{\theta_0} P θ 0 -almost everywhere, and dominated convergence gives
P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ k ) ) → P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) . P_{\theta_0}(V_{\ell}(\theta_k)) \to P_{\theta_0}(V_{\ell}(\theta_0)). P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ k )) → P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ 0 )) .
For the second map write P θ k ( V ℓ ( θ k ) ) = ν { x : G ( θ k , x ) ∈ V ℓ ( θ k ) } P_{\theta_k}(V_{\ell}(\theta_k))=\nu\{x:G(\theta_k,x)\in V_{\ell}(\theta_k)\} P θ k ( V ℓ ( θ k )) = ν { x : G ( θ k , x ) ∈ V ℓ ( θ k )} . By Lemma 1 ,
∫ d ( G ( θ k , x ) , G ( θ 0 , x ) ) ν ( d x ) → 0 , \int d(G(\theta_k,x),G(\theta_0,x))\,\nu(dx)\to0, ∫ d ( G ( θ k , x ) , G ( θ 0 , x )) ν ( d x ) → 0 ,
so every subsequence has a further subsequence along which G ( θ k , x ) → G ( θ 0 , x ) G(\theta_k,x)\to G(\theta_0,x) G ( θ k , x ) → G ( θ 0 , x ) for ν \nu ν -almost every x x x . By (5a),
ν ( { x ∣ G ( θ 0 , x ) off the bisectors of z 1 : L ( θ 0 ) } ) = 1. \nu\left(\{x\mid G(\theta_0,x)\text{ off the bisectors of }z_{1:L}(\theta_0)\}\right)=1. ν ( { x ∣ G ( θ 0 , x ) off the bisectors of z 1 : L ( θ 0 )} ) = 1.
The strict inequalities above are preserved for the pair ( G ( θ k , x ) , z 1 : L ( θ k ) ) (G(\theta_k,x),z_{1:L}(\theta_k)) ( G ( θ k , x ) , z 1 : L ( θ k )) , so
1 { G ( θ k , x ) ∈ V ℓ ( θ k ) } → 1 { G ( θ 0 , x ) ∈ V ℓ ( θ 0 ) } . \mathbf{1}\{G(\theta_k,x)\in V_{\ell}(\theta_k)\}\to\mathbf{1}\{G(\theta_0,x)\in V_{\ell}(\theta_0)\}. 1 { G ( θ k , x ) ∈ V ℓ ( θ k )} → 1 { G ( θ 0 , x ) ∈ V ℓ ( θ 0 )} .
Dominated convergence along the sub-subsequence, and the subsequence principle, give
P θ k ( V ℓ ( θ k ) ) → P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) . P_{\theta_k}(V_{\ell}(\theta_k))\to P_{\theta_0}(V_{\ell}(\theta_0)). P θ k ( V ℓ ( θ k )) → P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ 0 )) .
Under (5b). For large k k k , θ k ∈ U ∩ U ′ \theta_k\in U\cap U' θ k ∈ U ∩ U ′ , where by (i) the atoms, and hence the cells
V ℓ ( θ k ) = V ℓ ( θ 0 ) = : V ℓ , V_{\ell}(\theta_k)=V_{\ell}(\theta_0)=:V_{\ell}, V ℓ ( θ k ) = V ℓ ( θ 0 ) =: V ℓ ,
are fixed sets. The first map is therefore eventually constant. For the second, write
p θ ( y ) : = P θ ( { y } ) , ∀ y ∈ Y . p_{\theta}(y):=P_{\theta}(\{y\}),\qquad\forall y\in\mathcal{Y}. p θ ( y ) := P θ ({ y }) , ∀ y ∈ Y .
The function f y ( z ) : = max { 0 , 1 − 2 d ( z , y ) / η } f_y(z):=\max\{0,1-2d(z,y)/\eta\} f y ( z ) := max { 0 , 1 − 2 d ( z , y ) / η } is bounded and Lipschitz, equals 1 at y y y and vanishes at every other point of Y \mathcal{Y} Y , so by (ii) p θ ( y ) = ∫ f y d P θ p_{\theta}(y)=\int f_y\,\mathrm{d}P_{\theta} p θ ( y ) = ∫ f y d P θ for θ ∈ U ′ \theta\in U' θ ∈ U ′ . By Lemma 1 , P θ k ⇒ P θ 0 P_{\theta_k}\Rightarrow P_{\theta_0} P θ k ⇒ P θ 0 , hence p θ k ( y ) → p θ 0 ( y ) p_{\theta_k}(y)\to p_{\theta_0}(y) p θ k ( y ) → p θ 0 ( y ) for every y ∈ Y y\in\mathcal{Y} y ∈ Y . Since ∑ y ∈ Y p θ ( y ) = 1 \sum_{y\in\mathcal{Y}}p_{\theta}(y)=1 ∑ y ∈ Y p θ ( y ) = 1 for θ ∈ U ′ \theta\in U' θ ∈ U ′ , Scheffé’s lemma ([35 ] ) applied on Y \mathcal{Y} Y with counting measure gives ∑ y ∈ Y ∣ p θ k ( y ) − p θ 0 ( y ) ∣ → 0 \sum_{y\in\mathcal{Y}}|p_{\theta_k}(y)-p_{\theta_0}(y)|\to0 ∑ y ∈ Y ∣ p θ k ( y ) − p θ 0 ( y ) ∣ → 0 , and therefore
∣ P θ k ( V ℓ ) − P θ 0 ( V ℓ ) ∣ ≤ ∑ y ∈ Y ∣ p θ k ( y ) − p θ 0 ( y ) ∣ ⟶ 0. \left|P_{\theta_k}(V_{\ell})-P_{\theta_0}(V_{\ell})\right|
\leq\sum_{y\in\mathcal{Y}}|p_{\theta_k}(y)-p_{\theta_0}(y)|\longrightarrow0. ∣ P θ k ( V ℓ ) − P θ 0 ( V ℓ ) ∣ ≤ y ∈ Y ∑ ∣ p θ k ( y ) − p θ 0 ( y ) ∣ ⟶ 0.
Theorem 2 (Recourse weight consistency). Let Assumptions 1–5 hold for the fixed mesh { x ˉ j } j ≤ N 1 \{\bar{x}_j\}_{j\leq N_1} { x ˉ j } j ≤ N 1 , and let θ ~ n 0 \tilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ ~ n 0 be as in Theorem 1. Then, in the regime (10) , L ( θ ~ n 0 ) = L ( θ 0 ) = : L L(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0})=L(\theta_0)=:L L ( θ ~ n 0 ) = L ( θ 0 ) =: L almost surely for all n 0 n_0 n 0 large enough, and for each ℓ ≤ L \ell\leq L ℓ ≤ L ,
w ~ ℓ ⟶ w ℓ v o r ( θ 0 ) , w ℓ v o r ( θ ~ n 0 ) ⟶ w ℓ v o r ( θ 0 ) , \tilde{w}_{\ell}\longrightarrow w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\theta_0),\qquad
w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0})\longrightarrow w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\theta_0), w ~ ℓ ⟶ w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) , w ℓ vor ( θ ~ n 0 ) ⟶ w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) , and
W 1 ( ∑ ℓ w ~ ℓ δ z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) , ∑ ℓ w ℓ v o r ( θ 0 ) δ z ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) ⟶ 0. W_1\left(\sum_{\ell}\tilde{w}_{\ell}\delta_{z_{\ell}(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0})},\sum_{\ell}w_{\ell}^{\mathrm{vor}}(\theta_0)\delta_{z_{\ell}(\theta_0)}\right)\longrightarrow0. W 1 ( ℓ ∑ w ~ ℓ δ z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) , ℓ ∑ w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) δ z ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) ⟶ 0.
Proof of Theorem 2. By Assumption 4, θ 0 ∉ D \theta_0 \notin D θ 0 ∈ / D almost surely; let U U U be a neighborhood of θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 on which the fiber partition is constant. By Theorem 1, almost surely θ ~ n 0 ∈ U \tilde{\theta}_{n_0} \in U θ ~ n 0 ∈ U for all large n 0 n_0 n 0 , so L ( θ ~ n 0 ) = L L(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0})=L L ( θ ~ n 0 ) = L and the labels of θ ~ n 0 \tilde{\theta}_{n_0} θ ~ n 0 and θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 agree. In addition, z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) = G ( θ ~ n 0 , x ˉ j ) z_\ell(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0})=G(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0},\bar{x}_j) z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) = G ( θ ~ n 0 , x ˉ j ) for any j ∈ I ℓ ( θ 0 ) j\in I_\ell(\theta_0) j ∈ I ℓ ( θ 0 ) , so z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) → z ℓ ( θ 0 ) z_\ell(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0})\to z_\ell(\theta_0) z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) → z ℓ ( θ 0 ) by the continuity part of Assumption 4.
Fix ℓ \ell ℓ and split
∣ w ~ ℓ − w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) ∣ ≤ ∣ w ~ ℓ − P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) ) ∣ + ∣ P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) ) − P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) ∣ . \left|\tilde{w}_\ell-w_\ell^{\operatorname{vor}}(\theta_0)\right|
\leq\left|\tilde{w}_\ell-P_{\theta_0}(V_\ell(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0}))\right|+\left|P_{\theta_0}(V_\ell(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0}))-P_{\theta_0}(V_\ell(\theta_0))\right|. ∣ w ~ ℓ − w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) ∣ ≤ w ~ ℓ − P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 )) + P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 )) − P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ 0 )) .
The first term tends to zero almost surely by Lemma 5 . The second tends to zero because θ ~ n 0 → θ 0 \tilde{\theta}_{n_0}\to\theta_0 θ ~ n 0 → θ 0 and θ ↦ P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ) ) \theta\mapsto P_{\theta_0}(V_\ell(\theta)) θ ↦ P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ )) is continuous at θ 0 \theta_0 θ 0 by Assumption 5. Likewise
w ℓ vor ( θ ~ n 0 ) = P θ ~ n 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) ) → P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) = w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) w_\ell^{\operatorname{vor}}(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0})=P_{\tilde{\theta}_{n_0}}(V_\ell(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0}))\to P_{\theta_0}(V_\ell(\theta_0))=w_\ell^{\operatorname{vor}}(\theta_0) w ℓ vor ( θ ~ n 0 ) = P θ ~ n 0 ( V ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 )) → P θ 0 ( V ℓ ( θ 0 )) = w ℓ vor ( θ 0 )
by the continuity of the second map in Assumption 5.
By the triangle inequality, coupling atom ℓ \ell ℓ with atom ℓ \ell ℓ in the first term and bounding W 1 W_1 W 1 by the diameter times the total variation in the second,
W 1 ( ∑ ℓ w ~ ℓ δ z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) , ∑ ℓ w ℓ vor δ z ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) ≤ max ℓ d ( z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) , z ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) + diam { z 1 : L ( θ 0 ) } ∑ ℓ ∣ w ~ ℓ − w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) ∣ → 0. W_1\left(\sum_\ell\tilde{w}_\ell\delta_{z_\ell(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0})},\sum_\ell w_\ell^{\operatorname{vor}}\delta_{z_\ell(\theta_0)}\right)
\leq\max_\ell d(z_\ell(\tilde{\theta}_{n_0}),z_\ell(\theta_0))+\operatorname{diam}\{z_{1:L}(\theta_0)\}\sum_\ell\left|\tilde{w}_\ell-w_\ell^{\operatorname{vor}}(\theta_0)\right|\to0. W 1 ( ℓ ∑ w ~ ℓ δ z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) , ℓ ∑ w ℓ vor δ z ℓ ( θ 0 ) ) ≤ ℓ max d ( z ℓ ( θ ~ n 0 ) , z ℓ ( θ 0 )) + diam { z 1 : L ( θ 0 )} ℓ ∑ ∣ w ~ ℓ − w ℓ vor ( θ 0 ) ∣ → 0.
Verification of the assumptions for the examples
This appendix verifies Assumptions 1–5 for three families; Table 1 summarizes the results.
Example 2 (Location–scale family). Let S = R S=\mathbb{R} S = R , Θ = R × ( 0 , ∞ ) \Theta=\mathbb{R}\times(0,\infty) Θ = R × ( 0 , ∞ ) , θ = ( μ , σ ) \theta=(\mu,\sigma) θ = ( μ , σ ) , and
Y = μ + σ Z , Y=\mu+\sigma Z, Y = μ + σ Z ,
where Z ∈ L 1 Z\in L^1 Z ∈ L 1 is a continuous random variable with mean zero. That is, X = R \mathcal{X}=\mathbb{R} X = R , ν \nu ν is the law of Z Z Z and G ( θ , x ) = μ + σ x G(\theta,x)=\mu+\sigma x G ( θ , x ) = μ + σ x . For Assumption 1, if ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ \|\theta'-\theta\|<\delta ∥ θ ′ − θ ∥ < δ then
∣ G ( θ ′ , x ) − G ( θ , x ) ∣ ≤ δ ( 1 + ∣ x ∣ ) , |G(\theta',x)-G(\theta,x)|\leq\delta(1+|x|), ∣ G ( θ ′ , x ) − G ( θ , x ) ∣ ≤ δ ( 1 + ∣ x ∣ ) ,
so ω θ ( δ ) ≤ δ ( 1 + E ∣ Z ∣ ) \omega_\theta(\delta)\leq\delta(1+\mathbb{E}|Z|) ω θ ( δ ) ≤ δ ( 1 + E ∣ Z ∣ ) , and on a compact K ′ K' K ′ the envelope is bounded by c K ′ ( 1 + ∣ x ∣ ) c_{K'}(1+|x|) c K ′ ( 1 + ∣ x ∣ ) , which is ν \nu ν -integrable. Assumption 2 holds since μ = E Y \mu=\mathbb{E}Y μ = E Y and σ = E ∣ Y − μ ∣ / E ∣ Z ∣ \sigma=\mathbb{E}|Y-\mu|/\mathbb{E}|Z| σ = E ∣ Y − μ ∣/ E ∣ Z ∣ . G ( θ , ⋅ ) G(\theta,\cdot) G ( θ , ⋅ ) is strictly increasing and continuous in θ \theta θ , so distinct mesh points have distinct images, the fibers are singletons for every θ \theta θ , D = ∅ D=\varnothing D = ∅ , and Assumption 4 holds. Finally, P θ 0 P_{\theta_0} P θ 0 is absolutely continuous, so (5a) and hence Assumption 5 hold.
Example 3 (Poisson counts). Let S = R S=\mathbb{R} S = R , Θ = ( 0 , ∞ ) \Theta=(0,\infty) Θ = ( 0 , ∞ ) , and let the noise be a unit-rate Poisson process on [ 0 , ∞ ) [0,\infty) [ 0 , ∞ ) , recorded by its arrival times x = ( P 1 , P 2 , … ) x=(P_1,P_2,\ldots) x = ( P 1 , P 2 , … ) , 0 < P 1 < P 2 < ⋯ 0<P_1<P_2<\cdots 0 < P 1 < P 2 < ⋯ ; the noise space is a space of increasing sequences, which is Polish, and ν \nu ν is the law of the arrival times. The mechanism counts the arrivals up to time λ \lambda λ ,
G ( λ , x ) = N x ( λ ) : = # { k : P k ≤ λ } , G(\lambda,x)=N_x(\lambda):=\#\{k:P_k\leq\lambda\}, G ( λ , x ) = N x ( λ ) := # { k : P k ≤ λ } ,
so that P λ = Poisson ( λ ) P_\lambda=\operatorname{Poisson}(\lambda) P λ = Poisson ( λ ) ; equivalently G ( λ , ⋅ ) G(\lambda,\cdot) G ( λ , ⋅ ) is the generalized inverse F λ − 1 ( U ) F_\lambda^{-1}(U) F λ − 1 ( U ) of a uniform U U U in law. For Assumption 1, λ ↦ N x ( λ ) \lambda\mapsto N_x(\lambda) λ ↦ N x ( λ ) is nondecreasing, so for δ < λ \delta<\lambda δ < λ
ω λ ( δ ) ≤ E [ N ( λ + δ ) − N ( λ − δ ) ] = 2 δ , \omega_\lambda(\delta)\leq\mathbb{E}[N(\lambda+\delta)-N(\lambda-\delta)]=2\delta, ω λ ( δ ) ≤ E [ N ( λ + δ ) − N ( λ − δ )] = 2 δ ,
and on K ′ ⊆ [ a , b ] K' \subseteq[a,b] K ′ ⊆ [ a , b ] the envelope is N x ( b ) N_x(b) N x ( b ) , with E N ( b ) = b < ∞ \mathbb{E}N(b)=b<\infty E N ( b ) = b < ∞ . Assumption 2 holds since W 1 ( P λ , P λ ′ ) ≥ ∣ λ − λ ′ ∣ W_1(P_\lambda,P_{\lambda'})\geq|\lambda-\lambda'| W 1 ( P λ , P λ ′ ) ≥ ∣ λ − λ ′ ∣ (test function y ↦ y y\mapsto y y ↦ y ).
For a fixed mesh point x ˉ j \bar{x}_j x ˉ j , the map λ ↦ G ( λ , x ˉ j ) \lambda\mapsto G(\lambda,\bar{x}_j) λ ↦ G ( λ , x ˉ j ) is piecewise constant and jumps exactly at the arrival times of x ˉ j \bar{x}_j x ˉ j , so the fiber partition changes only on the countable set
D ⊆ ⋃ j ≤ N 1 { P 1 ( x ˉ j ) , P 2 ( x ˉ j ) , … } . D\subseteq\bigcup_{j\leq N_1}\{P_1(\bar{x}_j),P_2(\bar{x}_j),\ldots\}. D ⊆ j ≤ N 1 ⋃ { P 1 ( x ˉ j ) , P 2 ( x ˉ j ) , … } .
This set is Lebesgue-null, hence Π \Pi Π -null whenever Π \Pi Π is absolutely continuous, and Assumption 4 holds. Off D D D every merged atom is locally constant, and P λ ( N 0 ) = 1 P_\lambda(\mathcal{N}_0)=1 P λ ( N 0 ) = 1 for every λ \lambda λ , so condition (5b) holds with Y = N 0 \mathcal{Y}=\mathcal{N}_0 Y = N 0 and η = 1 \eta=1 η = 1 .
Example 4 (Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process). Let X = C 0 ( [ 0 , T ] ) \mathcal{X}=C_0([0,T]) X = C 0 ([ 0 , T ]) with the supremum norm, let ν \nu ν be Wiener measure, let S = L 2 ( [ 0 , T ] ) S=L^2([0,T]) S = L 2 ([ 0 , T ]) , and let θ = ( a , σ ) ∈ Θ = ( 0 , ∞ ) 2 \theta=(a,\sigma)\in\Theta=(0,\infty)^2 θ = ( a , σ ) ∈ Θ = ( 0 , ∞ ) 2 . Define, for every x ∈ X x\in\mathcal{X} x ∈ X ,
G ( θ , x ) = σ ( x − a K a x ) , ( K a x ) ( t ) : = ∫ 0 t e − a ( t − u ) x ( u ) d u . G(\theta,x)=\sigma(x-aK_a x),\qquad(K_a x)(t):=\int_0^t e^{-a(t-u)}x(u)\,\mathrm{d}u. G ( θ , x ) = σ ( x − a K a x ) , ( K a x ) ( t ) := ∫ 0 t e − a ( t − u ) x ( u ) d u . Integration by parts gives G ( θ , W ) ( t ) = σ ∫ 0 t e − a ( t − u ) d W ( u ) G(\theta,W)(t)=\sigma\int_0^t e^{-a(t-u)}\,\mathrm{d}W(u) G ( θ , W ) ( t ) = σ ∫ 0 t e − a ( t − u ) d W ( u ) , so P θ P_\theta P θ is the law of the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck path started at 0, a centred Gaussian measure with covariance kernel
σ 2 2 a ( e − a ∣ t − u ∣ − e − a ( t + u ) ) . \frac{\sigma^2}{2a}\left(e^{-a|t-u|}-e^{-a(t+u)}\right). 2 a σ 2 ( e − a ∣ t − u ∣ − e − a ( t + u ) ) . Distinct θ \theta θ give distinct kernels, so Assumption 2 holds. On L 2 ( [ 0 , T ] ) L^2([0,T]) L 2 ([ 0 , T ]) the operator K a K_a K a has norm at most T T T and ∥ K a − K a ′ ∥ ≤ T 2 ∣ a − a ′ ∣ \lVert K_a-K_{a'}\rVert\leq T^2|a-a'| ∥ K a − K a ′ ∥ ≤ T 2 ∣ a − a ′ ∣ , so on a compact K ′ ⊂ Θ K'\subset\Theta K ′ ⊂ Θ there is c K ′ c_{K'} c K ′ with
∥ G ( θ , x ) − G ( θ ′ , x ) ∥ L 2 ≤ c K ′ ∥ θ − θ ′ ∥ ∥ x ∥ L 2 and ∥ G ( θ , x ) ∥ L 2 ≤ c K ′ ∥ x ∥ L 2 . \lVert G(\theta,x)-G(\theta',x)\rVert_{L^2}\leq c_{K'}\lVert\theta-\theta'\rVert\lVert x\rVert_{L^2}\quad\text{and}\quad\lVert G(\theta,x)\rVert_{L^2}\leq c_{K'}\lVert x\rVert_{L^2}. ∥ G ( θ , x ) − G ( θ ′ , x ) ∥ L 2 ≤ c K ′ ∥ θ − θ ′ ∥ ∥ x ∥ L 2 and ∥ G ( θ , x ) ∥ L 2 ≤ c K ′ ∥ x ∥ L 2 . Since ∥ x ∥ L 2 ≤ T ∥ x ∥ ∞ \lVert x\rVert_{L^2}\leq\sqrt{T}\lVert x\rVert_\infty ∥ x ∥ L 2 ≤ T ∥ x ∥ ∞ and E ∥ W ∥ ∞ < ∞ \mathbb{E}\lVert W\rVert_\infty<\infty E ∥ W ∥ ∞ < ∞ , Assumption 1 holds with ω θ ( δ ) ≤ c δ \omega_\theta(\delta)\leq c\delta ω θ ( δ ) ≤ cδ . The Volterra operator I − a K a I-aK_a I − a K a is injective on L 2 ( [ 0 , T ] ) L^2([0,T]) L 2 ([ 0 , T ]) and distinct elements of C 0 ( [ 0 , T ] ) C_0([0,T]) C 0 ([ 0 , T ]) are distinct in L 2 L^2 L 2 , so distinct mesh points have distinct images, the fibers are singletons, G ( ⋅ , x ˉ j ) G(\cdot,\bar{x}_j) G ( ⋅ , x ˉ j ) is continuous, D = ∅ D=\varnothing D = ∅ , and Assumption 4 holds. Finally the covariance operator of P θ 0 P_{\theta_0} P θ 0 is σ 0 2 B C W B ∗ \sigma_0^2BC_WB^* σ 0 2 B C W B ∗ with B = I − a 0 K a 0 B=I-a_0K_{a_0} B = I − a 0 K a 0 and C W C_W C W the injective Brownian covariance operator, which is injective; hence (5a) holds.