License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0)
When quoting this document, please refer to the following
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CALCO.2023.13
URN: urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-188107
URL: http://dagstuhl.sunsite.rwth-aachen.de/volltexte/2023/18810/
Go to the corresponding LIPIcs Volume Portal

Stein, Dario ; Samuelson, Richard

A Category for Unifying Gaussian Probability and Nondeterminism

pdf-format:
LIPIcs-CALCO-2023-13.pdf (0.7 MB)

Abstract

We introduce categories of extended Gaussian maps and Gaussian relations which unify Gaussian probability distributions with relational nondeterminism in the form of linear relations. Both have crucial and well-understood applications in statistics, engineering, and control theory, but combining them in a single formalism is challenging. It enables us to rigorously describe a variety of phenomena like noisy physical laws, Willems' theory of open systems and uninformative priors in Bayesian statistics. The core idea is to formally admit vector subspaces D ⊆ X as generalized uniform probability distribution. Our formalism represents a first bridge between the literature on categorical systems theory (signal-flow diagrams, linear relations, hypergraph categories) and notions of probability theory.

BibTeX - Entry

@InProceedings{stein_et_al:LIPIcs.CALCO.2023.13,
  author =	{Stein, Dario and Samuelson, Richard},
  title =	{{A Category for Unifying Gaussian Probability and Nondeterminism}},
  booktitle =	{10th Conference on Algebra and Coalgebra in Computer Science (CALCO 2023)},
  pages =	{13:1--13:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-287-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{270},
  editor =	{Baldan, Paolo and de Paiva, Valeria},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2023/18810},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-188107},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CALCO.2023.13},
  annote =	{Keywords: systems theory, hypergraph categories, Bayesian inference, category theory, Markov categories}
}

Keywords: systems theory, hypergraph categories, Bayesian inference, category theory, Markov categories
Collection: 10th Conference on Algebra and Coalgebra in Computer Science (CALCO 2023)
Issue Date: 2023
Date of publication: 02.09.2023

DROPS-Home | Fulltext Search | Imprint | Privacy Published by LZI