Most probable explanations in Bayesian networks: Complexity and tractability

  • Authors:
  • Johan Kwisthout

  • Affiliations:
  • Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Computing and Information Sciences, P.O. Box 9010, 6500GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands

  • Venue:
  • International Journal of Approximate Reasoning
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

One of the key computational problems in Bayesian networks is computing the maximal posterior probability of a set of variables in the network, given an observation of the values of another set of variables. In its most simple form, this problem is known as the MPE-problem. In this paper, we give an overview of the computational complexity of many problem variants, including enumeration variants, parameterized problems, and approximation strategies to the MPE-problem with and without additional (neither observed nor explained) variables. Many of these complexity results appear elsewhere in the literature; other results have not been published yet. The paper aims to provide a fairly exhaustive overview of both the known and new results.