Variational Bayesian Learning Theory

‘This book presents a very thorough and useful explanation of classical (pre deep learning) mean field variational Bayes. It covers basic algorithms, detailed derivations for various models (eg matrix factorization, GLMs, GMMs, HMMs), and advanced theory, including results on sparsity of the VB estimator, and asymptotic properties (generalization bounds).’ Kevin Murphy, Research scientist, Google Brain‘This book is an excellent and comprehensive reference on the topic of Variational Bayes (VB) inference, which is heavily used in probabilistic machine learning. It covers VB theory and algorithms, and gives a detailed exploration of these methods for matrix factorization and extensions. It will be an essential guide for those using and developing VB methods.’ Chris Williams, University of Edinburgh

Shinichi Nakajima is a senior researcher at Technische Universität Berlin. His research interests include the theory and applications of machine learning, and he has published papers at numerous conferences and in journals such as the Journal of Machine Learning Research, the Machine Learning Journal, Neural Computation, and IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing. He currently serves as an area chair for NIPS and an action Editor for Digital Signal Processing.

Kazuho Watanabe is a lecturer at Toyohashi University of Technology. His research interests include statistical machine learning and information theory, and he has published papers at numerous conferences and in journals such as the Journal of Machine Learning Research, the Machine Learning Journal, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, and IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems.

Masashi Sugiyama is Director of the RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project and Professor of Complexity Science and Engineering at the University of Tokyo. His research interests include the theory, algorithms, and applications of machine learning. He has written several books on machine learning, including Density Ratio Estimation in Machine Learning (Cambridge, 2012). He served as program co-chair and general co-chair of the NIPS conference in 2015 and 2016, respectively, and received the Japan Academy Medal in 2017.