Goto

Collaborating Authors

 collider path


Appendix ARemovable Variables

Neural Information Processing Systems

In this section, we first prove the proposed graphical representation for a removable variable in a MAGM (Theorem 1). Then, we discuss how this representation reduces to Theorem 5 of [11] in the case of DAGs. Throughout our proofs, we say a path between X and Y is blocked by a set Wif it is not m-connecting relative to W. In this case, there exists a non-collider W on the path which is a member of W, or there exists a collider W on the path such that W/2 Anc({X,Y }[ W). In both cases we say W blocks this path with respect to W, or W blocks the path in short when W is clear from the context. We say X is a descendant of Y if Y 2Anc(X), and we denote by DeM(X) the set of descendants of X in the MAGM, and De(X) whenever the graph is clear from the context. A.1 Graphical representation Theorem 1. Vertex X is removable in a MAGM over the variables V, if and only if 1. for any Y 2Adj(X) and Z 2Ch(X)[N(X)\{Y}, Y and Z are adjacent, and 2. for any collider path u =( X,V1,...,V m,Y) and Z 2 V\{X,Y,V1,...,V m} such that {X,V1,...,V m} Pa(Z), Y and Z are adjacent. Let H denote the induced subgraph of M over V\{X}. For any W V\{X,Y,Z}, (Z,X,Y) is an m-connecting path relative to W in M, as X is a non-collider and X/2W. That is, no such W can m-separate Y and Z. Since X is removable in M, by definition of removability, (Y?Z|W)M ()(Y?Z|W)H. Again for any W V\{X,Y,Z}, (Z,X,V1,...,V m,Y) is an m-connecting path relative to W in M since I) every collider on this path is a parent (and therefore an ancestor) of Z, and II) X/2W and X is the only non-collider on this path. That is, no such W can m-separate Y and Z. Since X is removable in M, Equation 8 implies that Y and Z have no m-separating sets in H. Hence, Y is adjacent to Z in H, and therefore, in M. if part: We need to prove that for any Y,Z 2V\{X} and any W V\{X,Y,Z}, (Y?Z|W)M ()(Y?Z|W)H.




Graphical Models for Recovering Probabilistic and Causal Queries from Missing Data

Neural Information Processing Systems

We address the problem of deciding whether a causal or probabilistic query is estimable from data corrupted by missing entries, given a model of missingness process. We extend the results of Mohan et al. [2013] by presenting more general conditions for recovering probabilistic queries of the form P(y|x) and P(y,x) as well as causal queries of the form P(y|do(x)). We show that causal queries may be recoverable even when the factors in their identifying estimands are not recoverable. Specifically, we derive graphical conditions for recovering causal effects of the form P(y|do(x)) when Y and its missingness mechanism are not d-separable. Finally, we apply our results to problems of attrition and characterize the recovery of causal effects from data corrupted by attrition.


Towards Complete Causal Explanation with Expert Knowledge

arXiv.org Machine Learning

We study the problem of restricting Markov equivalence classes of maximal ancestral graphs (MAGs) containing certain edge marks, which we refer to as expert knowledge. MAGs forming a Markov equivalence class can be uniquely represented by an essential ancestral graph. We seek to learn the restriction of the essential ancestral graph containing the proposed expert knowledge. Our contributions are several-fold. First, we prove certain properties for the entire Markov equivalence class including a conjecture from Ali et al. (2009). Second, we present three sound graphical orientation rules, two of which generalize previously known rules, for adding expert knowledge to an essential graph. We also show that some orientation rules of Zhang (2008) are not needed for restricting the Markov equivalence class with expert knowledge. We provide an algorithm for including this expert knowledge and show that our algorithm is complete in certain settings i.e., in these settings, the output of our algorithm is a restricted essential ancestral graph. We conjecture this algorithm is complete generally. Outside of our specified settings, we provide an algorithm for checking whether a graph is a restricted essential graph and discuss its runtime. This work can be seen as a generalization of Meek (1995).


Graphical Models for Recovering Probabilistic and Causal Queries from Missing Data

Neural Information Processing Systems

We address the problem of deciding whether a causal or probabilistic query is estimable from data corrupted by missing entries, given a model of missingness process. We extend the results of Mohan et al. [2013] by presenting more general conditions for recovering probabilistic queries of the form P(y|x) and P(y,x) as well as causal queries of the form P(y|do(x)). We show that causal queries may be recoverable even when the factors in their identifying estimands are not recoverable. Specifically, we derive graphical conditions for recovering causal effects of the form P(y|do(x)) when Y and its missingness mechanism are not d-separable. Finally, we apply our results to problems of attrition and characterize the recovery of causal effects from data corrupted by attrition.


Graphical Models for Recovering Probabilistic and Causal Queries from Missing Data

Neural Information Processing Systems

We address the problem of deciding whether a causal or probabilistic query is estimable from data corrupted by missing entries, given a model of missingness process.We extend the results of Mohan et al. [2013] by presenting more general conditions for recovering probabilistic queries of the form P(y x) and P(y,x) as well as causal queries of the form P(y do(x)). We show that causal queries may be recoverable even when the factors in their identifying estimands are not recoverable. Specifically, we derive graphical conditions for recovering causal effects of the form P(y do(x)) when Y and its missingness mechanism are not d-separable. Finally, we apply our results toproblems of attrition and characterize the recovery of causal effects from data corrupted by attrition.


Markov Equivalence Classes for Maximal Ancestral Graphs

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Ancestral graphs provide a class of graphs that can encode conditional independence relations that arise in directed acyclic graph (DAG) models with latent and selection variables, corresponding to marginalization and conditioning. However, for any ancestral graph, there may be several other graphs to which it is Markov equivalent. We introduce a simple representation of a Markov equivalence class of ancestral graphs, thereby facilitating the model search process for some given data. More specifically, we define a join operation on ancestral graphs which will associate a unique graph with an equivalence class. We also extend the separation criterion for ancestral graphs (which is an extension of d-separation) and provide a proof of the pairwise Markov property for joined ancestral graphs. Proving the pairwise Markov property is the first step towards developing a global Markov property for these graphs. The ultimate goal of this work is to obtain a full characterization of the structure of Markov equivalence classes for maximal ancestral graphs, thereby extending analogous results for DAGs given by Frydenberg (1990), Verma and Pearl (1991), Chickering (1995) and Andersson et a!.


Markov Equivalences for Subclasses of Loopless Mixed Graphs

arXiv.org Machine Learning

In this paper we discuss four problems regarding Markov equivalences for subclasses of loopless mixed graphs. We classify these four problems as finding conditions for internal Markov equivalence, which is Markov equivalence within a subclass, for external Markov equivalence, which is Markov equivalence between subclasses, for representational Markov equivalence, which is the possibility of a graph from a subclass being Markov equivalent to a graph from another subclass, and finding algorithms to generate a graph from a certain subclass that is Markov equivalent to a given graph. We particularly focus on the class of maximal ancestral graphs and its subclasses, namely regression graphs, bidirected graphs, undirected graphs, and directed acyclic graphs, and present novel results for representational Markov equivalence and algorithms.