Dr. Rina Dechter - University of California at Irvine ZOT!
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CompSci-276 Fall 2014, Belief Networks
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Project Proposals

Project Information

Course Reference

    Lecture
    Days: Monday/Wednesday
    Time: 2:00 pm - 3:20 pm
    Room: ICS 180

    Discussion
    Days: Wednesday
    Time: 3:30 pm - 4:20 pm
    Room: ET 201

    Instructor: Rina Dechter
    Office hours: Thursday 2:00 pm - 3:00pm

Course Description

One of the main challenges in building intelligent systems is the ability to reason under uncertainty, and one of the most successful approaches for dealing with this challenge is based on the framework of Bayesian networks, also called graphical models. Intelligent systems based on Bayesian networks are being used in a variety of real-world applications including diagnosis, sensor fusion, on-line help systems, credit assessment, bioinformatics and data mining.

The objective of this class is to provide an in-depth exposition of knowledge representation and reasoning under uncertainty using the framework of Bayesian networks.  Both theoretical underpinnings and practical considerations will be covered, with a special emphasis on dependency and independency models, on construction Bayesian graphical models and on exact and approximate probabilistic reasoning algorithms. Additional topics include: causal networks, learning Bayesian network parameters from data and dynamic Bayesian networks.

Prerequisites

  • Familiarity with basic concepts of probability theory.
  • Knowledge of basic computer science, algorithms and programming principles.
  • Previous exposure to AI is desirable but not essential.

Syllabus

Week       Date Topic Readings           Files        
Week 1 10/6 (a) Pearl 1-2
(b) Darwiche 1-3
(c) Russell-Norvig 13
(d) Darwiche.
Bayesian Networks
Homework 1
Slides 1
  10/8
  • Markov networks: undirected graphical Models.
  • Lecture 2
Slides 2
Week 2 10/13
  • Bayesian networks: directed graphical models.
  • Lecture 3
Homework 2
  10/15
  • Bayesian networks: directed graphical models of independence.
  • Lecture 4
Pearl Ch.3 Slides 3
Week 3 10/20 Darwiche Ch. 5 Slides 4a
  10/22
Homework 3
Slides 4b
Week 4 10/27
  • Exact inference by variable elimination.
  • Lecture 7
Dechter Ch. 4,
Darwiche Ch. 6
Slides 5

10/29
  • Optimization queries: MPE and MAP.
  • Lecture 8

Homework 4
Week 5 11/3
  • Exact inference by Tree-decompositions:
    Join-tree/Junction-tree algorithm. Cluster tree elimination.
  • Lecture 9
Dechter Ch. 5,
Darwiche Ch. 7-8
Homework 5
Slides 6

11/5
  • Exact inference by tree-decomposition, cutset-conditioning scheme.
  • Lecture 10

Project Homework
Week 6 11/10
  • AND/OR search spaces.
  • Veteran's Day.

11/12 Slides 7
Week 7 11/17
  • Approximate algorithms by Sampling: MCMC schemes.
  • Lecture 13

Slides 8

11/19
  • Approximate algorithms by Sampling: advanced schemes.
  • Lecture 14
Cutset sampling
Homework 6
Slides 9
Week 8 11/24
  • Approximate algorithms by Bounded Inference.
  • Lecture 15
Slides 10a

11/26
  • Approximate algorithms by Bounded Inference (continued).
  • Lecture 16

Week 9 12/1
  • Approximate algorithms by Bounded Inference (continued).
  • Lecture 17
Class Notes Ch.8-9
Homework 7
Slides LoopyBP

12/3
  • Approximate algorithms by Bounded Inference (continued).
  • Lecture 18

Slides 10b
Slides 10c
Week 10 12/8
  • Project presentations.



12/10
  • Project presentations.


Week 11 12/15
  • Project presentations.



Assignments:

There will be homework assignments and students will also be engaged in projects.

Grading Policy:

Homework and exam (75%), class project (25%)