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EM Algorithm Derivation, Discrete Case

Cross Validated Asked on December 27, 2021

Just wanted to ask whether the following derivation is correct:

Suppose $X$ is a vector of observed random variables, $Z$ is a vector of unobserved random variables and $theta$ is a vector of parameters. Let $S$ be the set of values $Z$ could take on; we’ll assume this is discrete. We’ll also assume the following are known

$f(x|z,theta)$ = the probability density function of X given Z and theta
$P(Z=z|theta)$ = the probability that $Z=z$ given $theta$

The likelihood function I want is

$prod_{zin S}[f(x|z,theta)P(Z=z|theta)]^{1_{Z=z}}$

Taking the logarithm:

$sum_{zin S}1_{Z=z}[log f(x|z,theta)+log P(Z=z|theta)]$

Now suppose I’m performing the EM algorithm and my current estimate of $theta$ is $theta^{(n)}$. Then I need to apply $E_{Z|theta^{(n)},x}$ to the above expression. This gives:

$sum_{zin S}P(Z=z|theta^{(n)})[log f(x|z,theta)+log P(Z=z|theta)]$

That is the expression I need to maximize with respect to $theta$ in the M step.

Is that correct, or did I make a mistake somethere? Thanks

One Answer

Yes, your derivation looks correct. Just a minor clarification in the final expression -

In the expression, $sum_{zin S}P(Z=z|x,theta^{(n)})[log f(|z,theta)+log P(Z=z|theta)]$, the term $P(Z=z|x,theta^{(n)})$ would be computed in Expectation step; hence, during the maximization step, it is treated as constant value. In the M-step, derivatives are computed for only the terms within the bracket.

Answered by honeybadger on December 27, 2021

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