As in the last video, let X=delta+W, where delta and W are independent normal random variables and W has mean zero.

1. Assume that W has positive variance. Are X and W independent?
2. Find the MAP estimator of delta based on X if delta follows Normal(1,1) and W follows Normal(0,1), and evaluate the corresponding estimate if X=2.

1 answer

1. To determine if X and W are independent, we need to check if the joint distribution of X and W can be factorized into the product of their marginal distributions.

Given X = delta + W, we can rewrite this as W = X - delta. Since delta and W are independent, their joint distribution can be expressed as the product of their marginal distributions:

f(x, w) = f(delta)f(w)

Therefore, we need to find the marginal distribution of X and compare it to the conditional distribution of X given W.

The marginal distribution of X can be obtained by integrating out delta:

f(x) = ∫f(delta)f(w) d(delta) = ∫f(delta) d(delta) * f(w) = f(w)

As we can see, the marginal distribution of X is the same as the distribution of W. Therefore, X and W are independent.

2. To find the Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) estimator of delta based on X, we need to maximize the posterior probability of delta given X. The posterior probability can be written as:

P(delta|X) ∝ P(X|delta)P(delta)

Given that delta follows Normal(1,1) and W follows Normal(0,1), the likelihood function P(X|delta) can be expressed as the probability density function (pdf) of a normal distribution with mean delta and variance 1.

P(X|delta) = f(X|delta) = (1/√(2π(1^2))) * exp(-(X-delta)^2/(2*1^2))

The prior probability P(delta) can be expressed as the pdf of a normal distribution with mean 1 and variance 1.

P(delta) = f(delta) = (1/√(2π(1^2))) * exp(-(delta-1)^2/(2*1^2))

To find the MAP estimator of delta, we need to find the value of delta that maximizes the posterior probability P(delta|X). This can be done by taking the logarithm of the posterior probability and finding its maximum.

log(P(delta|X)) = log(P(X|delta)) + log(P(delta))
= -0.5*log(2π) - (X-delta)^2/2 -0.5*log(2π) - (delta-1)^2/2

Taking the derivative of log(P(delta|X)) with respect to delta and setting it equal to zero, we can find the maximum:

d/delta [log(P(delta|X))] = 2*(X-delta) + 2*(delta-1) = 0
2*X - 2*delta + 2*delta - 2 = 0
2*X - 2 = 0
delta = X - 1

Therefore, the MAP estimator of delta based on X is delta = X - 1.

If X = 2, the estimate of delta would be:

delta_estimated = X - 1 = 2 - 1 = 1