Sequential Monte Carlo for inference in nonlinear state space models

Abstract: Nonlinear state space models (SSMs) are a useful class of models to describe many different kinds of systems. Some examples of its applications are to model; the volatility in financial markets, the number of infected persons during an influenza epidemic and the annual number of major earthquakes around the world. In this thesis, we are concerned with state inference, parameter inference and input design for nonlinear SSMs based on sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) methods.The state inference problem consists of estimating some latent variable that is not directly observable in the output from the system. The parameter inference problem is concerned with fitting a pre-specified model structure to the observed output from the system. In input design, we are interested in constructing an input to the system, which maximises the information that is available about the parameters in the system output. All of these problems are analytically intractable for nonlinear SSMs. Instead, we make use of SMC to approximate the solution to the state inference problem and to solve the input design problem. Furthermore, we make use of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and Bayesian optimisation (BO) to solve the parameter inference problem.In this thesis, we propose new methods for parameter inference in SSMs using both Bayesian and maximum likelihood inference. More specifically, we propose a new proposal for the particle Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, which includes gradient and Hessian information about the target distribution. We demonstrate that the use of this proposal can reduce the length of the burn-in phase and improve the mixing of the Markov chain.Furthermore, we develop a novel parameter inference method based on the combination of BO and SMC. We demonstrate that this method requires a relatively small amount of samples from the analytically intractable likelihood, which are computationally costly to obtain. Therefore, it could be a good alternative to other optimisation based parameter inference methods. The proposed BO and SMC combination is also extended for parameter inference in nonlinear SSMs with intractable likelihoods using approximate Bayesian computations. This method is used for parameter inference in a stochastic volatility model with -stable returns using real-world financial data.Finally, we develop a novel method for input design in nonlinear SSMs which makes use of SMC methods to estimate the expected information matrix. This information is used in combination with graph theory and convex optimisation to estimate optimal inputs with amplitude constraints. We also consider parameter estimation in ARX models with Student-t innovations and unknown model orders. Two different algorithms are used for this inference: reversible Jump Markov chain Monte Carlo and Gibbs sampling with sparseness priors. These methods are used to model real-world EEG data with promising results.