What is loopy belief propagation?

Loopy belief propagation computes the marginal probabilities of unknown or unobserved variables given the observed evidence. It handles graphs with loops and cycles. It provides us with a way to compute the state of variables efficiently.

Example

Let us consider the below-illustrated graph.

To discuss how the loopy belief propagation algorithm works, look at the following points.

• In the first iteration, we will initialize the value of variables with a suitable initial value or with any uniform distribution.

• The second step is to iterate through each node in a specific order. At this stage, we need to compute the outgoing message of the node $E$ based on the incoming message. Let us compute the outgoing message from node $E$ to node $B$.

• You need to compute this for every node in the graph.

• At last, we need to check whether the message has converged. We need to measure the maximum change distance between the iterations to check this. If the change is below the threshold, we assume our algorithm has converged.

• Compute the marginal probabilities of every node based on the incoming message. The marginal probability at node E is given below.

• Keep on repeating the above steps until convergence is achieved.

Sometimes, loopy belief propagation may not converge to a solution and oscillate between belief states. To rectify this problem, we use damping belief propagation.

Damping belief propagation

Damping belief propagation is achieved by introducing the control factor. This factor helps mitigate oscillations and improve the convergence of belief propagation.

The value of the damping factor α is between $0$ and $1$, which determines the balance between previous and current information.

The small value of α close to $0.1$indicates smoother and rapid convergence. However, the value of α may vary depending on the characteristics and behavior of the dataset. It is useful when there are cycles or loops in the graph.

Applications of loopy belief propagation

Loopy belief propagation is used where inference in a graphical model is required. Some notable applications of loopy belief propagation are discussed below.

• Loopy belief propagation is used in computer vision, where we can estimate the clean image by noticing the dependence on the neighboring pixels.

• The sequential model helps identify the relation between words and phrases.

• In bioinformatics, it helps to analyze the protein structure and estimate between biological entities.

• In robotics, it enables robots to share information.

Conclusion

Loopy belief propagation helps in determining the inference where there are loops or cycles in the graph. It may not converge to a solution. That's why we use damping belief propagation, where we also consider the previous information of the nodes. It has many real-life applications covering the area of bioinformatics, computer vision, and robotics.

Now, attempt the following quiz to test your understanding of loopy belief propagation.