Testing symmetric properties of distributions
Name
297547243-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
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3.16 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
63ae3aeb47eb73fa44aa60ebe8523c6d
Author(s)
Valiant, Paul (Paul Andrew)
Advisor(s)
Silvio Micali.
Date Issued
2008
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
We introduce the notion of a Canonical Tester for a class of properties on distributions, that is, a tester strong and general enough that "a distribution property in the class is testable if and only if the Canonical Tester tests it". We construct a Canonical Tester for the class of symmetric properties of one or two distributions, satisfying a certain weak continuity condition. Analyzing the performance of the Canonical Tester on specific properties resolves several open problems, establishing lower bounds that match known upper bounds: we show that distinguishing between entropy < a or > p on distributions over [n] requires nc/P-O(1) samples, and distinguishing whether a pair of distributions has statistical distance < a or > 0 requires n1-o(1) samples. Our techniques also resolve a conjecture about a property that our Canonical Tester does not apply to: distinguishing identical distributions from those with statistical distance > 0 requires Q(n2/3) samples.
Description
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-66).
Subjects
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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