Date and location:

This workshop will take place on 20 – 23 May 2025 at Eurandom in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The registration deadline is May 12, 2025. Please follow this link to register.

Workshop summary:

This workshop will focus on “product-form” probability distributions, where the mass or density function is expressed as a product of factors, each depending on the sample and model parameters. These distributions appear naturally in many fields such as queuing theory, statistical physics, or machine learning. For example, in the analysis of Markov chains and Markov decision processes, the stationary distribution sometimes has a product-form, as a consequence of the balance equations. Other classical examples include Jackson networks in queueing theory, the Ising model and zero-range process in statistical physics, and exponential families in data science, which arise naturally as maximum-entropy distributions.

Product-form distributions also enable efficient inference algorithms, for example, to calculate the normalizing constant or sufficient statistics. In queueing theory, examples include the Buzen algorithm and mean-value analysis for Jackson networks. In machine learning, particularly in probabilistic graphical models, sum-product (or message-passing) algorithms leverage the network structure for efficient inference. In queueing theory and statistical physics, product-form distributions are also exploited to help understand phase transitions in various scaling regimes.

The goal of this workshop is threefold:

• review the state of the art in product-form distributions,
• promote an interdisciplinary approach to product-form distributions,
• identify and highlight research questions and opportunities in this domain.

Scientific program overview:

• The program is available here. The book of abstracts is available here.
• A poster session will be organized during the workshop. If you would like to submit a poster, please send a title and a short abstract (about 100 or 200 words) by Friday, May 9, 2025, to celine.comte@laas.fr.
• The workshop will be followed by a special issue of QUESTA on “Product-Form Probability Distributions”. More information can be found here.

Financial support for students:

The workshop organization will financially support the participation of a maximum of 4 PhD and master students to the workshop. The registration, travel, and accommodation costs of each selected student will be reimbursed after the workshop on the basis of receipts, up to a total of 500€. Priority will be given to applications from PhD and master students who submitted an abstract to the workshop’s poster session.

Applications should be sent to celine.comte@laas.fr and should consist of a CV and a short letter explaining your motivation for attending the workshop and for requesting financial support (about 100 or 200 words are enough). The deadline for applying is April 4, 2025, though applications sent after this date may still be considered depending on remaining budget.

Organization:

Organizers:

• Céline Comte (CNRS & LAAS, France)
• Agnieszka Janicka (Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands)
• Richard Boucherie (University of Twente, The Netherlands)

Scientific Committee:

• Richard Boucherie (University of Twente, The Netherlands)
• Cassio de Campos (Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands)
• Matthieu Jonckheere (CNRS & LAAS, France)
• Rhonda Righter (UC Berkeley, US)
• Devavrat Shah (MIT, US)

Scientific Program:

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:

• Inés Armendáriz (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Kristy Gardner (Amherst College, US)
• Joost-Pieter Katoen (RWTH Aachen University, Germany)
• Andrea Marin (University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Italy)
• Pascal Moyal (Institut Élie Cartan de Lorraine, France)

Confirmed Invited Speakers:

• Ivo Adan (Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands)
• Ellen Cardinaels (Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands)
• Nico van Dijk (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
• Jan-Pieter Dorsman (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
• Jean-Michel Fourneau (Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France)
• Bruno Gaujal (INRIA, France)
• Izzy Grosof (Northwestern University, US)
• Stefan Großkinsky (University of Augsburg, Germany
• Matthieu Jonckheere (CNRS & LAAS, France)
• Rhonda Righter (UC Berkeley, US)
• Peter Taylor (The University of Melbourne, Australia)
• Nigel Thomas (Newcastle University, UK)
• Chiwei Yan (UC Berkeley, US)

Registration:

The cost of the workshop is 150€ per person. Registration fees will be used mainly to cover the workshop’s catering costs. Please follow this link to register. The registration closes on May 12, 2025.

NOTE FOR SPEAKERS: PLEASE NOTE THAT TRAVEL AND HOTEL BOOKINGS SHOULD ONLY BE BOOKED THROUGH EURANDOM, NOT BY ANY OTHER TRAVEL AGENCY WHO OFFER THEIR SERVICES

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