
Product-Form Probability Distributions
May 20, 12:00 - May 23, 15:00
Date and location:
This workshop will take place on 20 – 23 May 2025 at Eurandom in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
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.
Please note that the workshop will be followed by a special issue on Product-Form Probability Distributions in QUESTA. More information can be found here.
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)
Confirmed Keynote Speakers:
- Inés Armendáriz (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- Nico van Dijk (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
- Kristy Gardner (Amherst College, US)
- 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)
- 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)
Poster session:
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, April 4, 2025, to celine.comte@laas.fr.
Registration:
The cost of the workshop is 150€ per person. Please follow this link to purchase a ticket. The registration closes on May 12, 2025.