--- author: Stéphane Laurent date: '2017-12-09' editor_options: chunk_output_type: console highlighter: 'pandoc-solarized' output: html_document: keep_md: no md_document: preserve_yaml: True variant: markdown rbloggers: yes tags: 'R, maths, statistics' title: Simulation of the fractional noncentral Wishart distribution --- It is well known how to simulate the noncentral Wishart distribution when the number of degrees of freedom $\nu$ and the dimension $d$ satisfy $\nu > 2d-1$, or when $\nu \geq d$ is an integer. In their paper [Exact and high-order discretization schemes for Wishart processes and their affine extensions](https://arxiv.org/abs/1006.2281), Ahdida & Alfonsi provide a method that allows to simulate the Wishart process of dimension $d$ for any number of degrees of freedom $\nu \geq d-1$ and without restrictions on the other parameters. This method allows to simulate the noncentral Wishart distribution, in the way we will expose now. Two properties of the noncentral Wishart distribution ===================================================== We will need the two following properties. Recall that the characteristic function of the noncentral Wishart distribution $\mathcal{W}(\nu, \Sigma, \Theta)$ at $Z$ is $$ \phi_{\nu,\Sigma,\Theta}(Z) = \frac{\exp\Bigl(i\textrm{tr}\bigl({(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma)}^{-1}Z\Theta\bigr)\Bigr)}{{\det(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma)}^{\frac{\nu}{2}}}. $$ $\bullet$ **First property of the Wishart distribution**. Using the characteristic function, it is easy to check that $A W A' \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, A\Sigma A', A\Theta A')$ when $W \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, \Sigma, \Theta)$. $\bullet$ **Second property of the Wishart distribution**. Using the characteristic function, it is not hard to check that if $W_1$ and $W_2$ are two random matrices such that $W_1 \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, \Sigma_1, \Theta)$ and $(W_2 \mid W_1) \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, \Sigma_2, W_1)$, then $W_2 \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, \Sigma_1+\Sigma_2, \Theta)$. This result is proved in A&A's paper only for the covariance matrices $J_d^i$ we will see later, by means of another method. Let's prove this result with the characteristic function. The conditional characteristic function of $W_2$ given $W_1$ at $Z$ is $$ \frac{\exp\Bigl(i\textrm{tr}\bigl({(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma_2)}^{-1}ZW_1\bigr)\Bigr)}{{\det(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma_2)}^{\frac{\nu}{2}}}. $$ The characteristic function of $W_2$ is obtained by taking the expectation of this expression, and doing so we get $$ \frac{\phi_{\nu,\Sigma_1,\Theta}\bigl({(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma_2)}^{-1}Z\bigr)}{{\det(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma_2)}^{\frac{\nu}{2}}} = \frac{\exp\left(i\textrm{tr}\Bigl({\bigr(I_d - 2i {(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma_2)}^{-1}Z\Sigma_1\bigl)}^{-1}{(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma_2)}^{-1}Z\Theta\Bigr)\right)}{{\det(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma_2)}^{\frac{\nu}{2}} {\det(I_d - 2i {\bigl(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma_2)}^{-1}Z\Sigma_1\bigr)}^{\frac{\nu}{2}}}. $$ It is easy to check that the denominator is ${\det\bigl(I_d - 2iZ(\Sigma_1+\Sigma_2)\bigr)}^{\frac{\nu}{2}}$. The expression inside $\textrm{tr}(\ldots)$ at the numerator is $$ {\Bigl((I_d - 2i Z\Sigma_2)\bigr(I_d - 2i {(I_d - 2i Z\Sigma_2)}^{-1}Z\Sigma_1\bigl)\Bigr)}^{-1}Z\Theta = {\bigr(I_d - 2iZ(\Sigma_1+\Sigma_2)\bigl)}^{-1}Z\Theta. $$ Thus we find that the the characteristic function of $W_2$ is $\phi_{\nu, \Sigma_1+\Sigma_2,\Theta}$, that is to say $W_2 \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, \Sigma_1+\Sigma_2, \Theta)$. A&A's simulation method ======================= A&A's simulation method has three steps: - it firstly gives an algorithm to simulate $\mathcal{W}(\nu, J_d^1, \Theta)$, denoting by $J_d^i$ the $d \times d$ covariance matrix whose all entries are equal to zero except the $(i,i)$-entry which is equal to one; - using the first step and the two properties of the Wishart distribution that we have seen, it provides a way to simulate $\mathcal{W}(\nu, I_d^n, \Theta)$ where $I_d^n = J_d^1 + \ldots + J_d^n$; - using the second step and the first property of the Wishart distribution that we have seen, it provides a way to simulate $\mathcal{W}(\nu, \Sigma, \Theta)$ for any covariance matrix $\Sigma$. $\bullet$ **Simulation of $\mathcal{W}(\nu, J_d^1, \Theta)$**. This algorithm runs as follows. Let $(L,M,P)$ be an [extended Cholesky decomposition](https://laustep.github.io/stlahblog/posts/extendedCholesky.html) of $\Theta_{2:d,2:d}$. Set $Q = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & P \end{pmatrix}$ and $\widetilde{\Theta} = Q\Theta Q'$, then set $u = L^{-1}\widetilde{\Theta}_{1, 2:(r+1)}'$ and $v = \widetilde{\Theta}_{1,1} - \sum_{i=1}^r u_i^2$. Take $Z_1, \ldots, Z_r \sim_{\text{iid}} \mathcal{N}(0,1)$ and set $G_i = u_i + Z_i$. Finally, take $X \sim \chi^2_{\nu-r, v}$ (noncentral chi-squared distribution) independent of the $Z_i$, and set $$ W = Q' \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & L & 0 \\ 0 & M & I_{d-r-1} \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} X + \sum_{i=1}^r G_i^2 & G' & 0 \\ G & I_r & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & L' & M' \\ 0 & 0 & I_{d-r-1} \end{pmatrix} Q. $$ Then A&A have shown that $W \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, J_d^1, \Theta)$. $\bullet$ **Simulation of $\mathcal{W}(\nu, I_d^n, \Theta)$**. Let $P$ be the permutation matrix exchanging rows $1$ and $2$. Using the previous algorithm, simulate $W_1 \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, J_d^1, \Theta)$. By the first property of $\mathcal{W}$ we have seen, $P W_1 P \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, J_d^2, P\Theta P)$. Then, still using the previous algorithm, simulate $(W_2 \mid W_1) \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, J_d^1, P W_1 P)$. By the second property of $\mathcal{W}$ we have seen, $W_2 \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, I_d^2, P \Theta P)$. And by the first property, $P W_2 P \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, I_d^2, \Theta)$. Continuing so on, we can simulate $\mathcal{W}(\nu, I_d^n, \Theta)$ for any $n \leq d$. $\bullet$ **Simulation of $\mathcal{W}(\nu, \Sigma, \Theta)$**. Finally, given any covariance matrix $\Sigma$ of rank $n$, take the $\widetilde{C}$ matrix of an extended Cholesky decomposition of $\Sigma$ with permutation matrix $P$, and set $A = P'\widetilde{C}$. Simulate $Y \sim \mathcal{W}\bigl(\nu, I_d^n, A^{-1}\Theta{(A^{-1})}'\bigr)$ with the previous algorithm and finally set $W = AYA'$, so that $W \sim \mathcal{W}(\nu, \Sigma, \Theta)$ by the first property and by the property of the Cholesky decomposition. Checking ======== The algorithm is implemented in my package [matrixsampling](https://github.com/stla/matrixsampling). Let's try it. ``` {.r} library(matrixsampling) p <- 6 nu <- 6.3 Sigma <- toeplitz(p:1) Theta <- matrix(1, p, p) nsims <- 100000 W <- rwishart(nsims, nu, Sigma, Theta) ``` As expected, the average simulated matrix is close to the theoretical mean $\nu \Sigma + \Theta$: ``` {.r} round((nu*Sigma + Theta) - apply(W, 1:2, mean), 2) ## [,1] [,2] [,3] [,4] [,5] [,6] ## [1,] -0.05 -0.04 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.04 ## [2,] -0.04 -0.06 -0.03 -0.03 0.00 0.01 ## [3,] 0.00 -0.03 -0.04 -0.06 -0.05 -0.05 ## [4,] 0.00 -0.03 -0.06 -0.07 -0.04 -0.07 ## [5,] 0.02 0.00 -0.05 -0.04 -0.03 -0.05 ## [6,] 0.04 0.01 -0.05 -0.07 -0.05 -0.09 ``` Let's compare the theoretical characteristic function to its approximation obtained from the simulations: ``` {.r .numberLines} z <- seq(0.001, 0.004, length.out = 20) Z <- sapply(z, function(z){ z*diag(p) + matrix(z, p, p) }, simplify=FALSE) tr <- function(A) sum(diag(A)) Phi_theoretical <- sapply(Z, function(Z){ complexplus::Det(diag(p) - 2*1i*Z%*%Sigma)^(-nu/2) * exp(1i*tr(solve(diag(p) - 2*1i*Z%*%Sigma) %*% Z %*% Theta)) }) Phi_sims <- sapply(Z, function(Z){ mean(apply(W, 3, function(W){ exp(1i*tr(Z%*%W)) })) }) layout(t(1:2)) plot(z, Re(Phi_theoretical), type="o", pch=19) lines(z, Re(Phi_sims), type="o", pch=19, col="red") plot(z, Im(Phi_theoretical), type="o", pch=19) lines(z, Im(Phi_sims), type="o", pch=19, col="red") ``` ![](./figures/WishFrac-WishartCF-1.png)