Abstract: 

Monte Carlo methods provide estimators whose standard error usually decreases at a slow rate dictated by the central limit theorem. In theory, there exist simulation estimators with zero variance, i.e., that always provide the exact value. The catch is that these estimators are usually much too difficult (or virtually impossible) to implement.

However, there are situations, especially in the context of rare-event simulation, where the zero-variance simulation can be approximated well enough to provide huge efficiency gains. Adaptive versions can even yield a faster convergence rate, including exponential convergence in some cases. We give an overview of these methods, discuss their practicality, and provide concrete numerical examples.

Speaker

Prof Pierre L'Ecuyer

Research Area
Affiliation

Université de Montréal (Canada)

Date

Fri, 01/03/2013 - 4:00pm to 5:00pm

Venue

OMB-145, Old Main Building, UNSW Kensington Campus