Information-theoretic characterizations of conditional mutual independence and Markov random fields

Abstract

We take the point of view that a Markov random field is a collection of so-called full conditional mutual independencies. Using the theory of I-measure, we have obtained a number of fundamental characterizations related to conditional mutual independence and Markov random fields. We show that many aspects of conditional mutual independence and Markov random fields have very simple set-theoretic descriptions. New insights into the structure of conditional mutual independence and Markov random fields are obtained. Our results have immediate applications in the implication problem of probabilistic conditional independency and relational database. We obtain a hypergraph characterization of a Markov random field which makes it legitimate to view a Markov random field as a hypergraph. Based on this result, we naturally employ the Graham reduction, a tool from relational database theory, to recognize a Markov forest. This connection between Markov random fields and hypergraph sheds some light on the possible role of hypergraph theory in the study of Markov random fields.