@article{CockayneOatesSullivanetal., author = {Cockayne, Jon and Oates, Chris and Sullivan, T. J. and Girolami, Mark}, title = {Bayesian Probabilistic Numerical Methods}, series = {SIAM Review}, volume = {61}, journal = {SIAM Review}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1137/17M1139357}, pages = {756 -- 789}, abstract = {Over forty years ago average-case error was proposed in the applied mathematics literature as an alternative criterion with which to assess numerical methods. In contrast to worst-case error, this criterion relies on the construction of a probability measure over candidate numerical tasks, and numerical methods are assessed based on their average performance over those tasks with respect to the measure. This paper goes further and establishes Bayesian probabilistic numerical methods as solutions to certain inverse problems based upon the numerical task within the Bayesian framework. This allows us to establish general conditions under which Bayesian probabilistic numerical methods are well defined, encompassing both the non-linear and non-Gaussian context. For general computation, a numerical approximation scheme is proposed and its asymptotic convergence established. The theoretical development is extended to pipelines of computation, wherein probabilistic numerical methods are composed to solve more challenging numerical tasks. The contribution highlights an important research frontier at the interface of numerical analysis and uncertainty quantification, and a challenging industrial application is presented.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CockayneOatesSullivanetal., author = {Cockayne, Jon and Oates, Chris and Sullivan, T. J. and Girolami, Mark}, title = {Probabilistic Numerical Methods for PDE-constrained Bayesian Inverse Problems}, series = {Proceedings of the 36th International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering}, volume = {1853}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 36th International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering}, doi = {10.1063/1.4985359}, pages = {060001-1 -- 060001-8}, abstract = {This paper develops meshless methods for probabilistically describing discretisation error in the numerical solution of partial differential equations. This construction enables the solution of Bayesian inverse problems while accounting for the impact of the discretisation of the forward problem. In particular, this drives statistical inferences to be more conservative in the presence of significant solver error. Theoretical results are presented describing rates of convergence for the posteriors in both the forward and inverse problems. This method is tested on a challenging inverse problem with a nonlinear forward model}, language = {en} } @misc{CockayneOatesSullivanetal., author = {Cockayne, Jon and Oates, Chris and Sullivan, T. J. and Girolami, Mark}, title = {Probabilistic Meshless Methods for Partial Differential Equations and Bayesian Inverse Problems}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-59513}, abstract = {This paper develops a class of meshless methods that are well-suited to statistical inverse problems involving partial differential equations (PDEs). The methods discussed in this paper view the forcing term in the PDE as a random field that induces a probability distribution over the residual error of a symmetric collocation method. This construction enables the solution of challenging inverse problems while accounting, in a rigorous way, for the impact of the discretisation of the forward problem. In particular, this confers robustness to failure of meshless methods, with statistical inferences driven to be more conservative in the presence of significant solver error. In addition, (i) a principled learning-theoretic approach to minimise the impact of solver error is developed, and (ii) the challenging setting of inverse problems with a non-linear forward model is considered. The method is applied to parameter inference problems in which non-negligible solver error must be accounted for in order to draw valid statistical conclusions.}, language = {en} } @misc{OatesCockaynePrangleetal., author = {Oates, Chris and Cockayne, Jon and Prangle, Dennis and Sullivan, T. J. and Girolami, Mark}, title = {Optimality criteria for probabilistic numerical methods}, series = {Multivariate Algorithms and Information-Based Complexity}, volume = {27}, journal = {Multivariate Algorithms and Information-Based Complexity}, editor = {Hickernell, F. J. and Kritzer, P.}, publisher = {De Gruyter}, doi = {10.1515/9783110635461-005}, pages = {65 -- 88}, abstract = {It is well understood that Bayesian decision theory and average case analysis are essentially identical. However, if one is interested in performing uncertainty quantification for a numerical task, it can be argued that the decision-theoretic framework is neither appropriate nor sufficient. To this end, we consider an alternative optimality criterion from Bayesian experimental design and study its implied optimal information in the numerical context. This information is demonstrated to differ, in general, from the information that would be used in an average-case-optimal numerical method. The explicit connection to Bayesian experimental design suggests several distinct regimes in which optimal probabilistic numerical methods can be developed.}, language = {en} } @article{WangCockayneChkrebtiietal., author = {Wang, Junyang and Cockayne, Jon and Chkrebtii, Oksana and Sullivan, T. J. and Oates, Chris}, title = {Bayesian numerical methods for nonlinear partial differential equations}, series = {Statistics and Computing}, volume = {31}, journal = {Statistics and Computing}, number = {5}, doi = {10.1007/s11222-021-10030-w}, language = {en} }