Nested sampling for physical scientists

Ashton, Greg and Bernstein, Noam and Buchner, Johannes and Chen, Xi and Csányi, Gábor and Fowlie, Andrew and Feroz, Farhan and Griffiths, Matthew and Handley, Will and Habeck, Michael and Higson, Edward and Hobson, Michael and Lasenby, Anthony and Parkinson, David and Pártay, Livia B. and Pitkin, Matthew and Schneider, Doris and Speagle, Joshua S. and South, Leah and Veitch, John and Wacker, Philipp and Wales, David J. and Yallup, David (2022) Nested sampling for physical scientists. Nature Reviews Methods Primers, 2 (1). ISSN 2662-8449

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Abstract

This Primer examines Skilling’s nested sampling algorithm for Bayesian inference and, more broadly, multidimensional integration. The principles of nested sampling are summarized and recent developments using efficient nested sampling algorithms in high dimensions surveyed, including methods for sampling from the constrained prior. Different ways of applying nested sampling are outlined, with detailed examples from three scientific fields: cosmology, gravitational-wave astronomy and materials science. Finally, the Primer includes recommendations for best practices and a discussion of potential limitations and optimizations of nested sampling.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Nature Reviews Methods Primers
Additional Information:
The Author's Accepted Manuscript (the accepted version of the manuscript as submitted by the author) may only be posted 6 months after the paper is published, consistent with our self-archiving embargo. Please note that the Author’s Accepted Manuscript may not be released under a Creative Commons license. For Nature Research Terms of Reuse of archived manuscripts please see: http://www.nature.com/authors/policies/license.html#terms
ID Code:
171345
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
10 Nov 2022 15:20
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
09 Oct 2023 00:46