Probabilistic Modeling Using Tree Linear Cascades

Abstract: We introduce tree linear cascades, a class of linear structural equation models for which the error variables are uncorrelated but need not be Gaussian nor independent. We show that, in spite of this weak assumption, the tree structure of this class of models is identifiable. In a similar vein, we introduce a constrained regression problem for fitting a tree-structured linear structural equation model and solve the problem analytically. We connect these results to the classical Chow-Liu approach for Gaussian graphical models. We conclude by giving an empirical-risk form of the regression and illustrating the computationally attractive implications of our theoretical results on a basic example involving stock prices.