Sparse Interaction Neighborhood Selection for Markov Random Fields via Reversible Jump and Pseudoposteriors

Abstract: We consider the problem of estimating the interacting neighborhood of a Markov Random Field model with finite support and homogeneous pairwise interactions based on relative positions of a two-dimensional lattice. Using a Bayesian framework, we propose a Reversible Jump Monte Carlo Markov Chain algorithm that jumps across subsets of a maximal range neighborhood, allowing us to perform model selection based on a marginal pseudoposterior distribution of models. To show the strength of our proposed methodology we perform a simulation study and apply it to a real dataset from a discrete texture image analysis.