Interacting multiple try algorithms with different proposal distributions

Abstract

We introduce a new class of interacting Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms which is designed to increase the efficiency of a modified multiple-try Metropolis (MTM) sampler. The extension with respect to the existing MCMC literature is twofold. First, the sampler proposed extends the basic MTM algorithm by allowing for different proposal distributions in the multiple-try generation step. Second, we exploit the different proposal distributions to naturally introduce an interacting MTM mechanism (IMTM) that expands the class of population Monte Carlo methods and builds connections with the rapidly expanding world of adaptive MCMC. We show the validity of the algorithm and discuss the choice of the selection weights and of the different proposals. The numerical studies show that the interaction mechanism allows the IMTM to efficiently explore the state space leading to higher efficiency than other competing algorithms. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.