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Re: random draws from multivariate normal

To: Ad Feelders <ad@cs.uu.nl>
Subject: Re: random draws from multivariate normal
From: ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk
Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 15:32:54 +0100 (BST)
Cc: <s-news@lists.biostat.wustl.edu>
In-reply-to: <5.0.0.25.2.20020528160458.02a69ad8@pop.cs.uu.nl>
On Tue, 28 May 2002, Ad Feelders wrote:

> Dear list,
>
> Can anybody give me pointers for the following problem?
>
> I would like to generate random draws from a high (say 25) dimensional
> multivariate normal distribution,
> where the covariance/correlation matrix should be generated at random as
> well. Since the covariance matrix
> should be positive definite, a fully random matrix is not appropriate.
>
> Is there any possibility if generating a "random" positive definite
> covariance matrix?

Yes. The simplest is to use a Wishart distribution: see any good book on
simulation.  And the simplest way to do that is as the covariance matrix
of a multivariate normal sample.

-- 
Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272860 (secr)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595


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