On tensor rank of conditional probability tables in Bayesian networks

Abstract: A difficult task in modeling with Bayesian networks is the elicitation of numerical parameters of Bayesian networks. A large number of parameters is needed to specify a conditional probability table (CPT) that has a larger parent set. In this paper we show that, most CPTs from real applications of Bayesian networks can actually be very well approximated by tables that require substantially less parameters. This observation has practical consequence not only for model elicitation but also for efficient probabilistic reasoning with these networks.