Topology Adaptive Graph Estimation in High Dimensions

Abstract

We introduce Graphical TREX (GTREX), a novel method for graph estimation in high-dimensional Gaussian graphical models. By conducting neighborhood selection with TREX, GTREX avoids tuning parameters and is adaptive to the graph topology. We compared GTREX with standard methods on a new simulation setup that was designed to assess accurately the strengths and shortcomings of different methods. These simulations showed that a neighborhood selection scheme based on Lasso and an optimal (in practice unknown) tuning parameter outperformed other standard methods over a large spectrum of scenarios. Moreover, we show that GTREX can rival this scheme and, therefore, can provide competitive graph estimation without the need for tuning parameter calibration.