Videos

Identifiability in Phylogenetics Using Algebraic Matroids

Presenter
March 19, 2025
Abstract
Identifiability is a crucial property for a statistical model since distributions in the model uniquely determine the parameters that produce them. In phylogenetics, the identifiability of the tree parameter is of particular interest since it means that phylogenetic models can be used to infer evolutionary histories from data. In this project we introduce a new computational strategy for proving the identifiability of discrete parameters in algebraic statistical models that uses algebraic matroids naturally associated to the models. We then use this algorithm to prove that the tree parameters are generically identifiable for 2-tree CFN and K3P mixtures. We also discuss new applications of these techniques to identifiability of phylogenetic network models.
Supplementary Materials