Methods to accelerate the learning of bayesian network structures

Bayesian networks have become a standard technique in the representation of uncertain knowledge. This paper proposes methods that can accelerate the learning of a Bayesian network structure from a data set. These methods are applicable when learning an equivalence class of Bayesian network structures whilst using a score and search strategy. They work by constraining the number of validity tests that need to be done and by caching the results of validity tests. The results of experiments show that the methods improve the performance of algorithms that search through the space of equivalence classes multiple times and that operate on wide data sets. The experiments were performed by sampling data from six standard Bayesian networks and running an ant colony optimization algorithm designed to learn a Bayesian network equivalence class.