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ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/iii/paper-47/5/a/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 47 5 a ii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the shape-scale convention for the inverse-gamma distribution: has density proportional to for . Write , , , and . The independent normal and inverse-gamma regression priors make the conditional log-likelihood plus log prior in equal, up to a constant, toDefine and . Completing the square turns this expression into plus a constant. Thus the conditional posterior distribution is the multivariate normal distributionPositive definiteness of the prior covariance matrix makes this well defined even if the design matrix is rank deficient.
Holding fixed, the factors depending on areConsequentlyThere is no additional in the shape: the normal distribution prior for is independent of . A prior scaled by would be a different model and would change that calculation.
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