Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2023/iii/paper-221/1/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 221 1 i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-09-28
A path in a causal directed acyclic graph is active given a conditioning set when every noncollider on the path is outside and every collider has itself or a descendant in . Two vertex sets are d-separated by when no path between them is active given . The global Markov property of a directed acyclic graph then turns d-separation into conditional independence.
In the displayed graph, the edges areEvery observed pair except and is joined by a direct edge, which remains active under conditioning on any other observed variables. The pair is always joined by the fork , because the unobserved noncollider cannot be conditioned on.
For , if is not conditioned on, is active. If is conditioned on, the pathbecomes active because its collider has conditioned descendant ; conditioning on itself also opens it. Thus every observed pair is d-connected given every subset of the other observed variables. Any conditional independence between two nonempty observed subvectors would imply one between each selected pair, so the graph entails none.
New to topics? Read the docs here!