Backward algorithm 2026-10-20
The backward algorithm computes suffix likelihoods in a Hidden Markov model. With , its recurrence is . Together with the forward algorithm, it gives posterior state probabilities proportional to . The terminal condition must include any explicit End-state transition.
Let be the hidden state. With the usual convention and , the Markov property and the conditional independence of emissions factor the joint probability as
The requested state-path probability after observing the complete data is the corresponding conditional probability:
Here the forward algorithm and backward algorithm give the same normalizer at any interior time,
There is no extra factor : it is already included in . If an unconditioned joint probability with the observations is intended, it is the numerator alone. Summing the boxed expression over all gives one.