Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford / 2021 / 1 / a / Solution

Write $s={\sigma }^2\ge 1$. The two multivariate normal distribution probability density functions have ratioHere $\Vert x\Vert$ is the Euclidean norm. Consequently the smallest rejection sampling envelope constant, and its acceptance probability, areThe supremum is attained at $x=0$; hence no smaller constant can dominate the ratio. Draw $Y\sim N(0,s{I}_d)$ and an independent $U$ from the uniform distribution on $(0,1)$. Accept $Y$ whenotherwise repeat with fresh independent random variables. One can generate $Y=\sqrt{s}G$ using a random vector $G$ with independent standard normal distribution coordinates.

For any measurable set $B$, the joint acceptance probability is ${\int }_{B}q(y)p(y)/(M_{\ast }q(y))dy=M_{\ast }^{-1}{\int }_{B}p(y)dy$. Dividing by $1/M_{\ast }$ proves that the returned random vector has probability density function $p$. The number of proposals has a geometric distribution on the positive integers, with expected value $M_{\ast }$. When $s=1$, every proposal is accepted.