2008•arXiv (Cornell University)Open access

Higher Asymptotics of Laplace's Approximation

William D. Kirwin

Open full text 3 citations

Abstract

We present expressions for the coefficients which arise in asymptotic expansions of multiple integrals of Laplace type (the first term of which is known as Laplace's approximation) in terms of asymptotic series of the functions in the integrand. Our most general result assumes no smoothness of the functions of the integrand, but the expressions we obtain contain integrals which may be difficult to evaluate in practice. We then make additional assumptions which are sufficient to simplify these integrals, in some cases obtaining explicit formulae for the coefficients in the asymptotic expansions.

Open-access reader

About this research paper

What this paper is about

We present expressions for the coefficients which arise in asymptotic expansions of multiple integrals of Laplace type (the first term of which is known as Laplace's approximation) in terms of asymptotic series of the functions in the integrand. Our most general result assumes no smoothness of the functions of the integrand, but the expressions we obtain contain integrals which may be difficult to evaluate in practice. We then make additional assumptions which are sufficient to simplify these integrals, in some cases obtaining explicit formulae for the coefficients in the asymptotic expansions.

Why it matters

OpenAlex reports 3 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

Key contribution

A contribution statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.

Method / approach

Method details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Main findings

Findings are not separately available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Limitations

Limitations are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Applications

Application details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Available abstract

We present expressions for the coefficients which arise in asymptotic expansions of multiple integrals of Laplace type (the first term of which is known as Laplace's approximation) in terms of asymptotic series of the functions in the integrand. Our most general result assumes no smoothness of the functions of the integrand, but the expressions we obtain contain integrals which may be difficult to evaluate in practice. We then make additional assumptions which are sufficient to simplify these integrals, in some cases obtaining explicit formulae for the coefficients in the asymptotic expansions.

Key concepts: Smoothness, Laplace transform, Mathematics, Laplace's method, Asymptotic expansion, Mathematical analysis, Term (time), Series (stratigraphy)

Related papers

Back to paper searchBrowse research topicsOriginal source
Higher Asymptotics of Laplace's Approximation — Research Paper | ScholarLens