Definition
A factor graph is a bipartite graph representing the factorization of a function. Given a factorization of a function ,
where, the corresponding factor graph consists of variable vertices, factor vertices, and edges . The edges depend on the factorization as follows: there is an undirected edge between factor vertex and variable vertex when . The function is tacitly assumed to be real-valued: .
Factor graphs can be combined with message passing algorithms to efficiently compute certain characteristics of the function, such as the marginal distributions.
Read more about this topic: Factor Graph
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