===== Maximum Entropy Markov Models - Questions =====

1. Explain (roughly) how the new formula for α_t+1(s) is derived (i.e. formula 1 in the paper).

2. Section 2.1 states "we will split P(s|s',o) into |S| separately trained transition functions". What are the advantages and disadvantages of this approach?

3. Let S= {V,N} (verb and non-verb)
Training data = he/N can/V can/V a/N can/N
//Observation features// are:
b1 = current word is “he”
b2 = current word is “can”
b3 = current word is “a” and next word is “can”
When implementing MEMM you need to define s_0, i.e. the previous state before the first token. It may be a special NULL, but for simplicity let’s define it as N.
a) What are the states (s) and observations (o) for this training data?

b) Equation (2) defines features f_a based on //observation features// b. How many such f_a features do we have?

c) Equation (3) defines constraints. How many such constraints do we have?

d) List all the constraints involving feature b2, i.e. substitute (whenever possible) concrete numbers into Equation (3).

e) In step 3 of the GIS algorithm you need to compute <latex>P_{s’}^{(j)}(s|o)</latex>. Compute <latex>P_N^{(0)}(N|can)</latex> and <latex>P_N^{(0)}(V|can)</latex>.

**Hint** : You might be confused about the m_s' variable (and  t_1, …, <latex>t_{m_{s'}}</latex>) in Equation (3).
For a given s', t_1, …, <latex>t_{m_{s'}}</latex> are the time stamps where the previous state (with time stamp t_i - 1) is s'. For example, in our training data:
for s'=N, t1=1 (because s0=N), t2=2 (because s1=N) and t3=5 (because s4=N), i.e. m_s'=3;
for s'=V, t1=3 (because s2=V), t2=4 (because s3=V), i.e. m_s'=2.

OPTIONAL (These papers may or may not help you with the question and to learn more about Maximum Entropy Markov Models):
  * [[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/aberger/www/html/tutorial/tutorial.html|http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/aberger/www/html/tutorial/tutorial.html]]
  * [[http://www.mit.edu/~6.863/spring2011/jmnew/6.pdf|http://www.mit.edu/~6.863/spring2011/jmnew/6.pdf]]
  * [[http://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs6784/2010sp/lecture/09-McCallumEtAl00.pdf|http://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs6784/2010sp/lecture/09-McCallumEtAl00.pdf]]
  * [[http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~nishanth/seminars/maximum-entropy-markov-model-april13.pdf|http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~nishanth/seminars/maximum-entropy-markov-model-april13.pdf]]
  * [[http://see.stanford.edu/materials/aimlcs229/cs229-hmm.pdf|http://see.stanford.edu/materials/aimlcs229/cs229-hmm.pdf]]