Mathematical Sciences Seminar - The Synoptic Problem: binary time series and hidden Markov models
When:
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Venue:
Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street
No booking required
Assuming that Mark was the first of the synoptic gospels to be written, the use of Mark by Matthew and Luke is investigated by first constructing binary time series that represent the verbal agreements between Matthew and Mark and between Luke and Mark. An important issue is whether Matthew and Luke were independent in their use of Mark.
Hidden Markov models are fitted to the binary series, and then through the process of "decoding" the most likely sequence of underlying hidden states is found. This leads to the identification of passages that may be of particular interest for investigating any dependence between Matthew and Luke in their use of Mark.
Contact name:
Department of Economics, Mathematics and Statistics