Information-theoretic Lower Bounds in Data Science

Ideas and techniques for information-theoretic lower bounds, with examples in machine learning, statistics, information theory, theoretical computer science, optimization, online learning and bandits, operations research, and more. Deficiency and Le Cam's distance; classical asymptotics; information measures and joint range; Le Cam, Assouad, and Fano; Ingster-Suslina method; method of moments; strong converses; constrained risk inequality; compression arguments; privacy-constrained estimation; sequential experimental design; statistical/computational tradeoff. Prerequisites: EE 278, CS 229T, STATS 300A, or equivalent, or instructor's permission.