# Introduction to finite mixtures

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.01505 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.01505/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 3 May 2017.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [A Survey on Time-Series Distance Measures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.20574/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Mixture models have been around for over 150 years, as an intuitively simple and practical tool for enriching the collection of probability distributions available for modelling data. In this chapter we describe the basic ideas of the subject, present several alternative representations and perspectives on these models, and discuss some of the elements of inference about the unknowns in the models. Our focus is on the simplest set-up, of finite mixture models, but we discuss also how various simplifying assumptions can be relaxed to generate the rich landscape of modelling and inference ideas traversed in the rest of this book.