Proof Supplement - Learning Sparse Causal Models is not NP-hard (UAI2013)

Abstract

This article contains detailed proofs and additional examples related to the UAI-2013 submission `Learning Sparse Causal Models is not NP-hard'. It describes the FCI+ algorithm: a method for sound and complete causal model discovery in the presence of latent confounders and/or selection bias, that has worst case polynomial complexity of order $N^{2(k+1)}$ in the number of independence tests, for sparse graphs over $N$ nodes, bounded by node degree $k$. The algorithm is an adaptation of the well-known FCI algorithm by (Spirtes et al., 2000) that is also sound and complete, but has worst case complexity exponential in $N$.