Level sets and maximum likelihood estimation for the Ising model

Abstract

Bogdan et al. established a new criterion to determine the existence of a maximum likelihood estimator in discrete exponential families. It uses the notion of the set of uniqueness, which allows to apply the problem to the Ising model from statistical mechanics. We propose a full characterization of the existence of the MLE in the Ising model among the level sets used in related combinatorial problems. Then we establish new bounds for the size of the smallest set of uniqueness for the products of Rademacher functions.