On Testing Whether an Embedded Bayesian Network Represents a Probability
  Model
  Testing the validity of probabilistic models containing unmeasured (hidden)
variables is shown to be a hard task. We show that the task of testing whether
models are structurally incompatible with the data at hand, requires an
exponential number of independence evaluations, each of the form: "X is
conditionally independent of Y, given Z." In contrast, a linear number of such
evaluations is required to test a standard Bayesian network (one per vertex).
On the positive side, we show that if a network with hidden variables G has a
tree skeleton, checking whether G represents a given probability model P
requires the polynomial number of such independence evaluations. Moreover, we
provide an algorithm that efficiently constructs a tree-structured Bayesian
network (with hidden variables) that represents P if such a network exists, and
further recognizes when such a network does not exist.
