Bayesian Network - Inference I have the following Bayesian Network and need help with answering the following query.



EDITED:

Here are my solutions to questions a and b:

a)

P(A,B,C,D,E) = P(A) * P(B) * P(C | A, B) * P(D | E) * P(E | C)


b)

P(a, ¬b, c ¬d, e) = P(a) * P(¬b) * P(c | a, b) * P(¬d | ¬b) * P(e | c)

= 0.02 * 0.99 * 0.5 * 0.99 * 0.88 = 0.0086


c)

P(e | a, c, ¬b)

This is my attempt:

a ×  ∑ P(a, ¬b, c, D = d, e) =
     d

 a × ∑  { P(a) * P(¬b) * P(c | a, b) * P(d) * P(e | c) + P(a) * P(¬b) * P(c | a,b)    *P(¬d)
     d                                                                  + P(e | c) }


Note that a is the alpha constant and that a = 1/ P(a,¬b, c) 

The problem I have is that I don't know how to compute the constant a that the sum is multiplied by. I would appreciate help because I'm preparing for an exam and have no solutions available to this old exam question.
You're on the right path.  Here's my suggestion.  First, apply the definition of conditional probability:

$$ \Pr[e|a,c,\neg b] = {\Pr[e,a,c,\neg b] \over \Pr[a,c,\neg b]}. $$

So, your job is to compute both $\Pr[e,a,c,\neg b]$ and $\Pr[a,c,\neg b]$.  I suggest that you do each of them separately.

To compute $\Pr[a,\neg b,c,e]$, it is helpful to notice that

$$ \Pr[a,\neg b,c,e] = \Pr[a,\neg b,c,d,e] + \Pr[a,\neg b,c,\neg d,e]. $$

So, if you can compute terms on the right-hand side, then just add them up and you've got  $\Pr[a,\neg b,c,e]$.  You've already computed $\Pr[a,\neg b,c,\neg d,e]$ in part (b).  So, just use the same method to compute $\Pr[a,\neg b,c,d,e]$, and you're golden.

Another way to express the last relation above is to write

$$ \Pr[a,\neg b,c,e] = \sum_d \Pr[a,\neg b,c,D=d,e]. $$

If you think about it, that's exactly the same equation as what I wrote, just using $\sum$ instead of $+$.  You can think about whichever one is easier for you to think about.

Anyway, now you've got $\Pr[e,a,c,\neg b]$.  All that remains is to compute $\Pr[a,c,\neg b]$.  You can do that using exactly the same methods.  I'll let you fill in the details: it is a good exercise.  Finally, plug into the first equation at the top of my answer, and you're done.