An adaptive accept/reject sampling algorithm for posterior probability distributions

Accept/reject sampling is a well-known method to generate random samples from arbitrary target probability distributions. It demands the design of a suitable proposal probability density function (pdf) from which candidate samples can be drawn. These samples are either accepted or rejected depending on a test involving the ratio of the target and proposal densities. In this paper we introduce an adaptive method to build a sequence of proposal pdf's that approximate the target density and hence can ensure a high acceptance rate. In order to illustrate the application of the method we design an accept/reject particle filter and then assess its performance and sampling efficiency numerically, by means of computer simulations.