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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2026.51

On Computing Total Variation Distance Between Mixtures of Product Distributions

Authors: Weiming Feng, Yucheng Fu, Minji Yang, and Anqi Zhang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 392, Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2026)

Abstract

We study the problem of approximating the total variation distance between two mixtures of product distributions over an n-dimensional discrete domain. Given two mixtures ℙ and ℚ with k₁ and k₂ product distributions over [q]ⁿ, respectively, we give a randomized algorithm that approximates d_TV(ℙ,ℚ) within a multiplicative error of (1±ε) in time poly((nq)^{k₁+k₂}, 1/ε). We also study the special case of mixtures of Boolean subcubes over {0,1}ⁿ. For this class, we give a deterministic algorithm that exactly computes the total variation distance in time poly(n, 2^O(k₁+k₂)), and show that exact computation is #𝖯-hard when k₁+k₂ = Θ(n).

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Weiming Feng, Yucheng Fu, Minji Yang, and Anqi Zhang. On Computing Total Variation Distance Between Mixtures of Product Distributions. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 392, pp. 51:1-51:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{feng_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2026.51,
  author =	{Feng, Weiming and Fu, Yucheng and Yang, Minji and Zhang, Anqi},
  title =	{{On Computing Total Variation Distance Between Mixtures of Product Distributions}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2026)},
  pages =	{51:1--51:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-449-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{392},
  editor =	{Singh, Mohit and Gur, Tom},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2026.51},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-277689},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2026.51},
  annote =	{Keywords: Randomized algorithm, Total variation distance}
}

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On Computing Total Variation Distance Between Mixtures of Product Distributions

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