fix!: validate the constructors below HistoryBuilder

0.8.0 closed the sign-absorption defect at `HistoryBuilder::mu/sigma/beta`
and at both ingestion paths. It was still open one layer down, in the
constructors those paths call. Measured, all bit identical to their
positive counterparts:

  Gaussian::from_ms(25.0, -8.33)  == from_ms(25.0, +8.33)
  Rating::new(_, -4.17, _)        == Rating::new(_, +4.17, _)
  ConstantDrift(-0.0833)          == ConstantDrift(+0.0833)

sigma, beta and gamma enter only as squares, so the sign vanished without
comment. Worst of the set: `Rating::new(_, NaN, _)` reached `Game::ranked`
which returned **Ok** carrying `Gaussian { pi: NaN, tau: NaN }` — no
`converge` on that path to catch it.

`from_ms` and `Rating::new` now reject. `ConstantDrift` cannot: the field
is public and positional, so there is no constructor to intercept, and
sealing it would break every `ConstantDrift(x)` for a case whose resulting
model is perfectly valid. Documented instead. Its non-finite half IS
rejected — `converge` validates the drift variance each competitor
accumulates, which also covers a custom `Drift` impl.

Two things the tests caught that I had wrong:

NaN sigma must PASS `from_ms`. My first version rejected it, and two
existing tests went red immediately: a broken fit legitimately produces a
NaN sigma from `sqrt` of a negative truncated variance, and the design is
to propagate that to `NonFiniteResult`. Rejecting it turned the reporting
path into a panic inside inference. Written as
`sigma >= 0.0 || sigma.is_nan()` so the intent is explicit rather than
hidden in a negated comparison.

Very small sigma is also not rejected, and that is deliberate: `approx`
produces small truncated sigmas legitimately. `pi = 1/sigma^2` leaves
f64's range below ~1.5e-154 and `tau = mu*pi` overflows sooner, at a
threshold that depends on mu — so there is a band where pi is finite and
only tau is not. Both land on the existing point-mass representation.
Documented, including that such a Gaussian is not equal to itself and can
make two identical declarations report as conflicting.

BREAKING CHANGE: `Gaussian::from_ms` panics on a negative sigma, and
`Rating::new` panics unless beta is finite and non-negative. `converge`
returns `InvalidParameter` for a non-finite drift variance.

Closes #61

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_011hcFjNDmHXZF8URGLku5zZ
This commit is contained in:
2026-09-09 17:48:41 +02:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 5
parent 6139061740
commit ab23476aaf
5 changed files with 179 additions and 0 deletions
+36
View File
@@ -18,8 +18,44 @@ pub struct Gaussian {
impl Gaussian {
/// Construct from mean and standard deviation.
///
/// # Panics
///
/// Panics if `sigma` is negative. NaN is deliberately allowed through: a
/// broken fit produces one, and `converge` reports that as
/// `NonFiniteResult` rather than panicking mid-inference.
///
/// A negative sigma used to be accepted and returned results **bit
/// identical** to its absolute value, because sigma only ever enters as
/// `sigma * sigma`. The sign was not rejected and not honoured; it simply
/// vanished. That is the same defect `HistoryBuilder::sigma`,
/// `HistoryBuilder::beta` and `Member::with_drift_scale` already reject.
///
/// # Very small sigma
///
/// `pi = 1 / sigma^2` leaves `f64`'s range below about `1.5e-154`, and
/// `tau = mu * pi` overflows sooner still — at a threshold that depends on
/// `mu`, so there is a band where `pi` is finite and only `tau` is not.
/// Both land on the same point-mass representation the `sigma == 0.0`
/// branch produces, and a point mass with a non-zero mean has `mu() = NaN`,
/// because `tau / pi` is `inf / inf`.
///
/// This is not rejected, because `approx` legitimately produces a very
/// small truncated sigma and inference must not panic. It is worth knowing
/// that such a `Gaussian` is not equal to itself, so two identical
/// declarations of one can be reported as conflicting.
#[must_use]
pub const fn from_ms(mu: f64, sigma: f64) -> Self {
// NaN is admitted on purpose. A broken fit legitimately produces a NaN
// sigma — `sqrt` of a negative truncated variance — and the design is
// to propagate that to `converge`'s `NonFiniteResult` guard, not to
// panic inside inference. Rejecting it here turned that reporting path
// into a crash, which two tests caught immediately.
assert!(
sigma >= 0.0 || sigma.is_nan(),
"sigma must not be negative; it is only ever squared, so a negative \
value would silently behave as its absolute value"
);
if sigma == f64::INFINITY {
Self { pi: 0.0, tau: 0.0 }
} else if sigma == 0.0 {