Play with the Score Field

The mean is the peak of the mountain. The score is the local direction of steepest increase in log-density. Compare the three covariance cases and see when the score points straight to the peak, and when it does not.

Controls

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1.40
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0.70
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Following the path recomputes the local score direction at every step.
What to look for:
  • In the isotropic case, the score arrow points exactly toward the mean.
  • In the diagonal case, the low-variance axis gets a stronger pull.
  • In the correlated case, the score corrects toward the typical relationship, not necessarily straight to the peak.

What is happening right now?

Mean / peak Current point Score arrow Direct line to mean Score-following path
Angle(score, direct-to-mean)
0.0°
Relative density height
0.000
Distance to mean
0.00

Top-down contour view

This is the best view to compare the score arrow against the straight line to the mean. The score arrow is perpendicular to the local density contour. Its displayed length is fixed so we can focus on direction rather than magnitude.

3D mountain view

Here the mean is the peak of the mountain. The blue arrow near the point shows the local uphill direction induced by the score.