  Algebraic statistics is concerned with the study of probabilistic models and
techniques for statistical inference using methods from algebra and geometry.
This article presents a list of open mathematical problems in this emerging
field, with main emphasis on graphical models with hidden variables, maximum
likelihood estimation, and multivariate Gaussian distributions. This article is
based on a lecture presented at the IMA in Minneapolis during the 2006/07
program on Applications of Algebraic Geometry.
