New sampling method reduces variance in correlated high-dimensional distributions.
problem Reducing variance in Monte Carlo estimators for correlated high-dimensional distributions.
method DPPMC (Determinantal Point Processes Monte Carlo) method for structured sampling.
result DPPMCs improve state-of-the-art in various optimization and machine learning problems.
New approach uses Wasserstein distances to score and optimize policy behaviors.
problem Comparing reinforcement learning policies and guiding policy optimization.
method Dual formulation of Wasserstein distances in latent behavioral space, learning score functions, smoothed WDs, stochastic gradient descent, on-policy algorithms.
result Demonstrated improved performance over existing methods in various environments.
Macroscopic price evolution models are commonly used for investment strategies. There are first promising achievements in defining microscopic agent based models for the same purpose. Microscopic models allow a deeper understanding of mechanisms in the market than the purely phenomenological macroscopic models, and thu…
Dynamic probabilistic forecasts guide optimal decisions in uncertain processes.
problem Optimal decision making in processes influenced by uncertain random factors.
method Stochastic models for probabilistic forecast evolution, calibrated from ensemble forecasts.
result Optimal decision strategies determined using dynamic probabilistic forecasts.
NEAT algorithm optimizes stock trading with reduced risk.
problem Maximizing earnings while minimizing risk in stock trading.
method Applied NEAT algorithm to stock trading with multiple technical indicators, using progressive training data and a multi-objective fitness function.
result NEAT model achieved similar returns to Buy & Hold but with lower risk and stability.
This paper combines LLMs with RL for better trading strategies.
problem Myopic behavior and opaque policies in RL for trading.
method LLMs generate strategic trading advice to guide RL agents.
result LLM-guided RL agents outperform unguided RL in return and risk metrics.
Many applications in machine learning require optimizing a function whose true gradient is unknown, but where surrogate gradient information (directions that may be correlated with, but not necessarily identical to, the true gradient) is available instead. This arises when an approximate gradient is easier to compute t…
Paper reviews the evolution of alpha from human insight to AI-powered systems.
problem Exceeding market benchmarks in finance.
method Five-stage taxonomy integrating representation learning, multimodal data fusion, and LLM agents.
result Unified framework for evaluating and developing next-gen alpha systems.
This paper uses bandit theory and Thompson Sampling to optimize protein sequences.
problem Optimizing protein sequences using machine learning and directed evolution.
method Proposes a Thompson Sampling-guided Directed Evolution (TS-DE) framework.
result TS-DE achieves a nearly optimal Bayesian regret of order i l d e O ( d 2 M T ) ilde O(d^{2}\sqrt{MT}) i l d e O ( d 2 M T ) . ES and FD gradients converge as optimization dimension grows.
problem Understanding the relationship between Evolution Strategies and Finite Differences gradients.
method Analyzing the convergence of gradients as the optimization dimension increases.
result ES and FD gradients converge as the dimension of the vector under optimization increases.
XGL uses global explanations to guide human supervision in machine learning.
problem Improving model quality through human-machine interaction.
method XGL employs global explanations to guide human selection of informative examples.
result XGL avoids overselling the model's quality and performs comparably to other strategies.
NPENAS improves neural architecture search efficiency and accuracy.
problem Efficient and accurate neural architecture search (NAS) for minimizing search costs.
method Proposes NPENAS, a neural predictor guided evolutionary algorithm that enhances exploration ability of evolutionary algorithms.
result NPENAS-BO and NPENAS-NP outperform existing NAS algorithms on NASBench-201, NASBench-101, and DARTS.
Guided Evolution improves NAS efficiency and accuracy.
problem NAS methods converge to local minima and are complex.
method G-EA: guided evolutionary approach with initialization evaluation and continuous knowledge extraction.
result G-EA achieves state-of-the-art results in CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, and ImageNet16-120.
PES method reduces bias in gradient estimation for unrolled graphs.
problem High variance and bias in gradient estimation for unrolled computation graphs.
method Divide graph into unrolls, apply ES update, accumulate correction terms.
result PES provides unbiased, low-variance gradient estimates.
New method for portfolio management learns from past wealth evolution.
problem Optimizing portfolio selection based on past performance.
method Simulated annealing clustering for asset selection, considering past wealth evolution.
result Strategy effectively learns from past performance and performs well in practice.
This tutorial introduces the CMA Evolution Strategy (ES), where CMA stands for Covariance Matrix Adaptation. The CMA-ES is a stochastic, or randomized, method for real-parameter (continuous domain) optimization of non-linear, non-convex functions. We try to motivate and derive the algorithm from intuitive concepts and …
Latest algorithms for automatic neural architecture search perform remarkable but are basically directionless in search space and computational expensive in training of every intermediate architecture. In this paper, we propose a method for efficient architecture search called EENA (Efficient Evolution of Neural Archit…
Evolution Strategies (ES) emerged as a scalable alternative to popular Reinforcement Learning (RL) techniques, providing an almost perfect speedup when distributed across hundreds of CPU cores thanks to a reduced communication overhead. Despite providing large improvements in wall-clock time, ES is data inefficient whe…
Analyzes how venture investment strategies have evolved over time in different sectors.
problem Understanding changes in venture investment strategies across sectors over time.
method Applied PCA and TCA to analyze a dataset of 52,000 startups and 110,000 funding rounds.
result There has been a shift in venture investment towards lower-tech sectors and a rise in accelerator investments.
CR-FM-NES improves NES for high-dimensional optimization.
problem High-dimensional black-box optimization problems.
method CR-FM-NES extends FM-NES with a restricted covariance matrix representation.
result CR-FM-NES achieves significant speedup in high-dimensional problems.
A new method evolves point clouds using B-splines for smooth surfaces.
problem Evolution of smooth surfaces from discrete point clouds.
method Adaptive Lagrangian B-spline framework for geometric evolution.
result Efficient and accurate reproduction of surface evolution phenomena.
Algorithm improves vanilla option pricing accuracy during and before COVID-19.
problem Improving vanilla option pricing accuracy during and before the pandemic.
method Combinational Mutation Strategy of Differential Evolution (CmDE) algorithm for bi-objective optimization.
result Algorithm approximates real market vanilla option prices more accurately than Black-Scholes.
ES-MAML uses Evolution Strategies for MAML, avoiding second derivative estimation.
problem Solving the MAML problem with efficient second derivative estimation.
method Applies Evolution Strategies to MAML, avoiding second derivative estimation.
result ES-MAML performs competitively and often better with fewer queries.
ES optimization improved by structured control variates.
problem Improving accuracy of Evolution Strategies in RL.
method RL-specific variance reduction through structured control variates.
result Structured control variates outperform general variance reduction methods.
Investment strategies in financial markets can lead to instability due to market impacts.
problem Market impacts make it impossible for investors to accurately optimize their strategies.
method Built an agent-based model with technical analysis strategy agents to investigate optimization instability.
result Investment strategies' parameters never converged but continued to change, leading to unstable market price evolution.
Unified approach to guided generation techniques.
problem Controlling the generative process of flow/diffusion models.
method Unified posterior and end-to-end guidance techniques.
result Unified posterior guidance as a greedy strategy of end-to-end guidance.
Online machine learns from signals robustly using consensus optimization.
problem Signal classification in online settings.
method Reproducing kernel Hilbert space with consensus optimization.
result Robust signal classification achieved.
BayPOD-AL learns reduced-order models from high-fidelity data efficiently.
problem Capturing dynamics of complex systems with large training datasets.
method Bayesian active learning based on uncertainty-aware POD.
result BayPOD-AL reduces computational cost and improves model accuracy.
CausalEvolve improves efficiency and discovery in open-ended scientific tasks.
problem Lack of targeted guidance and knowledge organization in evolve-based agents.
method Causal scratchpad that identifies and reasons about guiding factors for evolution.
result Effective improvement in evolutionary efficiency and better solutions.
Algorithm learns which weights to share in deep multi-task learning.
problem Difficulty in deciding which weights to share between tasks in deep learning models.
method Combines natural evolution strategy and stochastic gradient descent to learn optimal weight sharing.
result Task-specific networks achieve lower test errors than existing methods on multi-task learning datasets.
NES optimizes discrete structured VAEs effectively without gradient propagation.
problem Learning high-dimensional discrete latent spaces in generative models.
method Natural Evolution Strategies (NES) for gradient-free optimization of discrete structures.
result NES effectively optimizes discrete structured VAEs, comparable to gradient-based methods.
EFS uses LLMs to optimize sparse portfolios by evolving alpha factors.
problem Sparse portfolio optimization in dynamic market regimes.
method Evolutionary feedback loop with LLM-generated alpha factors.
result Significantly outperforms baselines in diverse datasets.
Combines NES and PPO to enhance exploration in various environments.
problem Improving exploration in reinforcement learning environments.
method Parameter transfer and parameter space noise methods for combining NES and PPO.
result PPO benefits from both NES methods in discrete and continuous control tasks.
Investigates JM for reducing downside risk in market regimes.
problem Mitigating downside risk during market downturns.
method Statistical jump model for identifying market regimes, optimizing penalty for state transitions.
result JM-guided strategies outperform traditional models in reducing risk and enhancing returns.
GH-PID uses guided harmonic paths for efficient SOT with interpretable diagnostics.
problem Efficiently solving Stochastic Optimal Transport with hard terminal distributions and soft costs.
method Guided Harmonic Path-Integral Diffusion (GH-PID) framework with low-dimensional guidance.
result GH-PID generates geometry-aware, cost-reducing trajectories that match terminal distributions.
Novel neural computer learns algorithmic solutions for symbolic tasks.
problem Learning abstract strategies for unfamiliar problems.
method Memory-augmented neural network architecture with Evolution Strategies.
result Strong generalization and abstraction across various tasks.
We explore the use of Evolution Strategies (ES), a class of black box optimization algorithms, as an alternative to popular MDP-based RL techniques such as Q-learning and Policy Gradients. Experiments on MuJoCo and Atari show that ES is a viable solution strategy that scales extremely well with the number of CPUs avail…
Gradients help find global optima in complex functions.
problem Finding global optima in functions with many local minima.
method A principle for generating search directions from non-local quadratic approximants based on gradients.
result The proposed algorithm and CMA-ES perform better than random reinitialized BFGS.
KG-WDRO optimizes transfer learning with external knowledge.
problem Over-pessimism in WDRO for small target samples.
method KG-WDRO incorporates multiple sources of external knowledge to construct smaller Wasserstein ambiguity sets.
result KG-WDRO improves transfer learning performance and adaptivity.
We propose a methodology for clustering financial time series of stocks' returns, and a graphical set-up to quantify and visualise the evolution of these clusters through time. The proposed graphical representation allows for the application of well known algorithms for solving classical combinatorial graph problems, w…
This paper explores the problem of unknotting closed braids and classical knots in mathematical knot theory. We apply evolutionary computation methods to learn sequences of moves that simplify knot diagrams, and show that this can be effective both when the evolution is carried out for individual knots and when a gener…
ITCA optimizes label combination for ambiguous outcomes in multi-class classification.
problem Ambiguous outcome labels in real-world datasets hinder accurate multi-class classification.
method Information-theoretic classification accuracy (ITCA) and search strategies (greedy, breadth-first) guide label combination.
result ITCA improves prediction accuracy and identifies ambiguous labels across diverse applications.
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ES-Single uses ES to estimate gradients in unrolled graphs, reducing variance and improving performance.
problem Estimating gradients in unrolled computation graphs with low variance and stability.
method Evolution strategies (ES) applied to unrolled graphs, with a single perturbation per particle.
result ES-Single reduces variance compared to PES, leading to better performance in various tasks.
We develop a more efficient NGD method for structured parameters.
problem Computational challenges in NGD for structured parameter spaces.
method Local-parameter coordinates to simplify Fisher-matrix computations.
result New structured second-order algorithms and learning methods.
User intended actions are widely seen in many areas. Forecasting these actions and taking proactive measures to optimize business outcome is a crucial step towards sustaining the steady business growth. In this work, we focus on pre- dicting attrition, which is one of typical user intended actions. Conventional attriti…
A new ES method improves reinforcement learning speed and accuracy.
problem Slow convergence and local maxima in reinforcement learning.
method Directional Gaussian Smoothing Evolution Strategy (DGS-ES)
result DGS-ES accelerates RL training with high accuracy and nonlocal search direction.
Probabilistic programming languages (PPLs) are a powerful modeling tool, able to represent any computable probability distribution. Unfortunately, probabilistic program inference is often intractable, and existing PPLs mostly rely on expensive, approximate sampling-based methods. To alleviate this problem, one could tr…