Researchers identify latent variables and causal structures from nonlinear hierarchical models.
problem Challenging task of identifying latent variables and causal structures from observational data, especially when relationships are nonlinear.
method Investigated nonlinear latent hierarchical causal models, developed identification criterion, and constructed an estimation procedure.
result Identifiability of causal structures and latent variables achieved under mild assumptions.
Improved DSSMs for easier interpretable latent variables.
problem Complex and hard-to-interpret latent variables in DSSMs.
method Simplified predictive decoder and shrinkage priors.
result Interpretable latent variables improve forecasting performance.
Latent representations are the essence of deep generative models and determine their usefulness and power. For latent representations to be useful as generative concept representations, their latent space must support latent space interpolation, attribute vectors and concept vectors, among other things. We investigate …
A neural network finds causal relationships among latent variables.
problem Learning causal structure among latent variables in high-dimensional data.
method Redundant Input Neural Network (RINN) with modified architecture and regularized objective function.
result The RINN method successfully recovers latent causal structure between input and output variables.
New method identifies latent relationships in deep models without additional constraints.
problem Latent representations in deep latent variable models are not statistically identifiable.
method Identifies relationships between latent variables (distances, angles, volumes) under mild model conditions.
result Empirically demonstrates more reliable latent distances without additional labeled data.
New method for fitting graphical models with latent variables using regularized conditional likelihood.
problem Graphical modeling with latent variables and confounding dependencies.
method Regularized conditional likelihood for exponential family graphical models.
result Framework applicable to broader settings without knowing latent variables' distribution.
New method learns graphical models with latent variables for extreme events.
problem Learning graphical models with latent variables for multivariate extremes.
method Tractable convex program exttt{eglatent} for Hüsler-Reiss models.
result Consistently recovers conditional graph and latent variables.
Develops a method to identify causal effects in linear models with latent variables.
problem Identifying causal effects in models with latent variables that are not independent.
method A novel graphical criterion and an integer linear program algorithm.
result Sufficient condition for identifying causal effects by rational formulas in the covariance matrix.
New method identifies latent causal variables from observed data, overcoming indeterminacies.
problem Identifying latent causal variables from observed data, especially when latent variables are weight-variant.
method Introduces a novel identifiability condition for latent causal models, proposing SuaVE method.
result Identifies latent causal variables up to trivial permutation and scaling, demonstrating consistency and efficacy.
Paper relaxes identifiability conditions for causal models with latent variables.
problem Challenges in identifying causal graphical models with latent variables.
method Proposes a double triangular graphical condition for nonparametric measurement models with binary latent variables.
result Guarantees identifiability of the entire causal graphical model under relaxed conditions.
Bayesian non-parametric model selects latent dimensions automatically.
problem Non-linear, sparse latent variable selection.
method Indian buffet process prior, random Fourier approximation, MCMC sampling.
result Superior performance on synthetic, biological, and text datasets.
The paper tackles causal disentanglement with linear models and interventions.
problem Identify latent variables in a causal model from observed data.
method Use linear transformations and interventions to uniquely identify latent variables.
result A single intervention on each latent variable is sufficient for identifying the latent causal model.
DSVNP uses global and local latent variables for improved neural process predictions.
problem Limited expressiveness of vanilla neural processes in capturing target-specific local variation.
method Introduces DSVNP combining global and local latent variables for prediction.
result Competitive prediction performance in multi-output regression and uncertainty estimation.
The bits-back argument suggests that latent variable models can be turned into lossless compression schemes. Translating the bits-back argument into efficient and practical lossless compression schemes for general latent variable models, however, is still an open problem. Bits-Back with Asymmetric Numeral Systems (BB-A…
Latent variable models improve RL by facilitating efficient learning and exploration.
problem Improving sample efficiency in reinforcement learning.
method Representation view of latent variable models for state-action value functions, incorporating kernel embeddings and UCB exploration.
result Established sample complexity of the proposed approach in online and offline settings, demonstrated superior performance in benchmarks.
Method evaluates disentanglement in DLVMs, including those not aligned with latent axes.
problem Evaluate disentanglement in DLVMs, especially those not aligned with latent axes.
method Proposes a statistical method to discover generative factors of a dataset.
result Empirically demonstrates the advantage of the method on two datasets.
Variational autoencoders learn distributions of high-dimensional data. They model data with a deep latent-variable model and then fit the model by maximizing a lower bound of the log marginal likelihood. VAEs can capture complex distributions, but they can also suffer from an issue known as "latent variable collapse," …
New method identifies latent variables in cognitive models using neural networks.
problem Inference of latent variables in complex cognitive models is limited.
method Recurrent neural networks and simulation-based inference for latent variable sequences.
result Extends neural Bayes estimation to broader classes of cognitive models.
We study parameter inference in large-scale latent variable models. We first propose an unified treatment of online inference for latent variable models from a non-canonical exponential family, and draw explicit links between several previously proposed frequentist or Bayesian methods. We then propose a novel inference…
There has been much recent, exciting work on combining the complementary strengths of latent variable models and deep learning. Latent variable modeling makes it easy to explicitly specify model constraints through conditional independence properties, while deep learning makes it possible to parameterize these conditio…
We propose a probabilistic model to infer supervised latent variables in the Hamming space from observed data. Our model allows simultaneous inference of the number of binary latent variables, and their values. The latent variables preserve neighbourhood structure of the data in a sense that objects in the same semanti…
CIPNN model tackles continuous latent variables, solving intractable posterior problems.
problem Solving intractable posterior calculation for continuous latent variables.
method Derives analytical solution for posterior of continuous latent variables, proposes CIPNN and CIPAE.
result CIPNN model demonstrates great classification capability, solving problems for continuous latent variables.
VAEs help in learning latent variables for cryo-EM applications.
problem Learning latent variables for cryo-EM data.
method Used VAEs for latent variable learning, focusing on the encoder's role.
result The encoder of the VAE in cryo-EM applications resembles traditional latent variable representations.
A new method reduces variance in training discrete latent variable models.
problem High variance in stochastic gradient estimators for discrete latent variable models.
method Double control variates for score function estimators using Taylor expansions.
result Our method can have lower variance compared to other estimators.
The causal discovery of Bayesian networks is an active and important research area, and it is based upon searching the space of causal models for those which can best explain a pattern of probabilistic dependencies shown in the data. However, some of those dependencies are generated by causal structures involving varia…
Bayesian non-linear latent variable modeling for complex data.
problem Inference for GPLVMs is computationally limited and often leads to overfitting or underestimates uncertainty.
method Approximate Gaussian process mappings with random Fourier features for MCMC inference.
result Generalized RFLVMs perform well on various data types and applications.
The paper identifies causal effects in latent variable models using higher-order cumulants.
problem Challenges in identifying causal effects in latent variable models with latent confounders.
method Using higher-order cumulants, the paper addresses two challenging setups: a single proxy variable and underspecified instrumental variables.
result Causal effects are identifiable with a single proxy or instrument.
Paper detects hierarchical changes in latent variable models from data streams.
problem Detecting changes at three levels: data distribution, latent variables, and number of latent variables.
method Information-theoretic framework using MDL and DNML for change detection.
result Effective in detecting changes with good interpretability.
SUMO provides unbiased log marginal likelihood estimation for latent variable models.
problem Biased estimates of log marginal likelihood in latent variable models.
method Randomized truncation of infinite series for unbiased estimation.
result Models trained with SUMO give better test-set likelihoods than standard methods.
Paper models graph edge dependencies using latent variables for community detection.
problem Graphs' edge dependencies not fully explained by community membership.
method Introduces auxiliary latent variables to model edge dependencies and analyzes conditions for exact recovery.
result Exact recovery possible by semidefinite programming down to maximum likelihood threshold.
Quantitatively assessing relationships between latent variables and observed variables is important for understanding and developing generative models and representation learning. In this paper, we propose latent-observed dissimilarity (LOD) to evaluate the dissimilarity between the probabilistic characteristics of lat…
Study improves interpretability in generative models by disentangling latent variables in scientific datasets.
problem Extracting generative factors from complex, high-dimensional datasets in unsupervised or semi-supervised settings.
method Introducing Aux-VAE, a novel architecture within the VAE framework, which disentangles latent variables by guiding them with auxiliary variables.
result Aux-VAE achieves disentanglement with minimal modifications to the standard VAE loss function, validated on multiple datasets.
After deep generative models were successfully applied to image generation tasks, learning disentangled latent variables of data has become a crucial part of deep generative model research. Many models have been proposed to learn an interpretable and factorized representation of latent variable by modifying their objec…
Causal discovery from data affected by latent confounders is an important and difficult challenge. Causal functional model-based approaches have not been used to present variables whose relationships are affected by latent confounders, while some constraint-based methods can present them. This paper proposes a causal f…
Paper proposes a new method to identify causal graphs with latent variables using higher-order cumulants.
problem Estimating causal directed acyclic graphs with latent confounders.
method Uses higher-order cumulants to identify causal structures among observed and latent variables.
result Validates the proposed algorithm through simulations and real-world data.
Paper improves variational inference for complex models.
problem Improving statistical accuracy of variational inference in high-dimensional models.
method Developed a general framework for MFVI and proposed a partially grouped VI algorithm.
result Proposed algorithm works and outperforms vanilla MFVI in mixed membership stochastic blockmodel.
CEBMs learn flexible latent mappings from data.
problem Learning flexible latent mappings from data.
method CEBMs decompose joint density into tractable posterior over latent variables.
result CEBMs achieve competitive results in image modeling and latent space predictive power.
Graphical models are commonly used tools for modeling multivariate random variables. While there exist many convenient multivariate distributions such as Gaussian distribution for continuous data, mixed data with the presence of discrete variables or a combination of both continuous and discrete variables poses new cha…
New particle algorithms optimize latent variable models.
problem Optimizing latent variable models for maximum likelihood estimation.
method Identify gradient flows associated with free energy functional and discretize them to create particle-based algorithms.
result Novel particle algorithms scale to high-dimensional settings and perform well in experiments.
Variational autoencoders often collapse, showing latent variables are non-identifiable.
problem Posterior collapse in variational autoencoders due to non-identifiable latent variables.
method Proves latent variable non-identifiability causes posterior collapse. Proposes latent-identifiable models using Brenier maps and input convex neural networks.
result Latent-identifiable models resolve posterior collapse and provide meaningful representations.
Latent variable models are used to estimate variables of interest quantities which are observable only up to some measurement error. In many studies, such variables are known but not precisely quantifiable (such as "job satisfaction" in social sciences and marketing, "analytical ability" in educational testing, or "inf…
In a variety of disciplines such as social sciences, psychology, medicine and economics, the recorded data are considered to be noisy measurements of latent variables connected by some causal structure. This corresponds to a family of graphical models known as the structural equation model with latent variables. While …
In a variety of disciplines such as social sciences, psychology, medicine and economics, the recorded data are considered to be noisy measurements of latent variables connected by some causal structure. This corresponds to a family of graphical models known as the structural equation model with latent variables. While …
This work extends identifiability analysis to sequential latent variable models, focusing on Switching Dynamical Systems.
problem Identifying latent variables in sequential data models.
method Proved identifiability of Markov Switching Models and established conditions for Switching Dynamical Systems.
result Identifiability of latent variables and non-linear mappings in Switching Dynamical Systems up to affine transformations.
We analyze the necessary and sufficient conditions for exact inference of a latent model. In latent models, each entity is associated with a latent variable following some probability distribution. The challenging question we try to solve is: can we perform exact inference without observing the latent variables, even w…
Develops a new method for nonlinear dimension reduction using random features.
problem Statistical challenges in generalizing Gaussian process-based latent variable models to non-Gaussian data.
method Random feature latent variable models (RFLVMs) that approximate nonlinear relationships with linear functions of random features.
result RFLVMs produce comparable results to state-of-the-art methods on various data types.
Improved robust latent variable estimation for neural dynamics.
problem Inconsistent results due to noise and nonlinearity in existing models.
method Probabilistic approach to latent variable estimation in decomposed models.
result More accurate latent variable inference in nonlinear systems with diverse noise conditions.
Study identifies latent variables and models from spacecraft data.
problem Learning reliable models from spacecraft data with complex relationships.
method Inductive bias inspired by controllable canonical forms for sparse, input-dependent latent variables.
result Identifies latent variables up to scaling and determines dynamic models up to transformations for linear and affine systems.