Improved sampling method using regularized Stein Variational Gradient Flow.
problem Improving the accuracy of sampling methods in machine learning.
method Proposed Regularized Stein Variational Gradient Flow to interpolate between SVGD and Wasserstein Gradient Flow.
result Established theoretical properties and provided preliminary numerical evidence of improved performance.
This paper shows equivalence between SVGD and BBVI using kernel gradient flows.
problem Bayesian inference methods and their equivalence.
method Formalizes equivalence between SVGD and BBVI using kernel gradient flows.
result BBVI corresponds precisely to SVGD when using the neural tangent kernel.
Stein variational gradient descent (SVGD) is a deterministic sampling algorithm that iteratively transports a set of particles to approximate given distributions, based on an efficient gradient-based update that guarantees to optimally decrease the KL divergence within a function space. This paper develops the first th…
The paper analyzes rates for a modified gradient descent method using Stein variational gradients.
problem Improving the accuracy of gradient descent methods for complex target distributions.
method Derives finite-particle rates for regularized Stein variational gradient descent (R-SVGD).
result Establishes explicit non-asymptotic bounds for time-averaged empirical measures.
ASVGD accelerates SVGD for efficient sampling.
problem Slow SVGD in high-dimensional sampling.
method Accelerated gradient flow in a metric space of probability densities, using Nesterov's method and momentum-based updates.
result ASVGD outperforms SVGD and other methods in sampling efficiency.
Paper explores SVGD for Bayesian inference, linking deterministic and stochastic dynamics.
problem Bayesian inference and Markov chain Monte Carlo methods.
method Stein variational gradient descent (SVGD) with deterministic and stochastic dynamics.
result Identifies Stein-Fisher information as the leading order contribution in the long-time and many-particle regime.
New particle-based VI algorithm expands function class and improves scalability.
problem Limited function class in particle-based VI algorithms restricts flexibility and scalability.
method Introduces a functional regularization term to expand the function class and proposes PFG algorithm.
result Proposed PFG algorithm has larger function class, improved scalability, better adaptation to ill-conditioned distributions, and provable convergence.
Paper analyzes convergence rates of mean-field SVGD method.
problem Establishing quantitative rates of convergence for mean-field SVGD.
method Quantitative analysis of mean-field SVGD dynamics on torus.
result Explicit polynomial convergence rates in L2-norm for Riesz-type kernels.
Stein transport improves Bayesian inference with faster convergence and reduced variance.
problem Efficiently approximating posterior distributions in Bayesian inference.
method A novel Bayesian inference method using Stein transport, which pushes particles along a curve of tempered distributions.
result Stein transport reaches posterior approximations faster and more accurately than Stein variational gradient descent (SVGD).
New method for constrained sampling using gradient flows.
problem Sampling from constrained domains.
method Introducing a boundary condition for gradient flow to confine particles within the domain.
result Provable continuous-time convergence in total variation for constrained sampling.
KSD Descent uses KSD to sample from a target distribution efficiently.
problem Sampling from complex target distributions efficiently.
method Wasserstein gradient flow of KSD, using L-BFGS optimization.
result KSD Descent can sample from a target distribution using a set of particles.
ASVGD accelerates SVGD for efficient sampling from Gaussian targets.
problem Efficient sampling from Gaussian distributions using SVGD.
method Accelerated gradient flow in a metric space of probability densities, including momentum and Wasserstein regularization.
result ASVGD achieves optimal convergence rate for Gaussian targets, independent of covariance.
A new method reduces complexity and uncertainty in neural networks.
problem Uncertainty quantification in complex neural networks.
method Condensed Stein Variational Gradient Descent (cSVGD) method.
result Condensed SVGD provides uncertainty quantification on parameters.
A new ParVI framework improves particle-based variational inference methods.
problem Non-trivial kernel design in particle-based variational inference methods.
method Proposes a generalized Wasserstein gradient descent (GWG) framework with broader regularizers.
result Demonstrates strong convergence guarantees and effectiveness on simulated and real data.
Uniform-in-time analysis for Stein Variational Gradient Descent across various metrics.
problem Understanding long-term behavior of finite-particle systems in relation to their mean-field limits.
method Developed uniform-in-time propagation-of-chaos results for continuous-time SVGD using cutoff strategies and finite-dimensional theories.
result Uniform-in-time propagation-of-chaos bounds in various metrics, including Langevin kernel Stein discrepancy, Wasserstein-1, and Wasserstein-2 distances.
New method for sampling on constrained domains using orthogonal-space gradient flow.
problem Sampling on manifolds defined by constraints is challenging.
method Orthogonal-Space Variational Gradient Descent (O-Gradient)
result O-Gradient converges to the target constrained distribution efficiently.
BSVGD improves sampling for multimodal distributions using branching.
problem Sampling from multimodal distributions.
method Random branching in Stein Variational Gradient Descent (SVGD).
result Theoretical convergence guarantee and empirical validation.
Stein's method improves probabilistic inference and learning.
problem Improving probabilistic inference and learning methods.
method Constructing Stein discrepancies from Stein operators and Stein sets, discussing their properties.
result Connection between Stein operators and Stein variational gradient descent.
Bayesian inference problems require sampling or approximating high-dimensional probability distributions. The focus of this paper is on the recently introduced Stein variational gradient descent methodology, a class of algorithms that rely on iterated steepest descent steps with respect to a reproducing kernel Hilbert …
Paper analyzes SVGD algorithm for non-asymptotic convergence.
problem Optimizing a set of particles to approximate a target probability distribution.
method Finite time analysis of SVGD algorithm, providing descent lemma and convergence rates.
result SVGD algorithm decreases the objective at each iteration and converges to the target distribution.
A new gradient flow framework for distributionally robust optimization.
problem Optimizing under uncertainty with worst-case distributional constraints.
method Gradient flow theory applied to distributionally robust optimization.
result Practical algorithms for sampling from worst-case distributions.
SVGD algorithm converges at rate 1/sqrt(log log n) for sub-Gaussian distributions.
problem Approximating a probability distribution with particles.
method Stein variational gradient descent (SVGD) with finite particles and sub-Gaussian target distribution.
result SVGD achieves a convergence rate of 1/sqrt(log log n) for sub-Gaussian distributions.
Inspired by the seminal work on Stein Variational Inference and Stein Variational Policy Gradient, we derived a method to generate samples from the posterior variational parameter distribution by \textit{explicitly} minimizing the KL divergence to match the target distribution in an amortize fashion. Consequently, we a…
SympFormer accelerates attention blocks using inertial dynamics on density spaces.
problem Improving the efficiency of self-attention blocks in Transformers.
method Introduced accelerated attention blocks derived from inertial Nesterov dynamics on density spaces.
result Accelerated attention blocks converge faster than classical blocks while preserving oracle calls.
We develop Riemannian Stein Variational Gradient Descent (RSVGD), a Bayesian inference method that generalizes Stein Variational Gradient Descent (SVGD) to Riemann manifold. The benefits are two-folds: (i) for inference tasks in Euclidean spaces, RSVGD has the advantage over SVGD of utilizing information geometry, and …
Stein variational gradient descent improves inference in Gaussian process models.
problem Inference in Gaussian process models with non-Gaussian likelihoods and large data volumes is computationally intensive and inaccurate with traditional methods.
method Stein variational gradient descent (SVGD) for non-parametric inference.
result SVGD monotonically decreases the Kullback-Leibler divergence from the sampling distribution to the true posterior.
NVGD uses neural networks to infer distributions without kernel choices.
problem Challenges in choosing kernel functions for SVGD.
method NVGD parameterizes the witness function of the Stein discrepancy with a neural network.
result NVGD achieves good performance on various inference problems.
SBS uses SVGD to optimize continuous functions globally.
problem Global optimization of continuous Sobolev functions.
method Stein Boltzmann Sampling (SBS) with SVGD.
result SBS and its variants are highly competitive in global optimization.
A new method de-randomizes MCMC dynamics using the Stein operator.
problem Estimating complex target distributions in Bayesian inference.
method De-randomized kernel-based particle samplers that discretize the fiber-gradient Hamiltonian flow.
result GSVGD de-randomizes complex MCMC dynamics, maintaining high sample quality.
New algorithms accelerate SVGD convergence using deep unfolding.
problem Improving the speed of SVGD convergence.
method Integrating deep unfolding into SVGD for parameter learning.
result Proposed algorithms achieve faster convergence in various tasks.
A new method for SVGD reduces variance in high dimensions.
problem High-dimensional variance in SVGD.
method Grassmann Stein Variational Gradient Descent (GSVGD) projects onto arbitrary subspaces and uses coupled Grassmann-valued diffusion.
result GSVGD explores high-dimensional problems with intrinsic low-dimensional structure efficiently.
New samplers minimize KL divergence for constrained and non-Euclidean geometries.
problem Efficient sampling from constrained and non-Euclidean distributions.
method Stein Variational Mirror Descent and Mirrored Stein Variational Gradient Descent.
result New samplers converge more rapidly and accurately than prior methods.
New metric for probability measures connects physics and geometry.
problem Developing a new metric for probability measures.
method Transport Hessian metric, formulated dynamical systems.
result Connections to physics equations and mathematical models.
Improved convergence rates for Stein Variational Gradient Descent in finite-particle settings.
problem Improving convergence rates for Stein Variational Gradient Descent in finite-particle settings.
method Analyzing the time derivative of relative entropy and splitting it into dominant and smaller parts.
result Finite-particle convergence rates of order 1/\sqrt{N} for Kernelized Stein Discrepancy and Wasserstein-2 metrics.
We propose a general purpose variational inference algorithm that forms a natural counterpart of gradient descent for optimization. Our method iteratively transports a set of particles to match the target distribution, by applying a form of functional gradient descent that minimizes the KL divergence. Empirical studies…
SMI uses mixture models to improve SVGD's performance in Bayesian inference.
problem Variance collapse in SVGD for Bayesian inference, especially with small models.
method Generalizes SVGD to Stein mixture models, optimizing an ELBO lower bound.
result SMI avoids variance collapse and accurately estimates uncertainty for small BNNs.
A new stochastic algorithm approximates optimal distributions without requiring propagation of chaos.
problem Optimizing functionals over probability distributions using finite particle systems.
method Virtual particle stochastic approximation, viewed as a form of stochastic gradient descent in the Wasserstein space.
result The algorithm's output converges to the optimal distribution and produces i.i.d. samples.
Proposes a method to stabilize Black Box Variational Inference using the James-Stein estimator.
problem Stability issues and fine-tuning required in basic Black Box Variational Inference.
method Reframe stochastic gradient ascent as multivariate estimation problem using James-Stein estimator.
result Provides a simpler method with consistent performance in terms of model fit and convergence time.
Policy gradient methods have achieved remarkable successes in solving challenging reinforcement learning problems. However, it still often suffers from the large variance issue on policy gradient estimation, which leads to poor sample efficiency during training. In this work, we propose a control variate method to effe…
Improves gradient estimation for discrete distributions with variance reduction techniques.
problem Excessive variance in gradient estimation for discrete distributions.
method Stein operators for discrete distributions and control variates.
result Substantially lower variance in gradient estimation.
Efficiently samples and learns densities with symmetries using equivariant methods.
problem Efficiently sampling and learning densities with symmetries.
method Equivariant Stein Variational Gradient Descent (SVGD) and equivariant energy based models.
result Improves and scales up training of energy based models.
New Stein operator improves robustness in model inference.
problem Improving robustness in inference for unnormalized models.
method Density-power weighted Stein operator (γ-Stein operator). result Robust methods for goodness-of-fit testing and posterior approximation.
We propose a new Stein self-repulsive dynamics for obtaining diversified samples from intractable un-normalized distributions. Our idea is to introduce Stein variational gradient as a repulsive force to push the samples of Langevin dynamics away from the past trajectories. This simple idea allows us to significantly de…
Paper explores Fisher-Rao gradient flows and their kernel approximations.
problem Understanding and analyzing approximations of Fisher-Rao gradient flows.
method Rigorous investigation of Fisher-Rao and Wasserstein type gradient flows, focusing on kernel approximations.
result Proves evolutionary Γ-convergence for kernel-approximated Fisher-Rao flows, providing theoretical guarantees.
We present a framework for Nesterov's accelerated gradient flows in probability space to design efficient mean-field Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms for Bayesian inverse problems. Here four examples of information metrics are considered, including Fisher-Rao metric, Wasserstein-2 metric, Kalman-Wasserstein m…
Ad-SVGD optimizes kernel parameters for SVGD, improving inference performance.
problem Efficiently approximating posterior distributions in Bayesian inference.
method Adaptive kernel selection for SVGD dynamics.
result Ad-SVGD outperforms standard heuristics in various tasks.
Paper proposes LSVGD to stabilize GAN training via Langevin Stein Variational Gradient Descent.
problem Mode collapse and performance deterioration in GAN training.
method Langevin Stein Variational Gradient Descent (LSVGD) incorporating noise to stabilize training.
result LSVGD improves performance and stability of various GAN models.
New gradient flows improve high-dimensional sampling.
problem Sampling from high-dimensional target densities.
method Introducing Radon--Wasserstein gradient flows.
result Linear scaling in particles and dimensions.