ARMS improves gradient estimation for binary variables using antithetic samples.
problem Estimating gradients for binary variables in discrete latent variable models.
method ARMS uses antithetic samples generated by a copula to estimate gradients more efficiently and unbiasedly.
result ARMS outperforms competing methods in training generative models and optimizing variational bounds.
CARMS improves gradient estimation for categorical variables.
problem Accurately backpropagating gradients through categorical variables.
method CARMS combines REINFORCE with antithetic sampling to create unbiased gradient estimators.
result CARMS outperforms competing methods on various tasks.
DisARM improves gradient estimation for binary latent variables.
problem Challenges in training models with discrete latent variables.
method Uses antithetic sampling over continuous augmentation.
result DisARM consistently outperforms ARM and baseline methods in log-likelihood and variance.
This paper uses Monte Carlo simulation to value quality options in agricultural futures contracts.
problem Valuation of quality options in agricultural futures to prevent manipulation and improve hedging performance.
method Monte Carlo simulation with antithetic variables for efficiency.
result Demonstrates a method to estimate the value of quality options in agricultural futures contracts.
Antithetic noise improves diffusion models' uncertainty quantification.
problem Improving uncertainty quantification in diffusion models.
method Pairing each noise sample with its negation, leading to strong negative correlation.
result Substantially more reliable uncertainty quantification with up to 90% narrower confidence intervals.
New method estimates nested expectations with biased and antithetic sampling.
problem Estimating nested expectations with biased and antithetic sampling.
method Nested multilevel Monte Carlo with biased and antithetic sampling.
result Estimator achieves order ε^(-2) asymptotic cost.
Stochastic optimization techniques are standard in variational inference algorithms. These methods estimate gradients by approximating expectations with independent Monte Carlo samples. In this paper, we explore a technique that uses correlated, but more representative , samples to reduce estimator variance. Specifical…
(Mini-batch) Stochastic Gradient Descent is a popular optimization method which has been applied to many machine learning applications. But a rather high variance introduced by the stochastic gradient in each step may slow down the convergence. In this paper, we propose the antithetic sampling strategy to reduce the va…
Improved MLMC method boosts risk estimation efficiency.
problem Estimating risk measures like Value-at-Risk in financial risk management.
method Novel MLMC parametrization and antithetic sampling.
result Significantly improved performance in practical settings.
New algorithms improve MCMC efficiency for complex distributions.
problem High variance and low effective sample size in MCMC samplers.
method Antithetic Riemannian Manifold and Quantum-Inspired Hamiltonian Monte Carlo.
result Improved effective sample size and variance reduction.
In the modern age, rankings data is ubiquitous and it is useful for a variety of applications such as recommender systems, multi-object tracking and preference learning. However, most rankings data encountered in the real world is incomplete, which prevents the direct application of existing modelling tools for complet…
To backpropagate the gradients through stochastic binary layers, we propose the augment-REINFORCE-merge (ARM) estimator that is unbiased, exhibits low variance, and has low computational complexity. Exploiting variable augmentation, REINFORCE, and reparameterization, the ARM estimator achieves adaptive variance reducti…
New algorithm reduces variance in stochastic gradient estimation.
problem Optimizing the variance of stochastic gradient algorithms for non-log-concave distributions.
method Developed a Multi-index Antithetic Stochastic Gradient Algorithm (MASGA) that is independent of the distribution's structure.
result MASGA achieves performance comparable to Monte Carlo estimators with unbiased samples.
A new method improves graph random features with quasi-Monte Carlo techniques.
problem Improving the accuracy of graph random features.
method Induces negative correlations in random walks using antithetic termination.
result Strong theoretical guarantees on lower-variance estimators of the Laplacian kernel.
In this paper we introduce a new multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) estimator for multi-dimensional SDEs driven by Brownian motions. Giles has previously shown that if we combine a numerical approximation with strong order of convergence O(Δt) with MLMC we can reduce the computational complexity to estimate expected value…
Framework for sensitivity analysis in biomanufacturing processes.
problem High complexity and uncertainty in biomanufacturing processes.
method Shapley value estimation for linear and nonlinear pKG models, using quasi-Monte Carlo and antithetic sampling.
result Improved efficiency and accuracy in sensitivity analysis for biomanufacturing processes.
Study compares models for pricing multi-strike quanto call options with SV, SC, and SER.
problem Pricing multi-strike quanto call options with stochastic volatility, correlation, and exchange rates.
method Comparative analysis of SV, SC, and SER models; Monte Carlo simulation; Milstein scheme; antithetic variates; correlation risk parameters.
result GARCH-Jump SV, Weibull SC, and Ornstein Uhlenbeck (OU) SER model combination performs best.
Study shows different price correlations in European electricity markets.
problem Stochastic variability and temporal correlation in electricity prices.
method Comparison of Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) and Kramers--Moyal equation.
result Intraday 15 minutes spot markets show strong negative correlations, unlike other markets.
Variational Optimization forms a differentiable upper bound on an objective. We show that approaches such as Natural Evolution Strategies and Gaussian Perturbation, are special cases of Variational Optimization in which the expectations are approximated by Gaussian sampling. These approaches are of particular interest …
We study a wide class of non-convex non-concave min-max games that generalizes over standard bilinear zero-sum games. In this class, players control the inputs of a smooth function whose output is being applied to a bilinear zero-sum game. This class of games is motivated by the indirect nature of the competition in Ge…
In this paper, we are interested in the strong convergence properties of the Ninomiya-Victoir scheme which is known to exhibit weak convergence with order 2. We prove strong convergence with order 1/2. This study is aimed at analysing the use of this scheme either at each level or only at the finest level of a multil…
A new volatility model calibrates SPX & VIX smiles with 6 parameters.
problem Joint calibration of SPX and VIX smiles with a simple model.
method Quintic Ornstein-Uhlenbeck volatility model with polynomial volatility process.
result Remarkable joint fits of SPX-VIX smiles with only 6 parameters.
This paper considers the problem of estimating an unknown high dimensional signal from noisy linear measurements, {when} the signal is assumed to possess a \emph{group-sparse} structure in a {known,} fixed dictionary. We consider signals generated according to a natural probabilistic model, and establish new conditions…
Adaptive SAA solves large-scale stochastic linear programs efficiently.
problem Solving large-scale two-stage stochastic linear programs.
method Iterative algorithm with adaptive sample size and warm starts.
result The algorithm converges to the true solution set with a probabilistic guarantee.
Statistical inference is considered for variables of interest, called primary variables, when auxiliary variables are observed along with the primary variables. We consider the setting of incomplete data analysis, where some primary variables are not observed. Utilizing a parametric model of joint distribution of prima…
VC-PCR improves prediction by clustering correlated variables.
problem Decreased prediction accuracy due to cluster structure in predictor variables.
method Supervised variable selection and clustering to integrate cluster information into a sparse modeling process.
result VC-PCR achieves better prediction, variable selection, and clustering performance.
Study on inequalities for multinomial variables.
problem Understanding concentration inequalities for multinomial variables.
method Investigation of Dirichlet and Multinomial random variables.
result Results on concentration inequalities for multinomial variables.
In this paper, we propose multi-variable LSTM capable of accurate forecasting and variable importance interpretation for time series with exogenous variables. Current attention mechanism in recurrent neural networks mostly focuses on the temporal aspect of data and falls short of characterizing variable importance. To …
Variable importance is central to scientific studies, including the social sciences and causal inference, healthcare, and other domains. However, current notions of variable importance are often tied to a specific predictive model. This is problematic: what if there were multiple well-performing predictive models, and …
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.
Derives derivatives and geometric framework for functions with non-independent variables.
problem Characterizing functions with non-independent variables in probabilistic models.
method Derives actual and dependent partial derivatives, dependent Jacobian matrix, and tensor metric.
result Derives gradient, Hessian, and Taylor expansion for functions with non-independent variables.
A new distance for mixed-variable, hierarchical datasets with meta variables.
problem Heterogeneous datasets limit generalizability and performance in machine learning and optimization.
method Developed a modeling framework for mixed-variable and hierarchical domains with meta variables, and a novel distance function.
result The novel distance function allows comparison of heterogeneous datasets, improving model performance.
Extends effect variable concept to finite states for web search evaluation.
problem Finding effect of variant variables in changes of observable variables.
method Theoretical analysis and simultaneous distribution decomposition.
result States of extreme effect variable are minimally affected by variant and highly different in observable variable.
Unified Bayesian Optimisation for mixed variables improves performance.
problem Efficient optimisation of problems with both categorical and continuous variables.
method Derive value proposals from the Expected Improvement criterion to optimise both categorical and continuous variables under a single acquisition metric.
result Unified approach significantly outperforms existing methods across mixed-variable tasks.
A method to assess variable importance in complex predictive models.
problem Assessing the importance of variables in complex predictive models.
method Assigning relevance measures to each variable by comparing predictions with a ghost variable and analyzing joint effects.
result The method provides insights into variable importance and joint effects not available with other methods.
In this paper, we propose an interpretable LSTM recurrent neural network, i.e., multi-variable LSTM for time series with exogenous variables. Currently, widely used attention mechanism in recurrent neural networks mostly focuses on the temporal aspect of data and falls short of characterizing variable importance. To th…
Random Forest variable importance is improved by class balancing techniques.
problem Class imbalance problem in machine learning.
method Proposed a variable selection algorithm using RF variable importance and its confidence interval.
result Our algorithm efficiently selects an optimal feature set, leading to improved prediction performance.
Variable selection for Gaussian process models is often done using automatic relevance determination, which uses the inverse length-scale parameter of each input variable as a proxy for variable relevance. This implicitly determined relevance has several drawbacks that prevent the selection of optimal input variables i…
Knoop enhances variable selection with over-parameterization and knockoffs.
problem Challenges of variable selection in high-dimensional datasets.
method Generates knockoff variables, integrates them into an over-parameterized model, and uses anomaly-based significance tests.
result Superior performance in variable selection compared to existing methods.
A serious problem in learning probabilistic models is the presence of hidden variables. These variables are not observed, yet interact with several of the observed variables. Detecting hidden variables poses two problems: determining the relations to other variables in the model and determining the number of states of …
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.
CIB compresses variables causally, preserving key causal interactions.
problem Constructing causal variable abstractions in complex systems.
method Causal Information Bottleneck (CIB) method, extending IB to include causal structures.
result CIB produces causally interpretable abstractions that accurately capture causal relations.
Discond-VAE separates continuous and discrete factors in data.
problem Separating shared and class-specific variations in real-world data.
method Introduces private and public latent variables to represent continuous and discrete factors, respectively.
result Discond-VAE successfully disentangles class-dependent continuous factors from discrete factors.
Extends inequality for Rademacher complexities using p-stable variables.
problem Improving Rademacher complexity bounds using p-stable variables. method Extends contraction inequality to p-stable variables for 1<p<2. result New bounds for Rademacher complexities with p-stable variables. A new method selects important variables for clustering from dependency networks.
problem Variable selection for clustering in high-cost data scenarios.
method Create dependency networks, rank variables by centrality, select top-n variables.
result Top-n variables improve clustering performance compared to existing methods.
The paper introduces methods to identify key variables discriminating between two datasets.
problem Identifying variables that distinguish between two datasets.
method Introduces a mathematical notion of discriminating variables and proposes two methods for their selection.
result Proposed methods improve upon existing techniques in two-sample variable selection.
Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are a rich source of patient information, including measurements reflecting physiologic signs and administered therapies. Identifying which variables are useful in predicting clinical outcomes can be challenging. Advanced algorithms such as deep neural networks were designed to process …
This work presents entropic constraints from DAGs with hidden variables.
problem Characterizing causal relations in systems with hidden variables.
method Entropic inequality constraints derived from e-separation relations. result These constraints can learn about true causal models from observed data.