Learning the Markov network structure from data is a problem that has received considerable attention in machine learning, and in many other application fields. This work focuses on a particular approach for this purpose called independence-based learning. Such approach guarantees the learning of the correct structure …
LCIT tests conditional independence using latent representations.
problem Detecting conditional independencies in statistical and machine learning tasks.
method Generative framework for learning latent representations of target variables X and Y, then testing for remaining dependencies.
result LCIT outperforms state-of-the-art baselines consistently under different metrics and settings.
Testing (conditional) independence of multivariate random variables is a task central to statistical inference and modelling in general - though unfortunately one for which to date there does not exist a practicable workflow. State-of-art workflows suffer from the need for heuristic or subjective manual choices, high c…
Unified framework for structure learning via conditional independence testing.
problem Optimal structure learning and conditional independence testing.
method Established a fundamental connection and reduction between structure learning and conditional independence testing.
result Optimal rates for structure learning are determined by conditional independence testing rates.
New research challenges the independence assumption in neurosymbolic learning, leading to overconfident predictions and unrepresentable uncertainty.
problem The independence assumption in neurosymbolic learning systems can lead to overconfident predictions and hinder uncertainty quantification.
method The study proves the limitations of the independence assumption and introduces new loss functions that are non-convex and difficult to optimise.
result Neurosymbolic learning systems using the independence assumption are prone to overconfidence and cannot represent uncertainty over multiple valid options.
TCRI improves domain generalization by enforcing conditional independence constraints.
problem Limitations of existing domain generalization methods due to incomplete constraints.
method TCRI implements regularizers motivated by conditional independence constraints.
result TCRI achieves cross-domain stability and outperforms baselines in worst-domain accuracy.
Study of supervised learning from multiple non-independent sequences.
problem Efficient learning from many non-independent sequences.
method Generalizes conditions for efficient learning from independent examples and single auto-correlated sequences.
result Error rate changes from Θ(n/mT) to Ω(n2/m2T) as the number of trajectories increases. IPGDN learns disentangled node representations in graphs.
problem Learning disentangled node representations in graph convolutional networks (GCNs).
method IPGDN uses neighborhood routing mechanism and HSIC to enforce independence among latent representations.
result IPGDN outperforms state-of-the-arts in graph classification, clustering, and visualization.
This work explores the connection between distances and kernels for conditional independence.
problem Measuring conditional independence in various fields like causal discovery and feature selection.
method Investigates the relationship between conditional independence measures induced by distances and reproducing kernels.
result Some kernel-based conditional independence measures are not equivalent to distance-based measures.
Entropy regularized OT test assesses independence between samples.
problem Testing independence between two samples.
method Entropy regularized optimal transport.
result Non-asymptotic bounds for test statistic established.
New algorithms learn simple staged trees from data, improving model fit.
problem Complex conditional independences in categorical data vectors.
method Structural learning algorithms for simple staged trees, coalescing the underlying tree.
result Data-learned simple staged trees often outperform Bayesian networks in model fit.
CIRCE measures conditional independence for learning invariant features.
problem Learning invariant features while being conditionally independent of a distractor.
method CIRCE is a measure of conditional independence applied as a regularizer in feature learning.
result CIRCE provides a zero value if and only if features are conditionally independent of the distractor given the target.
Algorithm learns causal structures from low-order conditional independencies.
problem Estimating high-order conditional independencies from data is challenging.
method Proposes an algorithm to compute a faithful graphical representation from low-order conditional independencies.
result Algorithm successfully learns causal structures from zero- and first-order conditional independencies.
ACID neural network tests conditional independence efficiently.
problem Testing conditional independence in data.
method Amortized conditional independence testing using transformer-based neural networks.
result ACID achieves state-of-the-art performance and robust generalization.
A variable screening procedure via correlation learning was proposed Fan and Lv (2008) to reduce dimensionality in sparse ultra-high dimensional models. Even when the true model is linear, the marginal regression can be highly nonlinear. To address this issue, we further extend the correlation learning to marginal nonp…
Can we use deep learning to predict when deep learning works? Our results suggest the affirmative. We created a dataset by training 13,500 neural networks with different architectures, on different variations of spiral datasets, and using different optimization parameters. We used this dataset to train task-independent…
IMA improves representation learning even when assumptions are violated.
problem Recovering true latent codes from mixed data.
method IMA, which assumes independent causal mechanisms.
result IMA's benefits extend to violations of its assumptions.
SPQR improves Q-ensemble diversity in reinforcement learning.
problem Overestimation bias in Q-learning for complex tasks.
method Introduces SPQR for Q-ensemble independence regularization.
result SPQR outperforms baseline algorithms in online and offline RL benchmarks.
Study shows priors are crucial for accurate causal learning from unlabeled data.
problem Improving causal learning from unlabeled data.
method Investigated causal learning using Bayesian methods and analyzed the impact of priors.
result Factorized priors lead to factorized posteriors, aligning with independent causal mechanisms.
Determinantal point process have recently been used as models in machine learning and this has raised questions regarding the characterizations of conditional independence. In this paper we investigate characterizations of conditional independence. We describe some conditional independencies through the conditions on t…
Method separates data into class and style factors using semi-supervised learning.
problem Separating generative factors of data into class and style vectors.
method Independent Vector Variational Autoencoders with semi-supervised learning and independence term.
result Improves classification performance and generation controllability.
We present a novel method for learning a set of disentangled reward functions that sum to the original environment reward and are constrained to be independently obtainable. We define independent obtainability in terms of value functions with respect to obtaining one learned reward while pursuing another learned reward…
In this paper, we extend Meek's conjecture (Meek 1997) from directed and acyclic graphs to chain graphs, and prove that the extended conjecture is true. Specifically, we prove that if a chain graph H is an independence map of the independence model induced by another chain graph G, then (i) G can be transformed into H …
Constraint-based structure learning algorithms infer the causal structure of multivariate systems from observational data by determining an equivalent class of causal structures compatible with the conditional independencies in the data. Methods based on additive-noise (AN) models have been proposed to further discrimi…
Reliable measures of statistical dependence could be useful tools for learning independent features and performing tasks like source separation using Independent Component Analysis (ICA). Unfortunately, many of such measures, like the mutual information, are hard to estimate and optimize directly. We propose to learn i…
A Closer Look at Disentangling in β-VAE shows non-monotonic inference performance.
problem Learning disentangled representations from data.
method Generalization of VAE using variational inference with hyperparameter β.
result Non-monotonic inference performance in β-VAE with a finite optimal β.
Develops a test for conditional local independence of counting processes.
problem Testing the hypothesis of conditional local independence among continuous time stochastic processes.
method Introduces a new functional parameter, the Local Covariance Measure (LCM), and proposes a test called (X)-LCT using nonparametric estimators and sample splitting or cross-fitting.
result The (X)-LCT test can be controlled uniformly with modest rates, and it works well without restrictive parametric assumptions.
Proposes SVI for covariate-shift generalization with sparse variable independence.
problem Covariate-shift generalization with limited data and unstable variables.
method Introduces sparsity constraint and combines reweighting and selection in an iterative way.
result Improves covariate-shift generalization performance on synthetic and real-world datasets.
New EiV models correct bias in operator learning with noisy data.
problem Bias in operator learning due to noisy independent variables.
method Developed EiV models for MOR-Physics and DeepONet.
result EiV models reduce bias in noisy operator learning.
New method exploits independence in instrumental variable models for better causal inference.
problem Identify causal functions in the presence of unobserved confounders.
method HSIC-X method that exploits independence between response, hidden confounders, and instruments.
result The method provides better finite sample results and is invariant to distributional shifts.
Representing distributions over permutations can be a daunting task due to the fact that the number of permutations of n objects scales factorially in n. One recent way that has been used to reduce storage complexity has been to exploit probabilistic independence, but as we argue, full independence assumptions impo…
Conditional independence testing is an important problem, especially in Bayesian network learning and causal discovery. Due to the curse of dimensionality, testing for conditional independence of continuous variables is particularly challenging. We propose a Kernel-based Conditional Independence test (KCI-test), by con…
New method tests causal relationships from data without needing to learn the entire graph.
problem Testing if a causal graph belongs to a specific Markov equivalence class from observational data.
method Established bounds on the number of independence tests required and provided an algorithm that matches these bounds.
result Testing requires exponentially less independence tests compared to learning, especially in graphs with high in-degrees and small clique sizes.
IndiSeek learns disentangled representations by balancing independence and completeness.
problem Learning disentangled representations with mutual information in multi-modal data.
method Combines independence-enforcing objective with a reconstruction loss that bounds conditional mutual information.
result Demonstrates effectiveness on synthetic data, CITE-seq, and real-world multi-modal benchmarks.
The paper explores how semantic independence can be captured in text embeddings using partial orthogonality.
problem Capturing semantic independence in text embeddings.
method Developed a theory and methods based on partial orthogonality to demonstrate semantic independence.
result Partial orthogonality captures semantic independence in text embeddings.
The paper uses distance covariance to improve fairness in machine learning models.
problem Improving fairness in machine learning models.
method Using conditional and distance covariance statistics to assess independence and add a penalty for fairness.
result The method effectively reduces the fairness gap in machine learning models.
InClass nets use neural networks to estimate CIMMs without assuming fixed parameters.
problem Nonparametric estimation of conditional independence mixture models.
method Independent classifier neural networks (NNs) for multi-class classification.
result Nonparametric identifiability conditions for bivariate CIMMs.
New method tests conditional independence using spectral representations.
problem Untestable conditional independence in many settings.
method Spectral representations of partial covariance operators, bi-level contrastive learning.
result Asymptotic validity and power guarantees for CI testing.
Parameterizing the approximate posterior of a generative model with neural networks has become a common theme in recent machine learning research. While providing appealing flexibility, this approach makes it difficult to impose or assess structural constraints such as conditional independence. We propose a framework f…
This work improves independence tests for high-dimensional data.
problem Detecting subtle dependencies between high-dimensional random variables with complex distributions.
method Develops two approaches to learn powerful independence tests using variational mutual information and HSIC.
result Optimized HSIC tests generally outperform other approaches on detecting structured dependence.
GTMs model complex multivariate data with varying conditional independencies.
problem Modeling multivariate data with intricate marginals and complex dependency structures.
method Semiparametric approach using penalized splines and lasso regularization.
result GTMs accurately learn complex dependencies and identify conditional independencies.
We present two algorithms for learning the structure of a Markov network from data: GSMN* and GSIMN. Both algorithms use statistical independence tests to infer the structure by successively constraining the set of structures consistent with the results of these tests. Until very recently, algorithms for structure lear…
Efficiently fine-tunes patient-independent seizure detection models with tensor kernel machine.
problem Improving seizure detection accuracy for wearable devices.
method Transfer learning with tensor kernel machine using canonical polyadic decomposition.
result Patient fine-tuned model achieves high performance with smaller model size.
We investigate the use of a non-parametric independence measure, the Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion (HSIC), as a loss-function for learning robust regression and classification models. This loss-function encourages learning models where the distribution of the residuals between the label and the model predictio…
We address the problem of Bayesian structure learning for domains with hundreds of variables by employing non-parametric bootstrap, recursively. We propose a method that covers both model averaging and model selection in the same framework. The proposed method deals with the main weakness of constraint-based learning--…
Neurosymbolic predictors fail to model uncertainty under independence assumption.
problem Neurosymbolic predictors' reliance on independence assumption limits their ability to model uncertainty.
method Formal analysis of NeSy predictors under independence assumption.
result Assuming independence among symbolic concepts prevents NeSy predictors from representing uncertainty.
New approach tackles nonidentifiability in nonlinear blind source separation.
problem Nonidentifiability in nonlinear blind source separation.
method Independent mechanism analysis, incorporating causal assumptions.
result Empirical and theoretical evidence shows improved identifiability.
Proposes a new approach to time series representation learning by embedding patches independently.
problem Capturing dependencies between time series patches is not optimal for representation learning.
method 1) Patch reconstruction task, 2) Patch-wise MLP, 3) Complementary contrastive learning.
result Improves time series forecasting and classification performance compared to state-of-the-art models.