This research improves dynamical systems understanding by identifying latent states and their nonlinear transitions.
problem Previous work on dynamical systems could not identify nonlinear transition dynamics, leading to unreliable predictions.
method Proposes a state-space modeling framework using variational auto-encoders to identify latent states and their nonlinear transition functions.
result Demonstrates high accuracy in recovering latent state dynamics and future prediction accuracy.
New model captures state-dependent variability in partially observed systems.
problem Structured stochasticity not captured by constant-variance models.
method State-coupled stochastic volatility framework with particle expectation-maximization.
result Model consistently reduces recovery bias under partial observation.
Paper models non-linear dynamics from time series data.
problem Modeling non-linear dynamical systems from time series data.
method Introduces latent state modeling and a novel alternating minimization algorithm.
result LaNoLem achieves competitive performance in dynamics estimation and prediction.
We study the exploration problem in episodic MDPs with rich observations generated from a small number of latent states. Under certain identifiability assumptions, we demonstrate how to estimate a mapping from the observations to latent states inductively through a sequence of regression and clustering steps -- where p…
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.
New algorithms tackle latent bandit problems with lower regret.
problem Learning optimal actions in a latent state setting.
method General algorithms based on UCBs and Thompson sampling, aware of model uncertainty.
result Our methods have lower regret than classic bandit policies when latent states are fewer than actions.
RNNs and their variants have been widely adopted for image captioning. In RNNs, the production of a caption is driven by a sequence of latent states. Existing captioning models usually represent latent states as vectors, taking this practice for granted. We rethink this choice and study an alternative formulation, name…
This paper tackles belief-state selection in simulators with latent states.
problem Selecting among approximate belief-state samplers for simulators with latent variables.
method Reduces belief-state selection to conditional distribution selection, develops algorithms and analyses.
result Different formulations of belief-state selection have varying guarantees under different roll-out methods.
Adversarial attacks on probabilistic state-space models affect latent state and policy decisions.
problem Robust reinforcement learning under adversarial observability.
method Analyzing adversarial attacks on linear probabilistic state-space models.
result Demonstrating the influence of adversarial observations on latent state and policy decisions.
Combines deep state space models with diffusion models for better forecasting and capturing latent dynamics
problem Forecasting and capturing latent dynamics in time series
method DDSSM: Diffusion-driven state space model
result Empirically outperforms state-of-the-art deep SSM
Efficient RL in large POMDPs with latent determinism and embeddings.
problem Efficient reinforcement learning in large-scale POMDPs with latent states and observations.
method Conditional Hilbert space embeddings, linear optimal Q-function, deterministic latent transitions, gap assumption. result Computationally and statistically efficient algorithm for exact optimal policy.
Improved exploration in RL with latent state marginalization.
problem Complexity of deep probabilistic models limits their practical use in reinforcement learning.
method Adopting latent variable policies within the MaxEnt framework, with low-cost marginalization of latent states.
result Effective marginalization leads to better exploration and more robust training.
Paper introduces OMD for ordered state transitions in SSMs.
problem Modeling ordered latent states in dynamic systems.
method Ordered Matrix Dirichlet (OMD) prior over ordered stochastic matrices.
result OMD models recover interpretable ordered latent structure without sacrificing predictive performance.
A new model for time series using discrete latent states.
problem Efficiently modeling time series data with discrete latent states.
method A Markov chain-based model for training high-dimensional discrete latent data.
result Improved performance on time series datasets.
We describe a Markov latent state space (MLSS) model, where the latent state distribution is a decaying mixture over multiple past states. We present a simple sampling algorithm that allows to approximate such high-order MLSS with fixed time and memory costs.
AC-State discovers minimal latent state for control.
problem Discover minimal latent state from sensory information.
method Multi-step inverse model with information bottleneck.
result Guaranteed discovery of control-endogenous latent states.
Paper proposes method for optimal control of unknown systems with latent states.
problem Jointly estimating dynamics and latent states in systems with unmeasurable states.
method Combination of particle Markov chain Monte Carlo methods and scenario theory.
result Probabilistic performance guarantees for optimal input trajectories.
Auto-regressive models learn latent states from partially observed linear dynamical systems.
problem Understanding how auto-regressive models learn latent representations from partially observed linear dynamical systems.
method Empirical risk minimization on partially observed linear dynamical systems.
result Two-layer linear auto-regressive models learn to approximate Kalman filtering, coinciding with optimal state estimates.
Unified approach for learning state representations from streaming data.
problem Learning reusable state representations from high-dimensional, non-stationary data.
method Unified mathematical formulation for learning latent relations, enabling flexible and principled shaping of latent space.
result Improved understanding and evaluation of existing unsupervised learning approaches.
Model-based reinforcement learning methods typically learn models for high-dimensional state spaces by aiming to reconstruct and predict the original observations. However, drawing inspiration from model-free reinforcement learning, we propose learning a latent dynamics model directly from rewards. In this work, we int…
New method improves robustness in partially observable domains by training against latent distribution shifts.
problem Challenges in robustness under latent distribution shift in partially observable reinforcement learning.
method Formalizes adversarial latent-initial-state POMDP, proves minimax principle, derives best-response inequalities.
result Reduces robustness gaps from 10.3 to 3.1 shots with targeted exposure to shifted latent distributions.
Generative models learn latent process to match target distributions.
problem Training flow-matching models with auxiliary stochastic dynamics.
method Introduces latent process generator matching, treating generative state as a deterministic image of a Markov process.
result Learn generator of a stochastic process with same marginal distributions.
LS4 models time-series with latent states, outperforming previous methods.
problem Learning sharp transitions in time-series data.
method State space ODE with convolutional representation to bypass hidden states.
result LS4 significantly outperforms previous models in various metrics.
Active learning selects inputs for GPSSM to learn latent states.
problem Optimally learn latent states of a GPSSM through active selection of inputs.
method Use mutual information to select informative inputs; approximate mutual information for GPSSM.
result Effective active learning of GPSSM dynamics in physical systems.
New method infers hidden states in continuous-time phenomena better than traditional models.
problem Traditional HSMM's are limited to discrete time grids and cannot handle irregularly spaced data.
method Formulated integro-differential forward and backward equations for CTSMC's, introduced scalable Viterbi-type algorithm.
result Efficiently solved equations for posterior marginals and path estimates.
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.
Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms for hidden Markov models often rely on the forward-backward sampler. This makes them computationally slow as the length of the time series increases, motivating the development of sub-sampling-based approaches. These approximate the full posterior by using small random subsequ…
We address tracking and prediction of multiple moving objects in visual data streams as inference and sampling in a disentangled latent state-space model. By encoding objects separately and including explicit position information in the latent state space, we perform tracking via amortized variational Bayesian inferenc…
This paper introduces a new neural ODE model for continuous-time sequence generation.
problem Representing and predicting continuous-time sequences with high accuracy.
method A neural emission model and neural ODE define the latent state evolution, with an Energy-based model for prior distribution.
result The model outperforms existing methods in various tasks, including long-horizon predictions.
The paper characterizes brain states and transitions using functional MRI data.
problem Characterizing the dynamic reconfiguration of neural systems in brain states.
method Bayesian model-based characterization of latent brain states and posterior predictive discrepancy using the latent block model.
result The model detects transitions between latent brain states and identifies distinctive community patterns in task-fMRI data.
We decode latent states in Block MDPs and learn near-optimal policies.
problem Model estimation and reward-free learning in Block MDPs.
method Information-theoretical lower bound and efficient model estimation algorithm.
result Our algorithm approaches the information-theoretical limit for latent state decoding and converges to optimal policies.
Latent-state environments with long horizons, such as those faced by recommender systems, pose significant challenges for reinforcement learning (RL). In this work, we identify and analyze several key hurdles for RL in such environments, including belief state error and small action advantage. We develop a general prin…
Latent-EnSF improves data assimilation for high-dimensional systems with sparse observations.
problem Challenges in high-dimensional, nonlinear Bayesian filtering with sparse observations.
method A novel data assimilation method using latent representations and a coupled VAE for efficient state encoding and reconstruction.
result Latent-EnSF outperforms traditional methods in accuracy, convergence, and efficiency for complex systems.
Algorithm finds latent structure in value functions for improved reinforcement learning.
problem Finding latent structure in value functions for efficient reinforcement learning.
method Proposes a practical algorithm using two posterior distributions over state abstractions and abstract-state values.
result Substantial performance gains in multi-task settings where tasks share a common, low-dimensional representation.
Agent decides when to measure latent states in RL to improve efficiency.
problem Costly state measurement in RL negatively affects future outcomes.
method Introduces AOMDP with measurement action, uses online RL and sequential Monte Carlo.
result Reduced uncertainty improves sample efficiency and policy value.
Generalizes bits back coding for time-series models with latent Markov structures.
problem Efficiently compressing time-series data with latent Markov structures.
method Extends bits back coding to time-series models with latent Markov structures, including HMMs and LGSSMs.
result Effective for small scale models, promising for larger scale settings like video compression.
We propose a nonparametric procedure to achieve fast inference in generative graphical models when the number of latent states is very large. The approach is based on iterative latent variable preselection, where we alternate between learning a 'selection function' to reveal the relevant latent variables, and use this …
Decodes neural activity to assess latent states in real-world driving tasks.
problem Understanding latent states during complex tasks in natural settings.
method Domain-generalized models trained on controlled lab paradigms applied to ecologically valid driving tasks.
result Changes in neural activity correlate with changes in behavior and task performance.
This paper addresses the data-driven identification of latent dynamical representations of partially-observed systems, i.e., dynamical systems for which some components are never observed, with an emphasis on forecasting applications, including long-term asymptotic patterns. Whereas state-of-the-art data-driven approac…
Latent FxLMS accelerates ANC by adapting along low-dimensional filter weights.
problem Improving active noise control with neural adaptive filters.
method Training an auto-encoder on filter coefficients, constraining weights to latent variables, and updating in latent space.
result Latent FxLMS converges in fewer steps with comparable error to standard FxLMS.
Algorithm improves imitation learning from visual data in partially observable environments.
problem Imitation learning from visual observations with missing expert actions and partial observability.
method Theoretical analysis and Latent Adversarial Imitation from Observations algorithm combining adversarial and latent representations.
result Latent Adversarial Imitation from Observations achieves state-of-the-art performance in high-dimensional robotic tasks.
Bayesian method synthesizes barrier certificates for unknown systems with latent states.
problem Certifying safety in systems with unknown dynamics and latent states.
method Bayesian inference with Metropolis-Hastings sampler and sum-of-squares program.
result Probabilistic validity of barrier certificates for unknown systems.
ROAD-EnKFs use learned low-dimensional models to improve state reconstruction and forecasting.
problem Reconstructing and forecasting states of unknown or expensive systems.
method Learned low-dimensional surrogate models and ensemble Kalman filter integration.
result ROAD-EnKFs achieve higher accuracy at lower computational cost than existing methods.
Recent advances in the estimation of deep directed graphical models and recurrent networks let us contribute to the removal of a blind spot in the area of probabilistc modelling of time series. The proposed methods i) can infer distributed latent state-space trajectories with nonlinear transitions, ii) scale to large d…
LatentTrack generates model parameters online for nonstationary data.
problem Online probabilistic prediction under nonstationary dynamics.
method Sequential neural architecture with latent filtering and amortized inference.
result Consistently lower negative log-likelihood and mean squared error than baselines.
New method for efficient Bayesian inference in GPSSMs.
problem Challenges in inference for Gaussian process state-space models.
method Free-form variational inference with stochastic gradient Hamiltonian Monte Carlo.
result Our method learns transition dynamics and latent states more accurately than competing methods.
This paper benchmarks speech LVMs against deterministic models and adapts a video model to speech.
problem Speech generation models are inferior to deterministic models.
method Developed a speech benchmark of LVMs and compared them against deterministic models.
result The Clockwork VAE outperforms previous LVMs and reduces the gap to deterministic models.
This paper uses Factored Latent Analysis (FLA) to learn a factorized, segmental representation for observations of tracked objects over time. Factored Latent Analysis is latent class analysis in which the observation space is subdivided and each aspect of the original space is represented by a separate latent class mod…