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.
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.
A method estimates causal parameters using a latent variable recovery.
problem Estimating causal parameters in contexts with multiple causes and unobserved confounding.
method Substitute adjustment via recovery of latent variables.
result Substitute adjustment estimates adjusted regression parameters under certain conditions.
In data science and machine learning, hierarchical parametric models, such as mixture models, are often used. They contain two kinds of variables: observable variables, which represent the parts of the data that can be directly measured, and latent variables, which represent the underlying processes that generate the d…
A new gradient estimator reduces variance near boundaries for binary latent variables.
problem Explosive gradient variance near boundaries in binary latent variable models.
method Introduces a new gradient estimator (bitflip-1) and an aggregated estimator (UGC) that uses either bitflip-1 or DisARM for each coordinate.
result UGC has uniformly lower variance than DisARM and achieves optimal optimization objectives.
Proposes a transfer learning method for accurate latent variable estimation.
problem Accurate estimation of latent variables in networks with large parameter spaces.
method Leverages information from similar networks to improve estimation accuracy.
result The proposed methods improve estimation accuracy and are validated on real datasets.
Local learning method selects covariates for causal effect estimation in the presence of latent variables.
problem Estimating causal effects from nonexperimental data with latent variables.
method Local learning approach that identifies valid adjustment sets for causal relationships.
result Ensures soundness and completeness of causal effect estimation under standard assumptions.
Hierarchical parametric models consisting of observable and latent variables are widely used for unsupervised learning tasks. For example, a mixture model is a representative hierarchical model for clustering. From the statistical point of view, the models can be regular or singular due to the distribution of data. In …
New algorithm improves latent variable model estimation.
problem Estimating parameters in latent variable models.
method Jarzynski-adjusted Langevin algorithm (JALA) for SMC methods.
result JALA-EM provides maximum marginal likelihood estimate.
New estimators reduce variance in training variational autoencoders with discrete latent variables.
problem Training variational autoencoders with discrete latent variables requires efficient gradient estimation.
method Introduce ReinMax-Rao and ReinMax-CV estimators using Rao-Blackwellisation and control variates.
result Demonstrate superior performance on training variational autoencoders with discrete latent spaces.
AI-generated variables bias regression estimates; methods correct for invalid inference.
problem Bias in regression estimates due to AI-generated variables.
method Two methods: bias correction and joint estimation.
result Valid inference restored through proposed methods.
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.
Hierarchical probabilistic models, such as Gaussian mixture models, are widely used for unsupervised learning tasks. These models consist of observable and latent variables, which represent the observable data and the underlying data-generation process, respectively. Unsupervised learning tasks, such as cluster analysi…
Hierarchical learning models, such as mixture models and Bayesian networks, are widely employed for unsupervised learning tasks, such as clustering analysis. They consist of observable and hidden variables, which represent the given data and their hidden generation process, respectively. It has been pointed out that co…
Hierarchical statistical models are widely employed in information science and data engineering. The models consist of two types of variables: observable variables that represent the given data and latent variables for the unobservable labels. An asymptotic analysis of the models plays an important role in evaluating t…
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…
A new estimator improves training of probabilistic models with latent Gaussian variables.
problem Improving gradient estimation for models with latent Gaussian variables.
method Rao-Blackwellised Reparameterisation Gradients (R2-G2)
result R2-G2 consistently yields better performance in models with multiple applications of the reparameterisation trick.
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.
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.
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.
New gradient estimators for discrete variables improve model training.
problem Training models with discrete latent variables is challenging due to high gradient variance.
method Introduced novel gradient estimators based on importance sampling and statistical couplings, extending to categorical variables.
result Proposed gradient estimators outperform previous methods in systematic experiments.
New method for efficient marginalization of discrete latent variables in neural networks.
problem Computational challenges in training models with discrete latent variables.
method Parameterizing discrete distributions using sparse mappings (sparsemax and structured variants) to reduce support and enable efficient marginalization.
result Achieved good performance in various tasks with efficient and practical training.
We consider the problem of extracting a low-dimensional, linear latent variable structure from high-dimensional random variables. Specifically, we show that under mild conditions and when this structure manifests itself as a linear space that spans the conditional means, it is possible to consistently recover the struc…
Proposes a new condition to estimate latent variable causal graphs from observed data.
problem Estimating causal structures when observed variables are not the underlying causal variables.
method Introduces Generalized Independent Noise (GIN) condition and a recursive learning algorithm.
result Shows that GIN helps locate latent variables and identify their causal structure.
GEEN uses deep learning to estimate unobserved variables from observed data.
problem Estimating unobserved variables in latent variable models.
method GEEN uses deep learning with Kullback-Leibler distance to map observed measurements to latent variable realizations.
result GEEN provides a method to identify and estimate latent variables in a class of models.
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.
A new framework estimates causal effects for ordinal variables.
problem Existing causal inference methods fail for ordinal data.
method Presumes a latent Gaussian DAG model with constrained covariance matrix.
result Closed-form function for ordinal causal effects in latent space.
Spectral methods have greatly advanced the estimation of latent variable models, generating a sequence of novel and efficient algorithms with strong theoretical guarantees. However, current spectral algorithms are largely restricted to mixtures of discrete or Gaussian distributions. In this paper, we propose a kernel m…
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.
Paper proposes a novel auto-encoder for latent density estimation.
problem Challenges of learning generative probabilistic models due to curse of dimensionality.
method Joint dimensionality reduction and non-parametric density estimation framework using a novel estimator.
result Proposed model achieves promising results on various datasets.
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.
New method improves uncertainty quantification in latent variable models.
problem Uncertainty quantification in latent variable models with SGLD-Gibbs.
method Statistical scaling limit theory for SGLD-Gibbs, proposing hyperparameter tuning.
result Explicit guidance on hyperparameter tuning for SGLD-Gibbs ensures meaningful uncertainty quantification.
A new VIS approach improves log-likelihood estimation in latent variable models.
problem Challenges in achieving high log-likelihood with VI for complex posterior distributions.
method Uses forward χ2 divergence to optimize proposal distribution for better log-likelihood estimation. result Consistently outperforms state-of-the-art baselines in log-likelihood and parameter estimation.
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.
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.
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.
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…
Deep equilibrium models estimate latent variables from data.
problem Estimating latent variables from data.
method Generalized exponential family models, deep equilibrium networks.
result Deep equilibrium models solve MAP estimates for latent and transformation parameters.
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.
The Gaussian Process Latent Variable Model (GP-LVM) is a non-linear probabilistic method of embedding a high dimensional dataset in terms low dimensional `latent' variables. In this paper we illustrate that maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation of the latent variables and hyperparameters can be used for model selection…
New method uses latent variables to estimate treatment effects from single-arm trials.
problem Estimating treatment effects from single-arm trials due to lack of external control groups.
method Latent-variable modeling with amortized variational inference for patient matching and direct effect estimation.
result Improved performance in direct treatment effect estimation and effect estimation via patient matching compared to previous methods.
We show a connection between the Fourier spectrum of Boolean functions and the REINFORCE gradient estimator for binary latent variable models. We show that REINFORCE estimates (up to a factor) the degree-1 Fourier coefficients of a Boolean function. Using this connection we offer a new perspective on variance reduction…
New method recovers latent confounders from high-dimensional proxy variables.
problem Detecting latent confounders from high-dimensional proxy variables.
method Proxy Confounder Factorization (PCF) framework using ICA-PCF and GD-PCF.
result ICA-PCF recovers confounders with high correlation and low error in synthetic and real-world data.
Proxy methods adapt to distribution shifts without explicitly modeling latent confounders.
problem Adapting to distribution shifts under latent variable confounding.
method Proximal causal learning, two-stage kernel estimation.
result Proxy methods outperform other methods in adapting to complex distribution shifts.
Paper improves Gumbel-Softmax estimator variance reduction.
problem Challenges in gradient estimation for models with discrete latent variables.
method Rao-Blackwellization applied to straight-through Gumbel-Softmax estimator.
result Reduces mean squared error and variance of Gumbel-Softmax estimator.
Develops methods to estimate high rank tensors from noisy data.
problem Estimating high rank tensors from noisy observations.
method Generative latent variable tensor model, polynomial-time spectral algorithm.
result Achieves computationally optimal rate for signal tensor estimation.
We introduce a Bayesian framework for inference with a supervised version of the Gaussian process latent variable model. The framework overcomes the high correlations between latent variables and hyperparameters by using an unbiased pseudo estimate for the marginal likelihood that approximately integrates over the late…
New method estimates latent gene expression factors without overlap with known confounders.
problem Estimating latent variance components in gene expression data with known confounders.
method Restricted maximum-likelihood method maximizing likelihood on orthogonal subspace.
result Method reduces runtime and attains greater likelihood values than gradient-based optimizers.