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arXiv research

A locally-built, LLM-digested index of recent arXiv papers in quant finance, geometry/topology, and statistical ML — keyword search served straight from SQLite on this machine.

168,657 papers · 148 categories

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6481,2961,9442,592 · Jun 202019922001200920172026
48 results for layers of transformations

Introduces Causal Energy Minimization to understand Transformer layers.

problem Empirical parameterization of Transformer blocks remains largely unexplored.
method Causal Energy Minimization framework that recasts Transformer layers as optimization steps on conditional energy functions.
result Identifies design space for Transformer layers including weight sharing and energy-based interpretations.

Learned data models based on sparsity are widely used in signal processing and imaging applications. A variety of methods for learning synthesis dictionaries, sparsifying transforms, etc., have been proposed in recent years, often imposing useful structures or properties on the models. In this work, we focus on sparsif…

2018-10-19abs ↗pdf ↗

This study analyzes how one-layer transformers learn regular language recognition tasks.

problem Understanding how one-layer transformers solve regular language recognition tasks like even pairs and parity check.
method Theoretical analysis of training dynamics and gradient descent for a one-layer transformer.
result A one-layer transformer can solve even pairs directly but needs CoT for parity check. Training phases show rapid growth in attention layer followed by logarithmic growth in linear layer.

A new model improves CT image quality from low-dose scans.

problem Improving CT image quality from low-dose scans.
method Multi-layer Residual Sparsifying Transform (MRST) learning model for low-dose CT reconstruction.
result The MRST model outperforms conventional methods in maintaining subtle details.

Transformers learn to perform logistic regression in-context.

problem Understanding how transformers learn to perform specific tasks in-context.
method Constructed multi-layer transformers that perform in-context logistic regression through normalized gradient descent.
result Transformers can be trained to perform in-context logistic regression effectively.

Transformers can approximate Newton's method for logistic regression.

problem Implementing higher order optimization methods in Transformers.
method Linear attention Transformers with ReLU layers approximating second order optimization algorithms.
result Transformers can implement a single step of Newton's iteration for matrix inversion.

SSMs combined with neural networks match Transformers in dynamic token selection.

problem Understanding the capabilities of SSMs in dynamic token selection.
method Exploring SSMs combined with fully connected neural networks.
result SSMs combined with nonlinear layers can efficiently solve challenging tasks and estimate functions.

Deep learning uses layers of transformations to predict structured data with uncertainty.

problem Predicting structured high-dimensional data efficiently and with uncertainty.
method Applying layers of semi-affine input transformations to find features for probabilistic statistical methods.
result Achieves scalable prediction rules with uncertainty quantification and feature selection.

Deep Transformed Gaussian Processes extend TGPs with variational inference for scalable multi-layer modeling.

problem Flexible modeling of complex data distributions.
method DTGPs are a multi-layer model of TGPs using variational inference for scalability.
result DTGPs achieve good scalability and performance in multiple regression datasets.

Transformers with multiple layers learn to estimate bigram distributions, while single-layer models often get stuck in unigram local minima.

problem Understanding the sequential modeling capabilities of transformers using Markov chains.
method Introducing a new framework to analyze transformers via Markov chains, characterizing their loss landscapes.
result Single-layer transformers often get stuck in local minima representing the unigram distribution, while deeper models reliably converge to the ground-truth bigram.

A method predicts GNS of transformer layers using normalization layer norms.

problem Estimating gradient noise scale with minimal variance.
method Simultaneously compute per-example gradient norms and parameter gradients.
result Total GNS is predicted well by normalization layer GNS.

Transformer networks have lead to important progress in language modeling and machine translation. These models include two consecutive modules, a feed-forward layer and a self-attention layer. The latter allows the network to capture long term dependencies and are often regarded as the key ingredient in the success of…

2019-07-02abs ↗pdf ↗

Looped transformers with LN converge to power method for principal component prediction.

problem Understanding how transformers learn algorithmic procedures.
method Study of principal component prediction with looped linear transformers and layer normalization.
result Gradient descent trains looped transformers with LN to implement the power method for principal component prediction.

Study Transformer layers under cross-entropy training using mean field control.

problem Understanding the behavior of Transformer layers in cross-entropy training.
method Continuous-depth mean field control analysis, treating depth as time and layer parameters as controls.
result Derivation of a Pontryagin condition for the limiting population problem, involving the softmax residual.

Single-layer Transformer can approximate any sequence mapping.

problem Lack of theoretical understanding of Transformers.
method Review of linear algebra, probability, and optimization concepts; detailed analysis of Transformer architecture.
result A single-layer Transformer can approximate any continuous sequence-to-sequence mapping to arbitrary precision.

Data augmentations are important ingredients in the recipe for training robust neural networks, especially in computer vision. A fundamental question is whether neural network features encode data augmentation transformations. To answer this question, we introduce a systematic approach to investigate which layers of ne…

2020-02-29abs ↗pdf ↗

Transformers show strengths and weaknesses in complexity analysis.

problem Understanding the strengths and limitations of attention layers in transformers.
method Analysis of representation power through complexity parameters and task-specific constructions.
result Transformers can solve sparse averaging tasks with logarithmic complexity, but triple detection tasks require linear complexity.

Random Transformers behave like polynomial models in ICL with asymptotic growth.

problem Understanding in-context learning capabilities of pretrained Transformers.
method Asymptotic analysis of a random Transformer with a fixed first layer and a trained second layer, considering growth in context length, input dimension, hidden dimension, and training parameters.
result The random Transformer's ICL error is equivalent to a finite-degree Hermite polynomial model.

The Transformer is widely used in natural language processing tasks. To train a Transformer however, one usually needs a carefully designed learning rate warm-up stage, which is shown to be crucial to the final performance but will slow down the optimization and bring more hyper-parameter tunings. In this paper, we fir…

2020-02-12abs ↗pdf ↗

New method enforces orthogonality in convolutional layers for improved robustness.

problem Improving adversarial robustness in deep learning models.
method Applying the Cayley transform to skew-symmetric convolutions in the Fourier domain.
result The proposed method preserves orthogonality and enhances adversarial robustness compared to existing techniques.

Sparse Transformers can approximate dense Transformers with only O(n) connections.

problem Can sparse Transformers approximate arbitrary sequence-to-sequence functions?
method Proposed sufficient conditions for universal approximation and proved that sparse Transformers with O(n) connections can approximate dense models.
result Sparse Transformers with O(n) connections can approximate the same function class as dense models with n^2 connections.

Transformers can learn noisy linear systems with depth and IID data.

problem Learning noisy linear dynamical systems with transformers.
method Theoretical analysis of multi-layer and single-layer transformers with respect to L2L^2-testing loss.
result Single-layer transformers have a non-diminishing lower bound on approximation error, suggesting depth separation.

This paper compares Transformers and RNNs in various tasks, showing size differences.

problem Comparing representational capabilities of Transformers and RNNs across tasks.
method Analysis of differences in tasks like index lookup, nearest neighbor, and string equality.
result Size differences in Transformers and RNNs for various tasks.

Investigates optimal parameter allocation in Transformers for efficiency and expressivity.

problem Balancing expressivity and efficiency in Transformer model parameters.
method Mathematical analysis and theoretical characterization of attention heads and head dimensions.
result Later layers can operate more efficiently with reduced parameters due to saturation of softmax activations.

Paper analyzes why deeper layers of ViTs perform worse on out-of-distribution tasks.

problem Performance degradation of intermediate layers in ViTs under distribution shift.
method Extensive linear probing experiments across various benchmarks and fine-grained analysis of transformer modules.
result Probing feedforward network activations yields best performance under significant distribution shift.

Researchers analyze the geometric and statistical properties of transformer model representations.

problem Understanding the semantic structure of large transformer models across various data types.
method Characterization of geometric and statistical properties through analysis of intrinsic dimension and neighbor composition.
result The semantic information of the dataset is better expressed at the end of the first peak in transformer models.

The paper analyzes the training dynamics of a transformer for next-token prediction.

problem Understanding the non-asymptotic performance of transformers in next-token prediction.
method Characterizes training dataset properties, designs a two-stage training algorithm, and analyzes attention gradient properties.
result Trained transformers converge sub-linearly to max-margin solutions and exhibit linear convergence in cross-entropy loss.

Transformers can learn spectral methods and perform unsupervised learning.

problem Learning spectral methods using unsupervised learning.
method Using multi-layered Transformers, pre-trained on a large set of instances, to learn and perform statistical estimation tasks.
result Proven that pre-trained Transformers can learn spectral methods and perform tasks like PCA and clustering.

Sparse Transformers degrade semantic information first, with early layers encoding more.

problem Understanding how sparse Transformers affect learned representations and semantic information.
method Probed Transformers with progressively pruned weights to observe changes in semantic information and model behavior.
result Complex semantic information is first to degrade in sparse Transformers, with early layers encoding more.

Study reveals Transformer's expressive power and mechanisms.

problem Understanding the approximation properties of Transformer for sequence modeling.
method Systematic study of Transformer's components and their combined effects, establishing approximation rates.
result Reveals roles of critical parameters in Transformer, such as number of layers and attention heads.

Deep Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) are useful models for graph classification and graph-based regression tasks. In these tasks, graph pooling is a critical ingredient by which GNNs adapt to input graphs of varying size and structure. We propose a new graph pooling operation based on compressive Haar transforms -- HaarPo…

2019-09-25abs ↗pdf ↗

Study examines infinite limits of transformer dynamics, identifying key parameterizations.

problem Understanding the training dynamics of transformer models in the feature learning regime.
method Analysis of infinite scaling limits using dynamical mean field theory.
result Identified parameterizations that admit well-defined infinite width and depth limits.

Minimal token perturbations reveal how Transformer models process information.

problem Understanding information propagation in Transformer models for interpretability.
method Study of minimal token perturbations on embedding space.
result Rare tokens cause larger shifts, and input information mixes deeper.

Linear attention in Transformers can be interpreted as dynamic VAR models.

problem Misalignment between Transformers and autoregressive forecasting objectives.
method Interpreting linear attention as VAR, rearranging MLP, attention, and flow.
result SAMoVAR improves performance, interpretability, and efficiency.

Paper proposes Multi-Transformer for more accurate stock volatility forecasts.

problem Accurate equity risk models needed for effective risk management.
method Introduces Multi-Transformer neural network architecture, adapted from Transformer models.
result Empirical results show Multi-Transformer leads to more accurate risk measures.

Visualizing the details of different cellular structures is of great importance to elucidate cellular functions. However, it is challenging to obtain high quality images of different structures directly due to complex cellular environments. Fluorescence staining is a popular technique to label different structures but …

2019-07-01abs ↗pdf ↗

Graph transformers outperform graph convolutions by preserving community information.

problem Understanding why graph transformers perform well in node-level prediction tasks.
method Analyzing the Gaussian process limits of graph transformers with infinite width and infinite heads.
result Graph transformers maintain discriminative node representations even in deep layers, preventing oversmoothing.

Fine-tuning normalization layers can reconstruct smaller networks.

problem Understanding the expressive power of fine-tuning normalization layers.
method Random ReLU networks and sparsified networks were fine-tuned to reconstruct target networks.
result Fine-tuning normalization layers can reconstruct networks that are O(extwidth)O(\sqrt{ ext{width}}) times smaller.