We study alignment in linear neural networks and its relation to gradient descent.
problem Understanding alignment in linear neural networks and its impact on training.
method Defined alignment for fully connected networks, analyzed alignment under gradient descent, and compared gradient descent to projected gradient descent for layer-constrained networks.
result Gradient descent can converge linearly to a global minimum when alignment is invariant, and alignment is impossible with large datasets in layer-constrained networks.
The study explains how neural networks align their kernels to target functions during training.
problem Understanding how neural networks align their kernels to target functions during training.
method Theoretical analysis of kernel evolution in toy models and deep networks.
result Kernel alignment naturally emerges during training to accelerate convergence and improve generalization.
DFA trains deep networks by aligning weights then memorizing data.
problem Understanding why DFA works for some networks but not others.
method Two-step learning process: alignment followed by memorization.
result DFA aligns weights to maximize gradient alignment, breaking degeneracy.
Alignment of neural network representations is influenced by SNR and sample size.
problem Understanding how neural network representations align across different conditions.
method Controlled training of neural networks on perturbed datasets, analyzing alignment and generalization.
result Alignment varies monotonically with SNR but non-monotonically with sample size, with minimal alignment near the interpolation threshold.
An efficient algorithm for aligning diffusion trees to networks with information asymmetry.
problem Aligning diffusion trees to networks with information asymmetry.
method Tree correlation tests for extracting alignment information.
result Explicit lower bounds on the probability of correct matches for each vertex on the diffusion tree.
G-CREWE efficiently aligns large networks using node embeddings and compression.
problem Efficiently aligning large networks for various applications.
method Uses node embeddings and compression to align networks at fine and coarse resolutions.
result G-CREWE achieves efficient and accurate network alignment, twice as fast as existing methods.
Network alignment is a critical task to a wide variety of fields. Many existing works leverage on representation learning to accomplish this task without eliminating domain representation bias induced by domain-dependent features, which yield inferior alignment performance. This paper proposes a unified deep architectu…
Study improves understanding and performance of FA learning rules in neural networks.
problem Lack of theoretical understanding and limited applications of Feedback Alignment (FA) methods.
method Introduces a unified framework linking synaptic weight changes to implicit regularization, providing convergence conditions and empirical evidence.
result Better alignment can enhance FA performance on complex multi-class tasks.
CoDA Nets improve interpretability in neural networks.
problem Improving interpretability in neural networks.
method Dynamic Alignment Units (DAUs) for input-dependent linear transformations.
result CoDA Nets achieve on par results with ResNet and VGG models on complex datasets.
Early alignment in neural networks leads to sparse representations but hinders convergence.
problem The implicit bias of gradient descent during early training phases.
method Quantitative description of early alignment phase in small initialisation, one hidden layer networks.
result Early alignment induces a sparse representation but also hinders convergence to global minima.
Deep neural networks show some layers better align with data than others.
problem Understanding why some layers in deep neural networks better align with data.
method Introducing the Equilibrium Hypothesis to connect alignment pattern to signal propagation.
result The Equilibrium Hypothesis explains the ascent-descent pattern of alignment in deep neural networks.
B-cos transforms improve neural network interpretability by aligning weights.
problem Improving interpretability of deep neural networks.
method Replacing linear transforms with B-cos transforms that promote weight-input alignment during training.
result B-cos transforms lead to highly interpretable and task-relevant linear summaries of neural network computations.
Graph Neural Networks align with dynamic programming, improving algorithmic reasoning.
problem Demonstrate and quantify alignment between GNNs and dynamic programming.
method Category theory and abstract algebra methods to expose intricate connection.
result Showed GNNs align with dynamic programming beyond individual algorithms.
Aligns attention distributions for improved accuracy and robustness.
problem Improving the accuracy and robustness of neural networks using attention mechanisms.
method Alignment attention that encourages key and query distributions to match within each head.
result Alignment attention leads to better accuracy, uncertainty estimation, and robustness across various tasks.
Training avoids edge of stability by aligning Jacobian matrices.
problem Training neural networks on the edge of stability causes inaccuracies.
method Used an exponential Euler solver to prevent entering the edge of stability.
result Alignment of Jacobian matrices causes sharpness increase in Hessian.
SrvfNet aligns multiple functional data to templates without supervision.
problem Aligning large collections of functional data to templates without labeled data.
method Generative deep learning framework using SRVF and fully-connected layers.
result Framework achieves alignment and optimal template prediction without supervision.
Proposes neuron alignment to optimize mode connectivity in neural networks.
problem Understanding and optimizing mode connectivity in deep neural networks.
method Introduces neuron alignment to approximate optimal weight permutations and improve mode connectivity.
result Neuron alignment significantly alleviates robust loss barriers and improves model robustness and accuracy.
NetOTC compares and aligns directed or undirected networks via random walk transitions.
problem Comparing and aligning networks of different types and sizes.
method NetOTC uses a transport-based approach to find optimal transition couplings of random walks.
result NetOTC quantifies network differences and provides vertex and edge alignments.
Improved algorithm for network alignment with binary diffing application.
problem Network alignment problem and binary diffing.
method Inspired by Bayati et al. [2], the algorithm uses message passing with modifications for speed and convergence.
result Our model outperforms state-of-the-art solvers in experiments.
NTW aligns multiple time-series data efficiently using neural networks.
problem Multiple sequence alignment for time-series analyses.
method Neural time warping that relaxes the MSA to a continuous optimization problem.
result NTW successfully aligns a hundred time-series and outperforms existing methods.
New learning rules for wide neural networks without backpropagation.
problem Training wide neural networks efficiently and without backpropagation.
method Input-weight alignment driven by gradient descent in the NTK regime.
result Biologically-motivated learning rules equivalent to backpropagation in wide networks.
GrokAlign aligns Jacobians to accelerate grokking in deep networks.
problem Accelerating the training dynamics of deep networks to avoid delayed generalisation and robustness.
method Aligning the Jacobians of a deep network with the training data to ensure grokking under a low-rank assumption.
result GrokAlign regularizes Jacobians to induce grokking sooner than conventional methods.
New algorithm shows neural networks can learn without full backpropagation.
problem Stochastic gradient descent with backpropagation is non-biologically plausible.
method Random and fixed backpropagation weights in a feedback alignment algorithm.
result Error converges to zero exponentially fast in overparameterized networks.
PiNets provide faithful explanations for neural networks.
problem Lack of true explanations for neural network predictions.
method Pointwise-interpretable Networks (PiNets) that form linear models instance-wise.
result PiNets offer explanations that are meaningful, aligned, robust, and sufficient.
Neural networks have succeeded in many reasoning tasks. Empirically, these tasks require specialized network structures, e.g., Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) perform well on many such tasks, but less structured networks fail. Theoretically, there is limited understanding of why and when a network structure generalizes be…
The backpropagation algorithm has long been the canonical training method for neural networks. Modern paradigms are implicitly optimized for it, and numerous guidelines exist to ensure its proper use. Recently, synthetic gradients methods -where the error gradient is only roughly approximated - have garnered interest. …
Neural networks can learn kernel machines with a data-dependent kernel.
problem Can neural networks in the rich feature learning regime learn a kernel machine?
method Demonstrated silent alignment effect in neural networks, showing they can learn a kernel machine with a data-dependent kernel.
result Neural networks in the rich feature learning regime can learn a kernel machine with a data-dependent kernel due to silent alignment.
NTKs explain GNNs' alignment for graph prediction.
problem Understanding GNNs' alignment for graph prediction.
method Analyzing NTKs and alignment in GNNs, focusing on cross-covariance.
result Optimizing alignment in GNNs optimizes graph representation.
FA algorithm provides convergence guarantees for deep linear networks.
problem Training efficiency and convergence of deep neural networks.
method Theoretical analysis of Feedback Alignment (FA) algorithm for deep linear networks.
result Certain initializations lead to implicit anti-regularization, affecting learning effectiveness.
SGD's training dynamics align with Hessian and gradient spectra in high-dimensional classification tasks.
problem Understanding the spectra of Hessian and gradient matrices in high-dimensional classification tasks.
method Rigorous analysis of SGD dynamics and spectra of Hessian and gradient matrices.
result SGD trajectory and emergent outlier eigenspaces align with a common low-dimensional subspace in multi-class high-dimensional mixtures and neural networks.
Paper proposes MDAT to stabilize domain alignment in label-scarce settings.
problem Stable and comprehensive domain alignment in label-scarce settings.
method Max-margin Domain-Adversarial Training (MDAT) with Adversarial Reconstruction Network (ARN).
result MDAT stabilizes gradient reversing and achieves strong robustness to hyper-parameters.
Cohen et al. (2021) show GD trajectories align on a bifurcation diagram.
problem Understanding the Edge of Stability (EoS) phenomenon in gradient descent.
method Empirical studies and rigorous mathematical proofs for two-layer networks and single-neuron networks.
result GD trajectories align on a specific bifurcation diagram independent of initialization.
For a standard convolutional neural network, optimizing over the input pixels to maximize the score of some target class will generally produce a grainy-looking version of the original image. However, Santurkar et al. (2019) demonstrated that for adversarially-trained neural networks, this optimization produces images …
MKA incorporates manifold geometry into kernel alignment for more robust representation comparison.
problem Inadequate accounting for manifold geometry in kernel alignment metrics.
method Derives a theoretical framework for Manifold Approximated Kernel Alignment (MKA).
result MKA provides a more robust foundation for measuring representations.
Geometric method captures rare topics and temporal alignment in co-author networks.
problem Missing rare topics and smooth temporal alignment in topic modeling.
method Integrates multimodal text and co-author network data using Hellinger distances and Ward's linkage.
result Effective identification of rare topics and visualization of topic drift over time.
Paper proposes using LSTM for LSH-based sequence alignment.
problem Sequence alignment using deep learning models.
method Deep bidirectional LSTM for feature learning and LSH-based sequence alignment.
result Higher accuracy achieved with LSTM-based model.
SGD updates align with a low-rank subspace but do not lead to further loss reduction.
problem Understanding the training dynamics of deep neural networks, particularly the role of the dominant subspace.
method Exploring whether neural networks can be trained within the dominant subspace of the loss Hessian.
result SGD updates, when projected onto the dominant subspace, do not decrease the training loss further, suggesting spurious alignment.
EAST aligns neural network classifiers with user-defined evaluation metrics.
problem Mismatch between neural network training and evaluation metrics leads to suboptimal performance.
method EAST uses dynamic thresholding, soft-set confusion matrix, and annealing to align neural network predictions with target evaluation metrics.
result EAST improves alignment between training objectives and evaluation metrics, outperforming existing methods.
This paper establishes risk convergence and asymptotic weight matrix alignment --- a form of implicit regularization --- of gradient flow and gradient descent when applied to deep linear networks on linearly separable data. In more detail, for gradient flow applied to strictly decreasing loss functions (with similar re…
PGD-trained models have a preferential direction in their gradients, which improves robustness.
problem Mathematical lack of clarity in the direction of preferential gradient alignment after adversarial training.
method Proposed a novel definition of preferential direction and evaluated it using a metric based on GANs.
result PGD-trained models have higher alignment with the proposed preferential direction than baseline models.
Proposes methods to recover labels from shuffled networks using graph averages.
problem Recovering labels from a shuffled network using graph averages.
method Cluster networks into classes, then match the new graph to cluster-averages, minimizing the graph matching objective function.
result Higher fidelity matching performance when clustering networks into different classes.
A new method to rescale ReLU neural networks based on path-lifting.
problem Lack of principled ways to leverage rescaling symmetries in ReLU neural networks.
method Introduces a geometrically motivated criterion to rescale neural network parameters, aligning a kernel in the path-lifting space with a chosen reference.
result Proposed method can speed up training and aligns a kernel in the path-lifting space with a chosen reference.
Estimates multiple networks using graphons for non-aligned graphs.
problem Estimating topology of multiple networks from nodal observations.
method Combining maximum likelihood penalty with graphon estimation schemes.
result Validated performance against competing methods in synthetic and real-world datasets.
In this paper, we propose a new differentiable neural network alignment mechanism for text-dependent speaker verification which uses alignment models to produce a supervector representation of an utterance. Unlike previous works with similar approaches, we do not extract the embedding of an utterance from the mean redu…
Time-continuous dimensional descriptions of emotions (e.g., arousal, valence) allow researchers to characterize short-time changes and to capture long-term trends in emotion expression. However, continuous emotion labels are generally not synchronized with the input speech signal due to delays caused by reaction-time, …
Recent advances in deep neural networks (DNNs) owe their success to training algorithms that use backpropagation and gradient-descent. Backpropagation, while highly effective on von Neumann architectures, becomes inefficient when scaling to large networks. Commonly referred to as the weight transport problem, each neur…
Photonic co-processor speeds up training of large neural networks.
problem Training large neural networks with backpropagation is inefficient and communication is a bottleneck.
method Direct Feedback Alignment (DFA) with a photonic accelerator.
result Photonic accelerator can compute random projections with trillions of parameters.
The paper approaches the task of handwritten text recognition (HTR) with attentional encoder-decoder networks trained on sequences of characters, rather than words. We experiment on lines of text from popular handwriting datasets and compare different activation functions for the attention mechanism used for aligning i…