The permutation symmetry of neurons in each layer of a deep neural network gives rise not only to multiple equivalent global minima of the loss function, but also to first-order saddle points located on the path between the global minima. In a network of d−1 hidden layers with nk neurons in layers $k = 1, \ldots, …
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.
This paper improves model fusion by training-time neuron alignment, reducing barriers in multi-model fusion.
problem Diverse neuron permutations across different settings hinder model fusion performances.
method Training-time neuron alignment using fixed neuron anchors to reduce training-time permutations.
result Training-time neuron alignment improves fusion of pretrained models and federated learning performances.
New metric captures individual neuron tuning across neural networks.
problem Need a metric that respects individual neuron tuning across different neural networks.
method Derived a 'soft' permutation-based metric using optimal transport theory.
result Metric avoids counter-intuitive outcomes and captures geometric insights.
REPAIR mitigates variance collapse to enable linear interpolation between SGD solutions.
problem Linear interpolation between SGD solutions is difficult due to variance collapse in permuted activations.
method REPAIR rescales preactivations of interpolated networks to mitigate variance collapse.
result 60%-100% relative barrier reduction across various architectures and tasks.
Improved Bayesian neural network inference by selectively removing redundant modes.
problem Redundant modes in Bayesian neural network posteriors complicate approximate inference.
method Structured partial stochasticity and deterministic subset selection of weights.
result Improved performance of approximate inference schemes with simplified posterior distribution.
Unified framework connects different neural network models.
problem Understanding the geometry of neural network loss landscapes.
method Unified framework capturing four symmetry classes.
result First discovery of low- and zero-barrier linear interpolation paths.
Signed-permutation coordinate transport improves model alignment across checkpoints.
problem Improper alignment of coordinate-indexed objects across model checkpoints.
method Introduces sign-marginalized Hungarian matching and coordinate-preserving transport.
result Recovering signed-permutation gauge improves coordinate alignment and model performance.
New method for nonlinear Granger causality improves predictive relationships.
problem Challenges in applying Granger causality to nonlinear data.
method Permutation of covariate set, artificial neural networks, consistent variance estimation.
result Permutation method outperforms other techniques in predicting nonlinear relationships.
New findings on hidden symmetries in ReLU networks.
problem Understanding the redundancy and symmetries in ReLU network parameter space.
method Analyzing parameter settings and function classes for various network architectures.
result For certain network architectures, there are no hidden symmetries.
We propose methods for estimating correspondence between two point sets under the presence of outliers in both the source and target sets. The proposed algorithms expand upon the theory of the regression without correspondence problem to estimate transformation coefficients using unordered multisets of covariates and r…
The thesis explores how to integrate machine learning with hardware constraints.
problem Designing efficient neural networks for real-time processing with hardware limitations.
method Developed a library for training and converting sparse quantized neural networks to hardware.
result Demonstrated how to design and optimize neural networks for FPGA-based hardware.
A new method trains deep networks by separating weight locations from values.
problem Training deep networks efficiently and effectively.
method Lookahead Permutation (LaPerm) to train DNNs by reconnecting weights.
result LaPerm can train DNNs with random and dense, sparse, or single-valued initial weights.
Cheap permutation tests speed up distribution testing without sacrificing accuracy.
problem Efficiently testing distribution differences and independence.
method Group datapoints into bins and permute only these bins, using stored sufficient statistics.
result Cheap permutation tests maintain the accuracy and optimality of standard tests but are significantly faster.
C-OPH improves One Permutation Hashing by using a shorter circulant permutation.
problem Improving the accuracy of One Permutation Hashing (OPH) for Jaccard similarity estimation.
method Develops a new densification method using a shorter circulant permutation.
result Achieves the smallest estimation variance for Jaccard similarity.
Random permutations can offer faster convergence than with-replacement sampling for some functions.
problem Understanding when and how random permutations outperform with-replacement sampling in SGD convergence.
method Analyzing convergence rates for different function classes (1D strongly convex, general strongly convex, quadratic strongly convex).
result The optimal convergence gap between random and permutation-based SGD varies from exponential to nonexistent, depending on the function class.
Representations of sets are challenging to learn because operations on sets should be permutation-invariant. To this end, we propose a Permutation-Optimisation module that learns how to permute a set end-to-end. The permuted set can be further processed to learn a permutation-invariant representation of that set, avoid…
Permutations linked to knots and links, with unknots counted by Schröder numbers.
problem Understanding permutations as knots and links.
method Using grid diagrams and Bennequin's inequality.
result Permutations corresponding to unknots and links are counted by Schröder numbers.
Regularizes RNNs to be invariant to input order.
problem Making RNNs invariant to input order.
method Stochastic regularization to enforce permutation invariance.
result Improves model performance on permutation invariant tasks.
We tackle permutation in linear regression with a new inference framework.
problem Statistical investigation of permutation in linear regression models.
method Localization step followed by conditional Monte Carlo test and coefficient inference.
result Valid statistical inference procedures for permutation and regression coefficients.
Permutability of surface transforms yields discrete analogs.
problem Discretization of smooth surfaces with specific properties.
method Permutability of transforms of smooth surfaces.
result Discrete surfaces with discrete analogs of original properties.
Describes explaining neurons in deep representations using compositional logical concepts.
problem Interpreting neuron behavior in deep neural networks.
method Identifying compositional logical concepts that closely approximate neuron behavior.
result Compositional explanations provide insights into model performance and allow for adversarial example creation.
A new method merges neural networks using CCA to improve model performance.
problem Improving model accuracy through ensembling while reducing computational and storage costs.
method CCA Merge, a new model merging algorithm based on Canonical Correlation Analysis.
result CCA Merge leads to better model performance than past methods, especially in merging more than two models.
SeReNe prunes neurons with low sensitivity to reduce network size.
problem Large neural networks consume too many resources on resource-constrained devices.
method Exploits neural sensitivity as a regularizer to prune neurons with low sensitivity.
result Pruning neurons with low sensitivity achieves competitive compression ratios.
Under-parameterized networks can either copy or average teacher weights, leading to universal optimal solutions.
problem Approximating a teacher network with an under-parameterized student network.
method Analyzing shallow neural networks with erf activation function and unitary teacher weights, proving copy-average configurations are critical points and finding the optimal solution.
result The optimal solution for under-parameterized networks has a universal structure, whether copying or averaging teacher neurons.
A new permutation method improves two-sample testing power.
problem Two-sample testing with improved power and validity.
method Structured block-restricted cross-swaps.
result Block-restricted permutations achieve higher power than full permutations.
We develop Neuron Shapley as a new framework to quantify the contribution of individual neurons to the prediction and performance of a deep network. By accounting for interactions across neurons, Neuron Shapley is more effective in identifying important filters compared to common approaches based on activation patterns…
Recently, the method of b-bit minwise hashing has been applied to large-scale linear learning and sublinear time near-neighbor search. The major drawback of minwise hashing is the expensive preprocessing cost, as the method requires applying (e.g.,) k=200 to 500 permutations on the data. The testing time can also be ex…
Modeling hidden neurons in SNNs using mesoscopic approximations.
problem Underconstrained problem of modeling unobserved neurons in SNNs.
method Coarse-graining and mean-field approximations to derive neuLVM.
result neuLVM can efficiently model large SNNs and recover connectivity parameters.
New link topology connects permutation discrepancies to Diaconis-Graham inequalities.
problem Characterize permutations for which Diaconis-Graham inequalities hold with equality.
method Relate permutation discrepancies to the Euler characteristic of their associated links.
result Permutation discrepancies are directly related to the Euler characteristic of their associated links.
Proposes graph neural network layers for manifold-valued graphs.
problem Graphs with features in a Riemannian manifold.
method Diffusion layer and tangent multilayer perceptron.
result Outperforms state-of-the-art networks on Alzheimer's classification.
Topological methods improve neuron analysis and tracer injection summary.
problem Traditional methods fail to capture the tree-like structure of neurons.
method Discrete Morse (DM) Theory for neuron skeletonization and consensus tree summarization.
result Significant performance improvements over non-topological methods.
We consider a simple and overarching representation for permutation-invariant functions of sequences (or multiset functions). Our approach, which we call Janossy pooling, expresses a permutation-invariant function as the average of a permutation-sensitive function applied to all reorderings of the input sequence. This …
Inspired by complexity and diversity of biological neurons, our group proposed quadratic neurons by replacing the inner product in current artificial neurons with a quadratic operation on input data, thereby enhancing the capability of an individual neuron. Along this direction, we are motivated to evaluate the power o…
ShuffleNet is a state-of-the-art light weight convolutional neural network architecture. Its basic operations include group, channel-wise convolution and channel shuffling. However, channel shuffling is manually designed empirically. Mathematically, shuffling is a multiplication by a permutation matrix. In this paper, …
We propose a new generic type of stochastic neurons, called q-neurons, that considers activation functions based on Jackson's q-derivatives with stochastic parameters q. Our generalization of neural network architectures with q-neurons is shown to be both scalable and very easy to implement. We demonstrate expe…
We introduce and study the writhe of a permutation, a circular variant of the well-known inversion number. This simple permutation statistics has several interpretations, which lead to some interesting properties. For a permutation sampled uniformly at random, we study the asymptotics of the writhe, and obtain a non-Ga…
New sampling methods improve Shapley value estimation for machine learning models.
problem Approximating Shapley values for non-trivial models is computationally challenging.
method Investigates new quadrature techniques and quasi-Monte Carlo methods for permutation sampling.
result Significant improvements in Shapley value estimates over existing methods.
4-Legendrian permutation racks can't distinguish knots but recover classical invariants.
problem Distinguishing Legendrian knots using permutation racks.
method Study of 4-Legendrian racks and their effectiveness.
result 4-Legendrian permutation racks cannot distinguish knots but recover classical invariants.
It will be shown that according to theorems of K. Menger, every neuron grid if identified with a curve is able to preserve the adopted qualitative structure of a data space. Furthermore, if this identification is made, the neuron grid structure can always be mapped to a subset of a universal neuron grid which is constr…
This work refines claims about neural network connectivity, showing that simultaneous linear connectivity is possible under certain conditions.
problem Neural networks' loss landscapes are non-convex due to permutation symmetries, leading to high loss barriers between permuted networks.
method The authors introduce and analyze three claims of increasing strength regarding the connectivity of neural networks, focusing on permutations that align networks.
result The authors provide evidence that strong linear connectivity may be possible under certain conditions, specifically when interpolating among three networks of increasing width.
Paper recovers multi-subspace matrices from permuted data.
problem Recovering a multi-subspace matrix from permuted data with corrupted columns.
method Four-stage algorithm pipeline: outlier identification, subspace reconstruction, outlier classification, unsupervised sensing.
result The pipeline provides theoretical guarantees for reliable multi-subspace matrix recovery.
Distributions over permutations arise in applications ranging from multi-object tracking to ranking of instances. The difficulty of dealing with these distributions is caused by the size of their domain, which is factorial in the number of considered entities (n!). It makes the direct definition of a multinomial dist…
Resolving Schwartz's quadratic meander number conjecture
problem Meander number of cyclic permutations
method Constructing families of cyclic permutations
result Meander number is bounded above and below quadratically in n
Neural networks learn to mimic brain neurons with two-input activation functions, improving performance and robustness.
problem Training neural networks to mimic the complex interactions of brain neurons.
method Developed a network-in-network architecture with two-input activation functions, optimized hyperparameters, and compared to conventional ReLU networks.
result Two-input activation functions can learn soft XOR functions, improving network performance and robustness.
Unseen or out-of-domain data can seriously degrade the performance of a neural network model, indicating the model's failure to generalize to unseen data. Neural net pruning can not only help to reduce a model's size but can improve the model's generalization capacity as well. Pruning approaches look for low-salient ne…
CHANI learns classification tasks with local transformations inspired by biology.
problem Proving neural networks can learn classification tasks with local transformations.
method CHANI uses spiking neurons modeled by Hawkes processes with expert aggregation for local learning.
result CHANI can learn and encode multiple classes, forming assemblies of neurons.
A new knot invariant uses permutations to extend Jones polynomials.
problem Extending Jones polynomials to classical and virtual knots and links.
method Colorings by permutations of a finite set to define new knot invariants.
result Established properties and computed polynomials for small cases.