Deriving and applying Proximal Policy Optimization to GFlowNets for efficient training of discrete sampling policies
problem Training stochastic policies to sample from structured discrete probability distributions
method Deriving policy gradient algorithms for GFlowNets and applying Proximal Policy Optimization
result Improved convergence speed and data efficiency compared to standard GFlowNet training objectives
Paper analyzes convergence of proximal algorithm in metric spaces without geodesic convexity.
problem Analyzing convergence of proximal algorithm in general metric spaces.
method Analysis of the Wasserstein proximal algorithm without geodesic convexity assumption.
result Establishes unbiased and linear convergence rate for proximal algorithm under natural Wasserstein inequality.
GANs may not have Nash equilibria, but proximal training can find solutions.
problem Existence of Nash equilibria in GANs optimization.
method Proximal training approach to find solutions.
result Proximal training finds solutions to GAN problems.
Study shows tractable generalization in RL is impossible but possible with Strong Proximity.
problem RL agents struggle to generalize to new environments.
method Introduced Weak and Strong Proximity conditions to capture similarity between environments.
result Proved Strong Proximity is sufficient for efficient generalization.
Unified framework for training neural networks with non-smooth, non-convex regularizers.
problem Training neural networks with non-smooth, non-convex regularizers.
method ProxGen framework for stochastic proximal gradient descent.
result ProxGen framework achieves the same convergence rate as standard methods and outperforms subgradient-based approaches.
Improved random forest proximities capture data geometry.
problem Inaccurate random forest proximities do not reflect learned data geometry.
method Introduce RF-GAP: Geometry- and Accuracy-Preserving proximities.
result RF-GAP improves geometric representation in tasks like data imputation.
Extends RF proximities to all supervised distance-based machine learning contexts.
problem Limited utility of RF proximities in various machine learning tasks.
method Introduces generalized Proximity Forest (PF) model and variant for regression.
result Demonstrates unique advantages over RF and k-nearest neighbors models.
Enhances Bayesian model selection for high-dimensional problems.
problem Bayesian model selection for high-dimensional problems.
method Proximal nested sampling with data-driven priors.
result Improves model selection for log-convex likelihood models.
New PnP algorithm converges with relaxed proximal gradient descent.
problem Convergence issues in PnP methods with deep denoisers.
method Relaxed proximal gradient descent for PnP with weakly convex regularization.
result Proposed PnP-αPGD converges for a wider range of regularization parameters. Enhances local explainability and trust scores using RF proximities.
problem Improving local explainability and trust in random forest models.
method Rewriting RF predictions as weighted sums of training targets using proximities.
result Proximities provide a novel method to assess model predictions' correctness.
New method for efficient proximal mapping of 1-path-norm in shallow networks.
problem Efficiently handling the 1-path-norm of shallow neural networks.
method Closed-form proximal operator for efficient computation and upper bound on Lipschitz constant.
result Proximal mapping allows robust training against adversarial perturbations.
Stochastic proximal point algorithm with momentum converges faster and is more stable than standard methods.
problem Improving convergence and stability of stochastic optimization methods.
method Developed and analyzed the convergence and stability of the stochastic proximal point algorithm with momentum (SPPAM).
result SPPAM converges faster and is more stable than standard stochastic proximal point algorithm (SPPA) and stochastic gradient descent with momentum (SGDM).
PDNS tackles multimodal sampling challenges using proximal point method.
problem Multimodal distributions with significant barriers between modes.
method Proximal point method on path measures, decomposing into simpler subproblems.
result PDNS effectively promotes thorough exploration across modes.
Paper uses UKS to improve BLE RSSI for proximity inference in mobile phone apps.
problem Improper BLE RSSI for accurate proximity inference during pandemics.
method Single-dimensional Unscented Kalman Smoother (UKS) with Gaussian process observation transforms.
result UKS outperforms traditional methods in predicting infection risk from BLE RSSI.
We propose a new optimization method for training feed-forward neural networks. By rewriting the activation function as an equivalent proximal operator, we approximate a feed-forward neural network by adding the proximal operators to the objective function as penalties, hence we call the lifted proximal operator machin…
APO optimizes neural network parameters by amortizing proximal point methods.
problem Optimizing neural network parameters online and adaptively.
method APO framework that meta-learns proximal point parameters.
result APO can recover and outperform existing optimizers and schedules.
New sampling method using regularized Wasserstein proximal for Gibbs distributions.
problem Sampling from Gibbs distributions with numerical stability and efficiency.
method Preconditioned regularized Wasserstein proximal operator.
result Discrete-time convergence analysis and explicit bias characterization.
Recently, pre-trained language representation flourishes as the mainstay of the natural language understanding community, e.g., BERT. These pre-trained language representations can create state-of-the-art results on a wide range of downstream tasks. Along with continuous significant performance improvement, the size an…
Generative flows learn distributions on low-dimensional manifolds robustly via Wasserstein proximals.
problem Learning distributions supported on low-dimensional manifolds robustly.
method Combining Wasserstein-1 and Wasserstein-2 proximal operators to formulate well-posed continuous-time generative flows.
result The combination of Wasserstein-1 and Wasserstein-2 proximals ensures the well-posedness of generative flows, leading to unique and robust learning.
New solver SR2 tackles deep neural network training with nonsmooth regularization.
problem Training deep neural networks with nonsmooth regularization to achieve sparsity and efficiency.
method Combines adaptive quadratic regularization with proximal stochastic gradient principles.
result Established worst-case iteration complexity of O(ε^−2) for SR2.
Unified framework for lifted training and inversion of neural networks.
problem Challenges in gradient-based training of deep neural networks.
method Unified framework encapsulating various lifted training strategies.
result Unified framework improves training landscape and stability.
The Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) has been studied for years. The traditional ADMM algorithm needs to compute, at each iteration, an (empirical) expected loss function on all training examples, resulting in a computational complexity proportional to the number of training examples. To reduce the ti…
New algorithms improve inference in non-differentiable models.
problem Inference and learning in latent variable models with non-differentiable densities.
method Proximal interacting particle Langevin algorithms (PIPLA).
result Nonasymptotic bounds and effectiveness demonstrated in various models.
Enhances supervised visualization for unseen data using autoencoders and random forest.
problem Lack of generalization to unseen test sets in supervised dimensionality reduction.
method Combines autoencoder and random forest proximities for out-of-sample extension.
result 40% reduction in training time with 10% of training data, achieving consistent quality.
In machine learning research, the proximal gradient methods are popular for solving various optimization problems with non-smooth regularization. Inexact proximal gradient methods are extremely important when exactly solving the proximal operator is time-consuming, or the proximal operator does not have an analytic sol…
Improves time series classification with forest proximities.
problem Time series classification accuracy and efficiency.
method PF-GAP, an extension of RF-GAP proximities to proximity forests, combined with Multi-Dimensional Scaling and Local Outlier Factors.
result Forest proximities show stronger connection between misclassified points and outliers.
Improved sampling guarantees for weakly log-concave distributions.
problem Sampling from distributions that are not strongly log-concave.
method Proximal sampler with convergence guarantees under weaker assumptions.
result New state-of-the-art sampling guarantees for various target distributions.
We propose and analyze a block coordinate descent proximal algorithm (BCD-prox) for simultaneous filtering and parameter estimation of ODE models. As we show on ODE systems with up to d=40 dimensions, as compared to state-of-the-art methods, BCD-prox exhibits increased robustness (to noise, parameter initialization, an…
Improves reinforcement learning stability and efficiency.
problem Combining stability and efficiency in reinforcement learning.
method Combines on-policy stability with off-policy sample reuse.
result Demonstrates improved performance in both theory and practice.
Novel active learning framework using sparse approximation for efficient model training.
problem Efficient model training with limited labeled data.
method Formulates batch active learning as sparsity-constrained discontinuous optimization problems, using greedy or proximal iterative hard thresholding algorithms.
result Achieves competitive performance with lower computational complexity across different settings.
CFR-Pro enhances treatment effect estimation by incorporating local proximity.
problem Treatment selection bias in HTE estimation from observational data.
method Proximity-enhanced CounterFactual Regression (CFR-Pro) with pair-wise proximity regularizer and subspace projector.
result Significantly outperforms competitors in HTE estimation accuracy.
Noise-free sampling method using Wasserstein proximal for faster convergence.
problem Sampling from distributions governed by potential functions.
method Deterministic score-based MCMC with regularized Wasserstein proximal.
result Improved mixing time bounds for Gaussian distributions compared to ULA and MALA.
A new method for RLHF using proximal point Nash learning.
problem Capturing real human preferences in RLHF.
method Proximal point Nash learning, embedding self-play updates into a proximal point framework.
result High-probability last-iterate convergence for the combined method.
A method for estimating the median of gradients in stochastic optimization.
problem Robust gradient estimation in stochastic optimization for various applications.
method Stochastic Proximal Point Method for median gradient estimation.
result The proposed method can converge even under heavy-tailed, state-dependent noise.
Introduces PPMM algorithm for nonconvex robust regression problems.
problem Nonconvex tuning-free robust regression problems.
method PPMM algorithm with inner subproblems solved by SSN-PPA.
result Converges to d-stationary point with KL property.
Deep RL drone trained to compete against classical path planning in drone racing.
problem Optimizing long-term drone racing strategies using reinforcement learning.
method Used PPO algorithm on a simulated quadrotor in a racing environment created with AirSim.
result Deep RL agent outperformed classical path planning in drone racing competitions.
Neural network has attracted great attention for a long time and many researchers are devoted to improve the effectiveness of neural network training algorithms. Though stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and other explicit gradient-based methods are widely adopted, there are still many challenges such as gradient vanish…
Improved bounds for proximal gradient algorithms with computational errors.
problem Analyzing convergence of proximal gradient algorithms with inaccuracies.
method Deriving new tighter deterministic and probabilistic bounds for convex composite problems.
result Probabilistic bounds are more robust and accurate for algorithm verification and performance guarantees.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been proposed as a complimentary method to measure bone quality and assess fracture risk. However, manual segmentation of MR images of bone is time-consuming, limiting the use of MRI measurements in the clinical practice. The purpose of this paper is to present an automatic proximal…
Paper extends theorem on covering spaces and Jordan curves.
problem Covering and extending theorems for Alexandrov spaces.
method Introduces proximal homotopic cycles to extend the Mitsuishi-Yamaguchi theorem.
result Extensions of the Mitsuishi-Yamaguchi Good Covering Theorem and Jordan curve theorem.
A drone catches another agile drone using competitive reinforcement learning.
problem Intercepting an agile drone with another agile drone.
method Formulated as a Competitive Reinforcement Learning problem, trained with PPO, using a high-fidelity simulation environment.
result Trained policies outperform common heuristic baselines in catch rate, time to catch, and crash rate.
Proximal algorithms applied to current deformation into cycles.
problem Deformation of de Rham currents into cycles.
method Proximal algorithms, total variation denoising for differential forms.
result Calibrated cycles constructed in calibrated manifolds.
Innovative method solves nonconvex optimization on manifolds.
problem Nonconvex optimization problems on Riemannian manifolds.
method Intrinsic Riemannian proximal gradient method.
result Converges for nonconvex or nonembedded problems.
EPINE enhances network embedding by improving adjacency matrix-based high-order proximity.
problem Inaccurate and poorly designed calculation of high-order proximity in network embedding.
method EPINE redefines high-order proximity intuitively and proposes a scalable algorithm for accurate calculation.
result EPINE outperforms existing methods in network reconstruction, link prediction, and node classification.
Stochastic version of proximal distance algorithm analyzed and validated.
problem Optimization of constrained estimation problems.
method Stochastic proximal distance algorithm, with convergence guarantees and finite error bounds.
result Convergence guarantees and finite error bounds for the first time.
This paper extends the Good Covering Theorem and Jordan Curve Theorem for proximal Alexandrov spaces.
problem Extending the Good Covering Theorem and Jordan Curve Theorem to proximal Alexandrov spaces.
method Introducing path cycles and using them to extend the Good Covering Theorem and Jordan Curve Theorem.
result Extensions of the Mitsuishi-Yamaguchi Good Covering Theorem and Jordan Curve Theorem for proximal Alexandrov spaces.
This paper studies fixed sets in ribbon complexes using descriptive proximity spaces.
problem Understanding fixed sets in ribbon complexes within descriptive proximity spaces.
method Introduces descriptive fixed sets and their properties in ribbon complexes, using descriptive proximally continuous maps.
result Establishes that proximal descriptive conjugacy preserves fixed sets in ribbon complexes.
We propose Trusted Neural Network (TNN) models, which are deep neural network models that satisfy safety constraints critical to the application domain. We investigate different mechanisms for incorporating rule-based knowledge in the form of first-order logic constraints into a TNN model, where rules that encode safet…