Recently, variational approximations such as the mean field approximation have received much interest. We extend the standard mean field method by using an approximating distribution that factorises into cluster potentials. This includes undirected graphs, directed acyclic graphs and junction trees. We derive generaliz…
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48 results for “variational mean-field theory”
Variational mean-field theory for training restricted Boltzmann machines with binary synapsesstat.ML
Unified theory for training neural networks with binary synapses.
problem Discrete nature of synapses and complex interactions in neural networks.
method Variational mean-field theory decomposing learning into maximization and expectation steps.
result Unified framework for unsupervised learning in neural networks.
Extending Mean-Field Variational Inference via Entropic Regularization: Theory and Computationstat.ML
New method improves approximate inference for Bayesian models.
problem Approximate inference for high-dimensional Bayesian models.
method Entropic regularization of mean-field variational inference.
result Improved recovery of true posterior dependency.
A new particle algorithm improves mean-field variational inference.
problem Efficiently approximating nonparametric posterior distributions in machine learning.
method Introduces PArticle VI (PAVI), a novel particle-based algorithm for nonparametric mean-field approximation.
result Obtains non-asymptotic error bounds for PArticle VI, providing the first end-to-end guarantee for particle-based MFVI.
Develops methods for structured variational inference with star-structured models.
problem Inference in models with interdependent variables.
method Star-structured variational inference, existence, uniqueness, self-consistency proofs, approximation error bounds, gradient-based algorithm.
result First results for existence, uniqueness, and self-consistency of variational approximations in star-structured models.
The paper analyzes mean-field variational Bayes for complex models and proposes new uncertainty quantification methods.
problem Approximating posterior distributions in complex Bayesian models with latent variables.
method Non-asymptotic analysis on mean-field variational inference, showing that a normal distribution with the MLE center approximates the posterior well.
result The mean-field approximation matches the MLE up to higher-order terms and is essentially efficient for regular parametric models.
Paper analyzes convergence rates of mean-field SVGD method.
problem Establishing quantitative rates of convergence for mean-field SVGD.
method Quantitative analysis of mean-field SVGD dynamics on torus.
result Explicit polynomial convergence rates in L2-norm for Riesz-type kernels.
Develops a mean-field theory for multi-head self-attention under cross-entropy training.
problem Mean-field analysis of multi-head self-attention under cross-entropy training.
method Mean-field theory for a simplified single-layer causal multi-head self-attention model.
result Proves a static finite-head approximation bound for the optimal risk.
Mean Field Variational Bayes (MFVB) is a popular posterior approximation method due to its fast runtime on large-scale data sets. However, it is well known that a major failing of MFVB is its (sometimes severe) underestimates of the uncertainty of model variables and lack of information about model variable covariance.…
New method improves uncertainty estimation in complex statistical models.
problem Challenges in estimating high-dimensional mixed models due to computational complexity.
method Partially factorized variational inference to relax mean-field assumption.
result Relaxed variational inference provides accurate uncertainty quantification without high computational cost.
Theoretical and Computational Guarantees of Mean Field Variational Inference for Community Detectionmath.ST
The mean field variational Bayes method is becoming increasingly popular in statistics and machine learning. Its iterative Coordinate Ascent Variational Inference algorithm has been widely applied to large scale Bayesian inference. See Blei et al. (2017) for a recent comprehensive review. Despite the popularity of the …
The paper studies stability of mean-field variational inference for log-concave distributions.
problem Stability of mean-field variational inference for log-concave distributions.
method Novel approach via linearized optimal transport, lifting non-convex problem to convex optimization over transport maps.
result Dimension-free Lipschitz continuity of the MFVI optimizer with respect to the target distribution, measured in 2-Wasserstein distance.
Liberty or Depth: Deep Bayesian Neural Nets Do Not Need Complex Weight Posterior Approximationscs.LG
Deep Bayesian neural nets can use simpler weight approximations without sacrificing performance.
problem The need for complex weight posterior approximations in deep Bayesian neural networks.
method Theoretical and empirical analysis of mean-field variational inference in deep networks.
result Mean-field variational weight posteriors in deep networks can induce similar function-space distributions as complex approximations in shallower networks.
DADVI improves ADVI by using deterministic approximation for faster, more accurate posterior estimation.
problem Intractable posterior uncertainty estimates and lack of clear convergence criteria in ADVI.
method Replaces stochastic MFVB objective with deterministic Monte Carlo approximation (SAA) and uses second-order optimization.
result DADVI provides faster and more accurate posterior estimates with default settings.
Beta process is the standard nonparametric Bayesian prior for latent factor model. In this paper, we derive a structured mean-field variational inference algorithm for a beta process non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) model with Poisson likelihood. Unlike the linear Gaussian model, which is well-studied in the non…
The paper introduces structured variational families to improve scalability in black-box variational inference.
problem Scalability issues in black-box variational inference, especially for large datasets and hierarchical models.
method Developed structured variational families that achieve better iteration complexity of O(N) compared to full-rank families.
result Structured variational families can achieve better scaling with respect to dataset size N, improving iteration complexity from O(N^2) to O(N).
The mean field methods, which entail approximating intractable probability distributions variationally with distributions from a tractable family, enjoy high efficiency, guaranteed convergence, and provide lower bounds on the true likelihood. But due to requirement for model-specific derivation of the optimization equa…
LQG Risk-Sensitive Single-Agent and Major-Minor Mean-Field Game Systems: A Variational Frameworkmath.OC
Develops variational framework for LQG risk-sensitive MFGs with major-minor interactions.
problem Risk-sensitive optimal control in LQG systems with major-minor interactions.
method Variational approach, nonlinear necessary and sufficient condition of optimality, equivalent risk-neutral measure, Markovian closed-loop best-response strategies.
result Derives optimal control strategies for LQG risk-sensitive MFGs with major-minor interactions, establishing Nash and -Nash equilibria.
New method optimizes non-linear functionals over probability measures.
problem Optimizing non-linear functionals defined over probability measures.
method N-particle underdamped Langevin algorithm with spacetime discretization.
result Converges globally in total variation distance.
Uniform-in-time analysis for Stein Variational Gradient Descent across various metrics.
problem Understanding long-term behavior of finite-particle systems in relation to their mean-field limits.
method Developed uniform-in-time propagation-of-chaos results for continuous-time SVGD using cutoff strategies and finite-dimensional theories.
result Uniform-in-time propagation-of-chaos bounds in various metrics, including Langevin kernel Stein discrepancy, Wasserstein-1, and Wasserstein-2 distances.
Mean field variational Bayes (MFVB) is a popular posterior approximation method due to its fast runtime on large-scale data sets. However, it is well known that a major failing of MFVB is that it underestimates the uncertainty of model variables (sometimes severely) and provides no information about model variable cova…
Mean-field variational methods are widely used for approximate posterior inference in many probabilistic models. In a typical application, mean-field methods approximately compute the posterior with a coordinate-ascent optimization algorithm. When the model is conditionally conjugate, the coordinate updates are easily …
Compact parameterization improves Bayesian neural network performance.
problem Improving performance of Bayesian neural networks using variational methods.
method Restricting variational distribution to a k-tied Normal distribution with low-rank factorization.
result Compact parameterization improves signal-to-noise ratio and convergence speed.
Develops a new framework for analyzing MFVI algorithms.
problem Analyzes mean field variational inference (MFVI) formulations.
method Inspired by variational Bayesian formulations, represents MFVI problem in three ways: gradient flow, Fokker-Planck-like equations, and diffusion process.
result Establishes rigorous guarantees for convergence of time-discretized coordinate ascent variational inference algorithms.
New method for variational inference without conjugacy constraints.
problem Efficient variational inference with flexible prior and approximation families.
method Wasserstein gradient flow for mean-field approximation.
result Improved convergence and efficiency of variational inference.
Bayesian model selection via mean-field variational approximation improves efficiency and accuracy.
problem Bayesian model selection under model mis-specification and latent variables.
method Mean-field variational approximation with non-asymptotic properties and geometric convergence.
result ELBO tends to select models closer to the true model than BIC as sample size increases.
Revises mean-field theory of Santa Fe model using kinetic theory.
problem Deriving a solid mathematical foundation for the Santa Fe model.
method Systematic derivation of BBGKY hierarchy from exact master equation.
result Explicit and closed-form solutions for mean-field equations.
Federated learning linked to mean-field games for large-scale learning.
problem Large-scale distributed and privacy-preserving learning algorithms.
method Established a connection between federated learning and mean-field games, presenting federated learning as a differential game.
result Properties of the equilibrium of the federated learning game were discussed.
Geometric framework analyzes bias in variational inference for posterior functionals.
problem Analyzing the bias of posterior functionals under variational approximations.
method Developed a geometric framework to evaluate the bias of posterior functionals using the variational tangent space.
result The leading-order bias of a posterior functional is determined by its component orthogonal to the variational tangent space.
New algorithm recovers sparse measures in polynomial time.
problem Recovering sparse measures from Fourier moments.
method Polynomial-time recovery method inspired by mean-field theory.
result Improves upon convex relaxation methods in specific parameter regime.
Paper solves curvature prescription problem on surfaces with boundary.
problem Prescribing Gaussian and geodesic curvatures on compact surfaces with boundary.
method Mean field-type formulation and variational techniques.
result Existence results for positive, zero, and negative Euler characteristics.
Copula variational inferencestat.ML
We develop a general variational inference method that preserves dependency among the latent variables. Our method uses copulas to augment the families of distributions used in mean-field and structured approximations. Copulas model the dependency that is not captured by the original variational distribution, and thus …
Bayesian neural networks ignore data in infinite units limit.
problem Pathological behavior of posterior in over-parameterized networks.
method Mean-field variational inference in infinite hidden units limit.
result Posterior mean converges to zero, ignoring data.
New method for handling multi-dimensional singular controls with jump costs in mean-field problems.
problem Handling jump costs in multi-dimensional singular controls.
method Introducing two-layer parametrisations to interpolate jumps on both distributional and pathwise levels.
result Derivation of a DPP and characterisation of the value function as a minimal super-solution to a quasi-variational inequality.
This work introduces a fixed-point optimization for variational inference.
problem Improving quantified uncertainty in predictions by optimizing a simplified distribution over parameters.
method Projective integral updates for high-dimensional variational inference.
result Efficient quasirandom quadrature sequence for mean-field distributions, leading to quasi-Newton variational Bayes (QNVB).
A mean field variational Bayes approach to support vector machines (SVMs) using the latent variable representation on Polson & Scott (2012) is presented. This representation allows circumvention of many of the shortcomings associated with classical SVMs including automatic penalty parameter selection, the ability to ha…
Deep QMC ansatzes improve variational QMC accuracy.
problem Improving variational QMC accuracy with neural network ansatzes.
method Analysis of deep neural network ansatzes PauliNet and FermiNet convergence to fixed-node limit.
result Deep QMC ansatzes can reach fixed-node limit with large network sizes.
Solving Statistical Mechanics Using Variational Autoregressive Networkscond-mat.stat-mech
We propose a general framework for solving statistical mechanics of systems with finite size. The approach extends the celebrated variational mean-field approaches using autoregressive neural networks, which support direct sampling and exact calculation of normalized probability of configurations. It computes variation…
New algorithm speeds up large-scale statistical inference.
problem Efficiently solving large-scale mean-field variational inference problems.
method Developed a novel primal-dual algorithm (PD-VI) and a block-preconditioned extension (PD-VI) for mean-field variational inference.
result PD-VI and PD-VI achieve faster convergence and better solution quality compared to existing methods.
MFVI mode collapse explained; RoVI proposed to mitigate.
problem Mode collapse in MFVI for mixture distributions.
method Introducing ε-separateness, deriving bounds, proposing RoVI.
result MFVI optimizers collapse to a single component when components are ε-separated.
New method for high-dimensional linear regression using empirical Bayes.
problem Estimating prior in high-dimensional linear regression.
method Variational empirical Bayes approach with NPMLE and mean field approximation.
result Established asymptotic consistency and computational efficiency of the method.
We propose a family of variational approximations to Bayesian posterior distributions, called -VB, with provable statistical guarantees. The standard variational approximation is a special case of -VB with . When , a novel class of variational inequalities are developed for linking the Bayes risk …
Mean Field Games applied to finance and economics.
problem Modeling large populations in financial and economic systems.
method Mean Field Game theory applied to specific financial and economic scenarios.
result New applications in bitcoin mining, energy markets, and macro-economics.
The paper models asset pricing in a partially observed market using mean field game theory and exponential quadratic Gaussian framework.
problem Asset pricing in a market with partial observation and heterogeneous agents.
method Mean field game theory, exponential quadratic Gaussian framework, Kalman-Bucy filtering theory.
result Characterization of equilibrium risk premium through mean field BSDE and construction of unobservable risk premium process.
Mean Field Variational Bayesian Inference and Statistical Mechanics of Gaussian Mixture Modelmath.DG
This paper analyzes MFVBI for GMM using statistical mechanics.
problem Approximate fast computation of Gaussian Mixture Model.
method Statistical mechanics and MFVBI applied to GMM.
result Rigorous analysis and mathematical foundation for MFVBI applied to GMM.
Develops a dynamic mean field theory for reinforcement learning.
problem Finite state and action Bayesian reinforcement learning in large state spaces.
method Analogies with statistical physics, interpreting probabilities as couplings and values as spins, solving mean field equations.
result State-action values are statistically independent in the asymptotic state space limit, with exact or approximate equations for computation.
BBVI converges nearly dimensionally independent for log-concave targets.
problem Efficiently optimizing variational parameters in high-dimensional spaces.
method Proved convergence rate of BBVI with reparametrization gradient for log-concave targets.
result BBVI converges with nearly independent dimension dependence for log-concave targets.
Improved Bayesian uncertainty quantification using variational bagging.
problem Inefficient and underestimating uncertainty in mean-field variational Bayes.
method Integrates bagging with variational Bayes for improved inference.
result Bagged variational posterior provides proper uncertainty quantification.