Related papers: Inverse problems in approximate uniform generation
We give a highly efficient "semi-agnostic" algorithm for learning univariate probability distributions that are well approximated by piecewise polynomial density functions. Let $p$ be an arbitrary distribution over an interval $I$ which is…
Not all approximations arise from information systems. The problem of fitting approximations, subjected to some rules (and related data), to information systems in a rough scheme of things is known as the \emph{inverse problem}. The inverse…
We consider the problem of uniform sampling of points on an algebraic variety. Specifically, we develop a randomized algorithm that, given a small set of multivariate polynomials over a sufficiently large finite field, produces a common…
We consider the problem of learning an unknown product distribution $X$ over $\{0,1\}^n$ using samples $f(X)$ where $f$ is a \emph{known} transformation function. Each choice of a transformation function $f$ specifies a learning problem in…
We provide the first fully polynomial-time randomized approximation scheme for the following two counting problems: 1. Given a Context Free Grammar $G$ over alphabet $\Sigma$, count the number of words of length exactly $n$ generated by…
We design a new, fast algorithm for agnostically learning univariate probability distributions whose densities are well approximated by piecewise polynomial functions. Let $f$ be the density function of an arbitrary univariate distribution,…
For random variables produced through the inverse transform method, approximate random variables are introduced, which are produced by approximations to a distribution's inverse cumulative distribution function. These approximations are…
Let $\Phi$ be a random $k$-CNF formula on $n$ variables and $m$ clauses, where each clause is a disjunction of $k$ literals chosen independently and uniformly. Our goal is to sample an approximately uniform solution of $\Phi$ (or…
We propose efficient techniques for generating independent identically distributed uniform random samples inside semialgebraic sets. The proposed algorithm leverages recent results on the approximation of indicator functions by polynomials…
In this paper, we develop a quantitative inverse theory for the Gowers uniformity norm $\|\cdot\|_{\mathsf{U}^4}$ in general finite abelian groups. We identify a new type of obstructions to uniformity, which we call almost-cubic…
Let $P:\{0,1\}^k \to \{0,1\}$ be a nontrivial $k$-ary predicate. Consider a random instance of the constraint satisfaction problem $\mathrm{CSP}(P)$ on $n$ variables with $\Delta n$ constraints, each being $P$ applied to $k$ randomly chosen…
Inverse problems correspond to a certain type of optimization problems formulated over appropriate input distributions. Recently, there has been a growing interest in understanding the computational hardness of these optimization problems,…
We resolve a long-standing open question, about the existence of a constant-factor approximation algorithm for the average-case \textsc{Decision Tree} problem with uniform probability distribution over the hypotheses. We answer the question…
We develop a computationally efficient and robust algorithm for generating pseudo-random samples from a broad class of smooth probability distributions in one and two dimensions. The algorithm is based on inverse transform sampling with a…
Since its introduction by Valiant in 1984, PAC learning of DNF expressions remains one of the central problems in learning theory. We consider this problem in the setting where the underlying distribution is uniform, or more generally, a…
We prove hardness-of-learning results under a well-studied assumption on the existence of local pseudorandom generators. As we show, this assumption allows us to surpass the current state of the art, and prove hardness of various basic…
We say that a classifier is \emph{adversarially robust} to perturbations of norm $r$ if, with high probability over a point $x$ drawn from the input distribution, there is no point within distance $\le r$ from $x$ that is classified…
In a landmark result, Linial, Mansour and Nisan (J. ACM 1993) gave a quasipolynomial-time algorithm for learning constant-depth circuits given labeled i.i.d. samples under the uniform distribution. Their work has had a deep and lasting…
In this paper we introduce a new approach for approximately counting in bounded degree systems with higher-order constraints. Our main result is an algorithm to approximately count the number of solutions to a CNF formula $\Phi$ when the…
We introduce the problem of \emph{entropy equivalence testing} for probability distributions, a relaxation of the well-studied closeness testing problem, where the distribution testing algorithm is now only required to distinguish, given…