Related papers: Approximations in Probabilistic Programs
We present the first accelerated randomized algorithm for solving linear systems in Euclidean spaces. One essential problem of this type is the matrix inversion problem. In particular, our algorithm can be specialized to invert positive…
The subject of stochastic approximation was founded by Robbins and Monro [Ann. Math. Statist. 22 (1951) 400--407]. After five decades of continual development, it has developed into an important area in systems control and optimization, and…
Numbers and numerical vectors account for a large portion of data. However, recently the amount of string data generated has increased dramatically. Consequently, classifying string data is a common problem in many fields. The most widely…
This paper studies the exponential stability of random matrix products driven by a general (possibly unbounded) state space Markov chain. It is a cornerstone in the analysis of stochastic algorithms in machine learning (e.g. for parameter…
State space models have long played an important role in signal processing. The Gaussian case can be treated algorithmically using the famous Kalman filter. Similarly since the 1970s there has been extensive application of Hidden Markov…
Pattern learning in an important problem in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Some exhaustive pattern learning (EPL) methods (Bod, 1992) were proved to be flawed (Johnson, 2002), while similar algorithms (Och and Ney, 2004) showed great…
We introduce the first cut-free nested sequent systems for first-order modal logics that admit increasing, decreasing, constant, and empty domains along with so-called general path conditions and seriality. We obtain such systems by means…
We exploit analogies between first-order algorithms for constrained optimization and non-smooth dynamical systems to design a new class of accelerated first-order algorithms for constrained optimization. Unlike Frank-Wolfe or projected…
Probabilistic programming languages and modeling toolkits are two modular ways to build and reuse stochastic models and inference procedures. Combining strengths of both, we express models and inference as generalized coroutines in the same…
A regularization algorithm (AR1pGN) for unconstrained nonlinear minimization is considered, which uses a model consisting of a Taylor expansion of arbitrary degree and regularization term involving a possibly non-smooth norm. It is shown…
In this paper we present a novel quasi-Newton algorithm for use in stochastic optimisation. Quasi-Newton methods have had an enormous impact on deterministic optimisation problems because they afford rapid convergence and computationally…
Stochastic approximation is a foundation for many algorithms found in machine learning and optimization. It is in general slow to converge: the mean square error vanishes as $O(n^{-1})$. A deterministic counterpart known as quasi-stochastic…
We introduce PHFL, a probabilistic extension of higher-order fixpoint logic, which can also be regarded as a higher-order extension of probabilistic temporal logics such as PCTL and the $\mu^p$-calculus. We show that PHFL is strictly more…
In this brief paper we find computable exponential convergence rates for a large class of stochastically ordered Markov processes. We extend the result of Lund, Meyn, and Tweedie (1996), who found exponential convergence rates for…
Stan is a probabilistic programming language that has been increasingly used for real-world scalable projects. However, to make practical inference possible, the language sacrifices some of its usability by adopting a block syntax, which…
The extension of classical imperative programs with real-valued random variables and random branching gives rise to probabilistic programs. The termination problem is one of the most fundamental liveness properties for such programs. The…
Given the widespread use of lossless compression algorithms to approximate algorithmic (Kolmogorov-Chaitin) complexity, and that lossless compression algorithms fall short at characterizing patterns other than statistical ones not different…
Consider a probability measure supported by a regular geodesic ball in a manifold. For any p larger than or equal to 1 we define a stochastic algorithm which converges almost surely to the p-mean of the measure. Assuming furthermore that…
A fundamental characteristic of natural language is the high rate at which speakers produce novel expressions. Because of this novelty, a heavy-tail of rare events accounts for a significant amount of the total probability mass of…
In many complex statistical models maximum likelihood estimators cannot be calculated. In the paper we solve this problem using Markov chain Monte Carlo approximation of the true likelihood. In the main result we prove asymptotic normality…