Related papers: Gradient Estimation with Stochastic Softmax Tricks
In this paper we consider a recently developed distributed optimization algorithm based on gradient tracking. We propose a system theory framework to analyze its structural properties on a preliminary, quadratic optimization set-up.…
Gradient boosting, a method of building additive ensembles from weak learners, has established itself as a practical and theoretically-motivated approach to approximate functions, especially using decision tree weak learners. Comparable…
We introduce a theoretical and practical framework for efficient importance sampling of mini-batch samples for gradient estimation from single and multiple probability distributions. To handle noisy gradients, our framework dynamically…
Gradient Boosting Machine has proven to be one successful function approximator and has been widely used in a variety of areas. However, since the training procedure of each base learner has to take the sequential order, it is infeasible to…
Stochastic gradient methods are among the most widely used algorithms for large-scale optimization and machine learning. A key technique for improving the statistical efficiency and stability of these methods is the use of averaging schemes…
Random forests are an ensemble method relevant for many problems, such as regression or classification. They are popular due to their good predictive performance (compared to, e.g., decision trees) requiring only minimal tuning of…
The reparameterization trick is widely used in variational inference as it yields more accurate estimates of the gradient of the variational objective than alternative approaches such as the score function method. Although there is…
Feedback optimization is an increasingly popular control paradigm to optimize dynamical systems, accounting for control objectives that concern the system operation at steady-state. Existing feedback optimization techniques heavily rely on…
World models simulate environment dynamics from raw sensory inputs like video. However, using them for planning can be challenging due to the vast and unstructured search space. We propose a robust and highly parallelizable planner that…
Algorithms for the Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) problem play a central role in sequential decision-making and have been extensively explored both theoretically and numerically. While most classical approaches aim to identify the arm with the…
This paper considers a distributed stochastic strongly convex optimization, where agents connected over a network aim to cooperatively minimize the average of all agents' local cost functions. Due to the stochasticity of gradient estimation…
We develop an automated computational modeling framework for rapid gradient-based design of multistable soft mechanical structures composed of non-identical bistable unit cells with appropriate geometric parameterization. This framework…
Machine learning (ML) models can effectively optimize a multi-cell wireless network by designing the beamforming vectors and association decisions. Existing ML designs, however, often needs to approximate the integer association variables…
Gradient based attribution methods for neural networks working as classifiers use gradients of network scores. Here we discuss the practical differences between using gradients of pre-softmax scores versus post-softmax scores, and their…
This paper investigates whether sequence models can learn to perform numerical algorithms, e.g. gradient descent, on the fundamental problem of least squares. Our goal is to inherit two properties of standard algorithms from numerical…
State-space smoothing has found many applications in science and engineering. Under linear and Gaussian assumptions, smoothed estimates can be obtained using efficient recursions, for example Rauch-Tung-Striebel and Mayne-Fraser algorithms.…
Increasing effort is put into the development of methods for learning mechanistic models from data. This task entails not only the accurate estimation of parameters but also a suitable model structure. Recent work on the discovery of…
We propose a variance reduction framework for variational inference using the Multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) method. Our framework is built on reparameterized gradient estimators and "recycles" parameters obtained from past update history in…
Within many machine learning algorithms, a fundamental problem concerns efficient calculation of an unbiased gradient wrt parameters $\gammav$ for expectation-based objectives $\Ebb_{q_{\gammav} (\yv)} [f(\yv)]$. Most existing methods…
This paper tackles the challenge of parameter calibration in stochastic models, particularly in scenarios where the likelihood function is unavailable in an analytical form. We introduce a gradient-based simulated parameter estimation…