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The ability to detect edges is a fundamental attribute necessary to truly capture visual concepts. In this paper, we prove that edges cannot be represented properly in the first convolutional layer of a neural network, and further show that…
Discrete structures are currently second-class in differentiable programming. Since functions over discrete structures lack overt derivatives, differentiable programs do not differentiate through them and limit where they can be used. For…
This paper examines the feasible region of a standard conic program represented as the intersection of a closed convex cone and a set of linear equalities. It is recently shown that when Slater constraint qualification (strict feasibility)…
The central problem with understanding brain and mind is the neural code issue: understanding the matter of our brain as basis for the phenomena of our mind. The richness with which our mind represents our environment, the parsimony of…
The genetic code is the function from the set of codons to the set of amino acids by which a DNA sequence encodes proteins. Since the codons also influence the shape of the DNA molecule itself, the same sequence that encodes a protein also…
Existing results on decomposition methods and algorithms for nonconvex problems are minimal. Parallel decomposition algorithms do not exist for nonconvex problems with coupling nonlinear equality constraints. Besides, decomposition…
We use fixed point theory to analyze nonnegative neural networks, which we define as neural networks that map nonnegative vectors to nonnegative vectors. We first show that nonnegative neural networks with nonnegative weights and biases can…
Predictive coding has emerged as an influential normative model of neural computation, with numerous extensions and applications. As such, much effort has been put into mapping PC faithfully onto the cortex, but there are issues that remain…
We show that a wide class of risk-constrained nonconvex functional optimization problems exhibit strong duality, regardless of nonconvexity. We develop two novel results under distinct sets of assumptions, establishing strong duality over…
Solving non-convex, NP-hard optimization problems is crucial for training machine learning models, including neural networks. However, non-convexity often leads to black-box machine learning models with unclear inner workings. While convex…
The performance of optimization methods is often tied to the spectrum of the objective Hessian. Yet, conventional assumptions, such as smoothness, do often not enable us to make finely-grained convergence statements -- particularly not for…
As shown by Ashtekar in the mid 80's, general relativity can be extended to incorporate degenerate metrics. This extension is not unique, however, as one can change the form of the hamiltonian constraints and obtain an {\it alternative}…
Encoding the distance between locations in space is essential for accurate navigation. Grid cells, a functional class of neurons in medial entorhinal cortex, are believed to support this computation. However, existing theories of how…
A tree decomposition of the coordinates of a code is a mapping from the coordinate set to the set of vertices of a tree. A tree decomposition can be extended to a tree realization, i.e., a cycle-free realization of the code on the…
Verification of neural networks enables us to gauge their robustness against adversarial attacks. Verification algorithms fall into two categories: exact verifiers that run in exponential time and relaxed verifiers that are efficient but…
The convergence of the projection algorithm for solving the convex feasibility problem for a family of closed convex sets, is in connection with the regularity properties of the family. In the paper [18] are pointed out four cases of such a…
We study convex relaxations of nonconvex quadratic programs. We identify a family of so-called feasibility preserving convex relaxations, which includes the well-known copositive and doubly nonnegative relaxations, with the property that…
Intersecting codes are linear codes where every two nonzero codewords have non-trivially intersecting support. In this article we expand on the theory of this family of codes, by showing that nondegenerate intersecting codes correspond to…
We present a generalization of the notion of neighborliness to non-polyhedral convex cones. Although a definition of neighborliness is available in the non-polyhedral case in the literature, it is fairly restrictive as it requires all the…
Convex relaxations are effective for training and certifying neural networks against norm-bounded adversarial attacks, but they leave a large gap between certifiable and empirical robustness. In principle, convex relaxation can provide…