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Spectral learning recently generated lots of excitement in machine learning, largely because it is the first known method to produce consistent estimates (under suitable conditions) for several latent variable models. In contrast, maximum…
The tracking method based on the extreme learning machine (ELM) is efficient and effective. ELM randomly generates input weights and biases in the hidden layer, and then calculates and computes the output weights by reducing the iterative…
Recently, the Deep Learning community has become interested in evolutionary optimization (EO) as a means to address hard optimization problems, e.g. meta-learning through long inner loop unrolls or optimizing non-differentiable operators.…
In our quest for a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm that is both practical and provably optimal, we introduce EQO (Exploration via Quasi-Optimism). Unlike existing minimax optimal approaches, EQO avoids reliance on empirical variances…
We present a family of expectation-maximization (EM) algorithms for binary and negative-binomial logistic regression, drawing a sharp connection with the variational-Bayes algorithm of Jaakkola and Jordan (2000). Indeed, our results allow a…
Ranking and comparing items is crucial for collecting information about preferences in many areas, from marketing to politics. The Mallows rank model is among the most successful approaches to analyse rank data, but its computational…
While Reinforcement Learning (RL) has advanced LLM reasoning, applying it to long-context scenarios is hindered by sparsity of outcome rewards. This limitation fails to penalize ungrounded "lucky guesses," leaving the critical process of…
The ODE method has been a workhorse for algorithm design and analysis since the introduction of the stochastic approximation. It is now understood that convergence theory amounts to establishing robustness of Euler approximations for ODEs,…
Feedback delays are inevitable in real-world multi-agent learning. They are known to severely degrade performance, and the convergence rate under delayed feedback is still unclear, even for bilinear games. This paper derives the rate of…
The forward order assumption postulates that the ranking process of the items is carried out by sequentially assigning the positions from the top (most-liked) to the bottom (least-liked) alternative. This assumption has been recently…
We introduce LLM CHESS, an evaluation framework designed to probe the generalization of reasoning and instruction-following abilities in large language models (LLMs) through extended agentic interaction in the domain of chess. We rank over…
The convergence of expectation-maximization (EM)-based algorithms typically requires continuity of the likelihood function with respect to all the unknown parameters (optimization variables). The requirement is not met when parameters…
We study stochastic optimization problems with objective function given by the expectation of the maximum of two linear functions defined on the component random variables of a multivariate Gaussian distribution. We consider random…
A major technique in learning-augmented online algorithms is combining multiple algorithms or predictors. Since the performance of each predictor may vary over time, it is desirable to use not the single best predictor as a benchmark, but…
We investigate convergence of the expectation maximization algorithm by representing it as a generalized proximal method. Convergence of iterates and not just in value is investigated under natural hypotheses such as definability of the…
Motivated by applications in the gig economy, we study approximation algorithms for a \emph{sequential pricing problem}. The input is a bipartite graph $G=(I,J,E)$ between individuals $I$ and jobs $J$. The platform has a value of $v_j$ for…
Score matching enables the estimation of the gradient of a data distribution, a key component in denoising diffusion models used to recover clean data from corrupted inputs. In prior work, a heuristic weighting function has been used for…
In the model of online caching with machine learned advice, introduced by Lykouris and Vassilvitskii, the goal is to solve the caching problem with an online algorithm that has access to next-arrival predictions: when each input element…
In the online (time-series) search problem, a player is presented with a sequence of prices which are revealed in an online manner. In the standard definition of the problem, for each revealed price, the player must decide irrevocably…
When training an estimator such as a neural network for tasks like image denoising, it is often preferred to train one estimator and apply it to all noise levels. The de facto training protocol to achieve this goal is to train the estimator…