5,209 research outputs found
Quantum machine learning: a classical perspective
Recently, increased computational power and data availability, as well as
algorithmic advances, have led machine learning techniques to impressive
results in regression, classification, data-generation and reinforcement
learning tasks. Despite these successes, the proximity to the physical limits
of chip fabrication alongside the increasing size of datasets are motivating a
growing number of researchers to explore the possibility of harnessing the
power of quantum computation to speed-up classical machine learning algorithms.
Here we review the literature in quantum machine learning and discuss
perspectives for a mixed readership of classical machine learning and quantum
computation experts. Particular emphasis will be placed on clarifying the
limitations of quantum algorithms, how they compare with their best classical
counterparts and why quantum resources are expected to provide advantages for
learning problems. Learning in the presence of noise and certain
computationally hard problems in machine learning are identified as promising
directions for the field. Practical questions, like how to upload classical
data into quantum form, will also be addressed.Comment: v3 33 pages; typos corrected and references adde
Multireference Alignment using Semidefinite Programming
The multireference alignment problem consists of estimating a signal from
multiple noisy shifted observations. Inspired by existing Unique-Games
approximation algorithms, we provide a semidefinite program (SDP) based
relaxation which approximates the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) for the
multireference alignment problem. Although we show that the MLE problem is
Unique-Games hard to approximate within any constant, we observe that our
poly-time approximation algorithm for the MLE appears to perform quite well in
typical instances, outperforming existing methods. In an attempt to explain
this behavior we provide stability guarantees for our SDP under a random noise
model on the observations. This case is more challenging to analyze than
traditional semi-random instances of Unique-Games: the noise model is on
vertices of a graph and translates into dependent noise on the edges.
Interestingly, we show that if certain positivity constraints in the SDP are
dropped, its solution becomes equivalent to performing phase correlation, a
popular method used for pairwise alignment in imaging applications. Finally, we
show how symmetry reduction techniques from matrix representation theory can
simplify the analysis and computation of the SDP, greatly decreasing its
computational cost
Improved Parameterized Algorithms for Constraint Satisfaction
For many constraint satisfaction problems, the algorithm which chooses a
random assignment achieves the best possible approximation ratio. For instance,
a simple random assignment for {\sc Max-E3-Sat} allows 7/8-approximation and
for every \eps >0 there is no polynomial-time (7/8+\eps)-approximation
unless P=NP. Another example is the {\sc Permutation CSP} of bounded arity.
Given the expected fraction of the constraints satisfied by a random
assignment (i.e. permutation), there is no (\rho+\eps)-approximation
algorithm for every \eps >0, assuming the Unique Games Conjecture (UGC).
In this work, we consider the following parameterization of constraint
satisfaction problems. Given a set of constraints of constant arity, can we
satisfy at least constraint, where is the expected fraction
of constraints satisfied by a random assignment? {\sc Constraint Satisfaction
Problems above Average} have been posed in different forms in the literature
\cite{Niedermeier2006,MahajanRamanSikdar09}. We present a faster parameterized
algorithm for deciding whether equations can be simultaneously
satisfied over . As a consequence, we obtain -variable
bikernels for {\sc boolean CSPs} of arity for every fixed , and for {\sc
permutation CSPs} of arity 3. This implies linear bikernels for many problems
under the "above average" parameterization, such as {\sc Max--Sat}, {\sc
Set-Splitting}, {\sc Betweenness} and {\sc Max Acyclic Subgraph}. As a result,
all the parameterized problems we consider in this paper admit -time
algorithms.
We also obtain non-trivial hybrid algorithms for every Max -CSP: for every
instance , we can either approximate beyond the random assignment
threshold in polynomial time, or we can find an optimal solution to in
subexponential time.Comment: A preliminary version of this paper has been accepted for IPEC 201
Exploiting chordal structure in polynomial ideals: a Gr\"obner bases approach
Chordal structure and bounded treewidth allow for efficient computation in
numerical linear algebra, graphical models, constraint satisfaction and many
other areas. In this paper, we begin the study of how to exploit chordal
structure in computational algebraic geometry, and in particular, for solving
polynomial systems. The structure of a system of polynomial equations can be
described in terms of a graph. By carefully exploiting the properties of this
graph (in particular, its chordal completions), more efficient algorithms can
be developed. To this end, we develop a new technique, which we refer to as
chordal elimination, that relies on elimination theory and Gr\"obner bases. By
maintaining graph structure throughout the process, chordal elimination can
outperform standard Gr\"obner basis algorithms in many cases. The reason is
that all computations are done on "smaller" rings, of size equal to the
treewidth of the graph. In particular, for a restricted class of ideals, the
computational complexity is linear in the number of variables. Chordal
structure arises in many relevant applications. We demonstrate the suitability
of our methods in examples from graph colorings, cryptography, sensor
localization and differential equations.Comment: 40 pages, 5 figure
Robustly Solvable Constraint Satisfaction Problems
An algorithm for a constraint satisfaction problem is called robust if it
outputs an assignment satisfying at least -fraction of the
constraints given a -satisfiable instance, where
as . Guruswami and
Zhou conjectured a characterization of constraint languages for which the
corresponding constraint satisfaction problem admits an efficient robust
algorithm. This paper confirms their conjecture
Certainty Closure: Reliable Constraint Reasoning with Incomplete or Erroneous Data
Constraint Programming (CP) has proved an effective paradigm to model and
solve difficult combinatorial satisfaction and optimisation problems from
disparate domains. Many such problems arising from the commercial world are
permeated by data uncertainty. Existing CP approaches that accommodate
uncertainty are less suited to uncertainty arising due to incomplete and
erroneous data, because they do not build reliable models and solutions
guaranteed to address the user's genuine problem as she perceives it. Other
fields such as reliable computation offer combinations of models and associated
methods to handle these types of uncertain data, but lack an expressive
framework characterising the resolution methodology independently of the model.
We present a unifying framework that extends the CP formalism in both model
and solutions, to tackle ill-defined combinatorial problems with incomplete or
erroneous data. The certainty closure framework brings together modelling and
solving methodologies from different fields into the CP paradigm to provide
reliable and efficient approches for uncertain constraint problems. We
demonstrate the applicability of the framework on a case study in network
diagnosis. We define resolution forms that give generic templates, and their
associated operational semantics, to derive practical solution methods for
reliable solutions.Comment: Revised versio
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