Inverse Decision Modeling: Learning Interpretable Representations of Behavior

Decision analysis deals with modeling and enhancing decision processes. A principal challenge in improving behavior is in obtaining a transparent description of existing behavior in the first place. In this paper, we develop an expressive, unifying perspective on inverse decision modeling: a framework for learning parameterized representations of sequential decision behavior. First, we formalize the forward problem (as a normative standard), subsuming common classes of control behavior. Second, we use this to formalize the inverse problem (as a descriptive model), generalizing existing work on imitation/reward learning -- while opening up a much broader class of research problems in behavior representation. Finally, we instantiate this approach with an example (inverse bounded rational control), illustrating how this structure enables learning (interpretable) representations of (bounded) rationality -- while naturally capturing intuitive notions of suboptimal actions, biased beliefs, and imperfect knowledge of environments

Connection Conditions and the Spectral Family under Singular Potentials

To describe a quantum system whose potential is divergent at one point, one must provide proper connection conditions for the wave functions at the singularity. Generalizing the scheme used for point interactions in one dimension, we present a set of connection conditions which are well-defined even if the wave functions and/or their derivatives are divergent at the singularity. Our generalized scheme covers the entire U(2) family of quantizations (self-adjoint Hamiltonians) admitted for the singular system. We use this scheme to examine the spectra of the Coulomb potential $V(x) = - e^2 / | x |$ and the harmonic oscillator with square inverse potential $V(x) = (m \omega^2 / 2) x^2 + g/x^2$, and thereby provide a general perspective for these models which have previously been treated with restrictive connection conditions resulting in conflicting spectra. We further show that, for any parity invariant singular potentials $V(-x) = V(x)$, the spectrum is determined solely by the eigenvalues of the characteristic matrix $U \in U(2)$.Comment: TeX, 18 page

A Fluid Generalization of Membranes

In a certain sense a perfect fluid is a generalization of a point particle. This leads to the question as to what is the corresponding generalization for extended objects. The lagrangian formulation of a perfect fluid is much generalized and this has as a particular example a fluid which is a classical generalization of a membrane, however there is as yet no indication of any relationship between their quantum theories.Comment: To appear in CEJP, updated to coincide with published versio

Drazin Inverses in Categories

Drazin inverses are a fundamental algebraic structure which have been extensively deployed in semigroup theory and ring theory. Drazin inverses can also be defined for endomorphisms in any category. However, beyond a paper by Puystjens and Robinson from 1987, not much has been done with Drazin inverses in category theory. As such, here we provide a survey of the theory of Drazin inverses from a categorical perspective. We introduce Drazin categories, in which every endomorphism has a Drazin inverse, and provide various examples including the category of matrices over a field, the category of finite length modules over a ring, and finite set enriched categories. We also introduce the notion of expressive rank and prove that a category with expressive rank is Drazin. Moreover, we study Drazin inverses in mere categories, in additive categories, and in dagger categories. In an arbitrary category, we show how a Drazin inverse corresponds to an isomorphism in the idempotent splitting, as well as explain how Drazin inverses relate to Leinster's notion of eventual image duality. In additive categories, we explore the consequences of the core-nilpotent decomposition and the image-kernel decomposition, which we relate back to Fitting's famous results. We then develop the notion of Drazin inverses for pairs of opposing maps, generalizing the usual notion of Drazin inverse for endomorphisms. As an application of this new kind of Drazin inverse, for dagger categories, we provide a novel characterization of the Moore-Penrose inverse in terms of being a Drazin inverse of the pair of a map and its adjoint