19,086 research outputs found
Training neural networks to encode symbols enables combinatorial generalization
Combinatorial generalization - the ability to understand and produce novel
combinations of already familiar elements - is considered to be a core capacity
of the human mind and a major challenge to neural network models. A significant
body of research suggests that conventional neural networks can't solve this
problem unless they are endowed with mechanisms specifically engineered for the
purpose of representing symbols. In this paper we introduce a novel way of
representing symbolic structures in connectionist terms - the vectors approach
to representing symbols (VARS), which allows training standard neural
architectures to encode symbolic knowledge explicitly at their output layers.
In two simulations, we show that neural networks not only can learn to produce
VARS representations, but in doing so they achieve combinatorial generalization
in their symbolic and non-symbolic output. This adds to other recent work that
has shown improved combinatorial generalization under specific training
conditions, and raises the question of whether specific mechanisms or training
routines are needed to support symbolic processing
Playing with Duality: An Overview of Recent Primal-Dual Approaches for Solving Large-Scale Optimization Problems
Optimization methods are at the core of many problems in signal/image
processing, computer vision, and machine learning. For a long time, it has been
recognized that looking at the dual of an optimization problem may drastically
simplify its solution. Deriving efficient strategies which jointly brings into
play the primal and the dual problems is however a more recent idea which has
generated many important new contributions in the last years. These novel
developments are grounded on recent advances in convex analysis, discrete
optimization, parallel processing, and non-smooth optimization with emphasis on
sparsity issues. In this paper, we aim at presenting the principles of
primal-dual approaches, while giving an overview of numerical methods which
have been proposed in different contexts. We show the benefits which can be
drawn from primal-dual algorithms both for solving large-scale convex
optimization problems and discrete ones, and we provide various application
examples to illustrate their usefulness
Asymptotic behavior of memristive circuits
The interest in memristors has risen due to their possible application both
as memory units and as computational devices in combination with CMOS. This is
in part due to their nonlinear dynamics, and a strong dependence on the circuit
topology. We provide evidence that also purely memristive circuits can be
employed for computational purposes. In the present paper we show that a
polynomial Lyapunov function in the memory parameters exists for the case of DC
controlled memristors. Such Lyapunov function can be asymptotically
approximated with binary variables, and mapped to quadratic combinatorial
optimization problems. This also shows a direct parallel between memristive
circuits and the Hopfield-Little model. In the case of Erdos-Renyi random
circuits, we show numerically that the distribution of the matrix elements of
the projectors can be roughly approximated with a Gaussian distribution, and
that it scales with the inverse square root of the number of elements. This
provides an approximated but direct connection with the physics of disordered
system and, in particular, of mean field spin glasses. Using this and the fact
that the interaction is controlled by a projector operator on the loop space of
the circuit. We estimate the number of stationary points of the approximate
Lyapunov function and provide a scaling formula as an upper bound in terms of
the circuit topology only.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures; proofs corrected, figures changed; results
substantially unchanged; to appear in Entrop
Survey on Combinatorial Register Allocation and Instruction Scheduling
Register allocation (mapping variables to processor registers or memory) and
instruction scheduling (reordering instructions to increase instruction-level
parallelism) are essential tasks for generating efficient assembly code in a
compiler. In the last three decades, combinatorial optimization has emerged as
an alternative to traditional, heuristic algorithms for these two tasks.
Combinatorial optimization approaches can deliver optimal solutions according
to a model, can precisely capture trade-offs between conflicting decisions, and
are more flexible at the expense of increased compilation time.
This paper provides an exhaustive literature review and a classification of
combinatorial optimization approaches to register allocation and instruction
scheduling, with a focus on the techniques that are most applied in this
context: integer programming, constraint programming, partitioned Boolean
quadratic programming, and enumeration. Researchers in compilers and
combinatorial optimization can benefit from identifying developments, trends,
and challenges in the area; compiler practitioners may discern opportunities
and grasp the potential benefit of applying combinatorial optimization
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