8,860 research outputs found
Automatic Differentiation Variational Inference
Probabilistic modeling is iterative. A scientist posits a simple model, fits
it to her data, refines it according to her analysis, and repeats. However,
fitting complex models to large data is a bottleneck in this process. Deriving
algorithms for new models can be both mathematically and computationally
challenging, which makes it difficult to efficiently cycle through the steps.
To this end, we develop automatic differentiation variational inference (ADVI).
Using our method, the scientist only provides a probabilistic model and a
dataset, nothing else. ADVI automatically derives an efficient variational
inference algorithm, freeing the scientist to refine and explore many models.
ADVI supports a broad class of models-no conjugacy assumptions are required. We
study ADVI across ten different models and apply it to a dataset with millions
of observations. ADVI is integrated into Stan, a probabilistic programming
system; it is available for immediate use
Differentiable Programming Tensor Networks
Differentiable programming is a fresh programming paradigm which composes
parameterized algorithmic components and trains them using automatic
differentiation (AD). The concept emerges from deep learning but is not only
limited to training neural networks. We present theory and practice of
programming tensor network algorithms in a fully differentiable way. By
formulating the tensor network algorithm as a computation graph, one can
compute higher order derivatives of the program accurately and efficiently
using AD. We present essential techniques to differentiate through the tensor
networks contractions, including stable AD for tensor decomposition and
efficient backpropagation through fixed point iterations. As a demonstration,
we compute the specific heat of the Ising model directly by taking the second
order derivative of the free energy obtained in the tensor renormalization
group calculation. Next, we perform gradient based variational optimization of
infinite projected entangled pair states for quantum antiferromagnetic
Heisenberg model and obtain start-of-the-art variational energy and
magnetization with moderate efforts. Differentiable programming removes
laborious human efforts in deriving and implementing analytical gradients for
tensor network programs, which opens the door to more innovations in tensor
network algorithms and applications.Comment: Typos corrected, discussion and refs added; revised version accepted
for publication in PRX. Source code available at
https://github.com/wangleiphy/tensorgra
Automatic differentiation in machine learning: a survey
Derivatives, mostly in the form of gradients and Hessians, are ubiquitous in
machine learning. Automatic differentiation (AD), also called algorithmic
differentiation or simply "autodiff", is a family of techniques similar to but
more general than backpropagation for efficiently and accurately evaluating
derivatives of numeric functions expressed as computer programs. AD is a small
but established field with applications in areas including computational fluid
dynamics, atmospheric sciences, and engineering design optimization. Until very
recently, the fields of machine learning and AD have largely been unaware of
each other and, in some cases, have independently discovered each other's
results. Despite its relevance, general-purpose AD has been missing from the
machine learning toolbox, a situation slowly changing with its ongoing adoption
under the names "dynamic computational graphs" and "differentiable
programming". We survey the intersection of AD and machine learning, cover
applications where AD has direct relevance, and address the main implementation
techniques. By precisely defining the main differentiation techniques and their
interrelationships, we aim to bring clarity to the usage of the terms
"autodiff", "automatic differentiation", and "symbolic differentiation" as
these are encountered more and more in machine learning settings.Comment: 43 pages, 5 figure
Theano: new features and speed improvements
Theano is a linear algebra compiler that optimizes a user's
symbolically-specified mathematical computations to produce efficient low-level
implementations. In this paper, we present new features and efficiency
improvements to Theano, and benchmarks demonstrating Theano's performance
relative to Torch7, a recently introduced machine learning library, and to
RNNLM, a C++ library targeted at recurrent neural networks.Comment: Presented at the Deep Learning Workshop, NIPS 201
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