371 research outputs found
Non-Convex Rank Minimization via an Empirical Bayesian Approach
In many applications that require matrix solutions of minimal rank, the
underlying cost function is non-convex leading to an intractable, NP-hard
optimization problem. Consequently, the convex nuclear norm is frequently used
as a surrogate penalty term for matrix rank. The problem is that in many
practical scenarios there is no longer any guarantee that we can correctly
estimate generative low-rank matrices of interest, theoretical special cases
notwithstanding. Consequently, this paper proposes an alternative empirical
Bayesian procedure build upon a variational approximation that, unlike the
nuclear norm, retains the same globally minimizing point estimate as the rank
function under many useful constraints. However, locally minimizing solutions
are largely smoothed away via marginalization, allowing the algorithm to
succeed when standard convex relaxations completely fail. While the proposed
methodology is generally applicable to a wide range of low-rank applications,
we focus our attention on the robust principal component analysis problem
(RPCA), which involves estimating an unknown low-rank matrix with unknown
sparse corruptions. Theoretical and empirical evidence are presented to show
that our method is potentially superior to related MAP-based approaches, for
which the convex principle component pursuit (PCP) algorithm (Candes et al.,
2011) can be viewed as a special case.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, UAI 2012 pape
Exploring Algorithmic Limits of Matrix Rank Minimization under Affine Constraints
Many applications require recovering a matrix of minimal rank within an
affine constraint set, with matrix completion a notable special case. Because
the problem is NP-hard in general, it is common to replace the matrix rank with
the nuclear norm, which acts as a convenient convex surrogate. While elegant
theoretical conditions elucidate when this replacement is likely to be
successful, they are highly restrictive and convex algorithms fail when the
ambient rank is too high or when the constraint set is poorly structured.
Non-convex alternatives fare somewhat better when carefully tuned; however,
convergence to locally optimal solutions remains a continuing source of
failure. Against this backdrop we derive a deceptively simple and
parameter-free probabilistic PCA-like algorithm that is capable, over a wide
battery of empirical tests, of successful recovery even at the theoretical
limit where the number of measurements equal the degrees of freedom in the
unknown low-rank matrix. Somewhat surprisingly, this is possible even when the
affine constraint set is highly ill-conditioned. While proving general recovery
guarantees remains evasive for non-convex algorithms, Bayesian-inspired or
otherwise, we nonetheless show conditions whereby the underlying cost function
has a unique stationary point located at the global optimum; no existing cost
function we are aware of satisfies this same property. We conclude with a
simple computer vision application involving image rectification and a standard
collaborative filtering benchmark
Initiation and Study of Localized Corrosion by Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy
This paper describes methods to study the initiation and formation of localized corrosion pits on stainless–steel and aluminum samples. These methods are based on the use of a scanned probe microscope, the scanning electrochemical microscope (SECM). The SECM is specifically designed for operation in electrolyte solution and so is uniquely suited for examination of corrosion processes. SECM imaging of a corrosion pit on stainless steel is presented. In addition, the initiation of single pits on aluminum and stainless steel by using the SECM tip to electrogenerate a local source of Cl– is described
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