Neural Information Processing Systems http://nips.cc/

Neural Information Processing Systems http://nips.cc/

Neural Information Processing Systems http://nips.cc/

Tensor CANDECOMP/PARAFAC (CP) decomposition is a powerful but computationally challenging tool in modern data analytics. In this paper, we show ways of sampling intermediate steps of alternating minimization algorithms for computing low rank tensor CP decompositions, leading to the sparse alternating least squares (SPALS) method. Specifically, we sample the Khatri-Rao product, which arises as an intermediate object during the iterations of alternating least squares. This product captures the interactions between different tensor modes, and form the main computational bottleneck for solving many tensor related tasks. By exploiting the spectral structures of the matrix Khatri-Rao product, we provide efficient access to its statistical leverage scores. When applied to the tensor CP decomposition, our method leads to the first algorithm that runs in sublinear time per-iteration and approximates the output of deterministic alternating least squares algorithms.

Neural Information Processing Systems http://nips.cc/

The goal of noisy high-dimensional phase retrieval is to estimate an s-sparse parameter β Rd from n realizations of the model Y = (X>β)2 + ε. Based on this model, we propose a significant semi-parametric generalization called misspecified phase retrieval (MPR), in which Y = f(X>β,ε) with unknown f and Cov(Y,(X>β)2) > 0. For example, MPR encompasses Y = h(|X>β |) + ε with increasing h as a special case.

Neural Information Processing Systems http://nips.cc/

We show how to estimate a model's test error from unlabeled data, on distributions very different from the training distribution, while assuming only that certain conditional independencies are preserved between train and test. We do not need to assume that the optimal predictor is the same between train and test, or that the true distribution lies in any parametric family. We can also efficiently compute gradients of the estimated error and hence perform unsupervised discriminative learning. Our technical tool is the method of moments, which allows us to exploit conditional independencies in the absence of a fully-specified model. Our framework encompasses a large family of losses including the log and exponential loss, and extends to structured output settings such as conditional random fields.

Commonly used in many applications, robust PCA represents an algorithmic attempt to reduce the sensitivity of classical PCA to outliers. The basic idea is to learn a decomposition of some data matrix of interest into low rank and sparse components, the latter representing unwanted outliers. Although the resulting problem is typically NP-hard, convex relaxations provide a computationally-expedient alternative with theoretical support. However, in practical regimes performance guarantees break down and a variety of non-convex alternatives, including Bayesian-inspired models, have been proposed to boost estimation quality. Unfortunately though, without additional a priori knowledge none of these methods can significantly expand the critical operational range such that exact principal subspace recovery is possible. Into this mix we propose a novel pseudo-Bayesian algorithm that explicitly compensates for design weaknesses in many existing non-convex approaches leading to state-of-the-art performance with a sound analytical foundation.

Dynamic time warping (DTW) is a fundamental technique in time series analysis for comparing one curve to another using a flexible time-warping function. However, it was designed to compare a single pair of curves. In many applications, such as in metabolomics and image series analysis, alignment is simultaneously needed for multiple pairs. Because the underlying warping functions are often related, independent application of DTW to each pair is a sub-optimal solution. Yet, it is largely unknown how to efficiently conduct a joint alignment with all warping functions simultaneously considered, since any given warping function is constrained by the others and dynamic programming cannot be applied.