Debiased machine learning estimators for nonparametric inference of smooth functionals of the data-generating distribution can suffer from excessive variability and instability. For this reason, practitioners may resort to simpler models based on parametric or semiparametric assumptions. However, such simplifying assumptions may fail to hold, and estimates may then be biased due to model misspecification. To address this problem, we propose Adaptive Debiased Machine Learning (ADML), a nonparametric framework that combines data-driven model selection and debiased machine learning techniques to construct asymptotically linear, adaptive, and superefficient estimators for pathwise differentiable functionals. By learning model structure directly from data, ADML avoids the bias introduced by model misspecification and remains free from the restrictions of parametric and semiparametric models. While they may exhibit irregular behavior for the target parameter in a nonparametric statistical model, we demonstrate that ADML estimators provides regular and locally uniformly valid inference for a projection-based oracle parameter. Importantly, this oracle parameter agrees with the original target parameter for distributions within an unknown but correctly specified oracle statistical submodel that is learned from the data. This finding implies that there is no penalty, in a local asymptotic sense, for conducting data-driven model selection compared to having prior knowledge of the oracle submodel and oracle parameter. To demonstrate the practical applicability of our theory, we provide a broad class of ADML estimators for estimating the average treatment effect in adaptive partially linear regression models.
Current physics-informed (standard or operator) neural networks still rely on accurately learning the initial conditions of the system they are solving. In contrast, standard numerical methods evolve such initial conditions without needing to learn these. In this study, we propose to improve current physics-informed deep learning strategies such that initial conditions do not need to be learned and are represented exactly in the predicted solution. Moreover, this method guarantees that when a DeepONet is applied multiple times to time step a solution, the resulting function is continuous.
Many applications in computational physics involve approximating problems with microstructure, characterized by multiple spatial scales in their data. However, these numerical solutions are often computationally expensive due to the need to capture fine details at small scales. As a result, simulating such phenomena becomes unaffordable for many-query applications, such as parametrized systems with multiple scale-dependent features. Traditional projection-based reduced order models (ROMs) fail to resolve these issues, even for second-order elliptic PDEs commonly found in engineering applications. To address this, we propose an alternative nonintrusive strategy to build a ROM, that combines classical proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) with a suitable neural network (NN) model to account for the small scales. Specifically, we employ sparse mesh-informed neural networks (MINNs), which handle both spatial dependencies in the solutions and model parameters simultaneously. We evaluate the performance of this strategy on benchmark problems and then apply it to approximate a real-life problem involving the impact of microcirculation in transport phenomena through the tissue microenvironment.
Auditory spatial attention detection (ASAD) aims to decode the attended spatial location with EEG in a multiple-speaker setting. ASAD methods are inspired by the brain lateralization of cortical neural responses during the processing of auditory spatial attention, and show promising performance for the task of auditory attention decoding (AAD) with neural recordings. In the previous ASAD methods, the spatial distribution of EEG electrodes is not fully exploited, which may limit the performance of these methods. In the present work, by transforming the original EEG channels into a two-dimensional (2D) spatial topological map, the EEG data is transformed into a three-dimensional (3D) arrangement containing spatial-temporal information. And then a 3D deep convolutional neural network (DenseNet-3D) is used to extract temporal and spatial features of the neural representation for the attended locations. The results show that the proposed method achieves higher decoding accuracy than the state-of-the-art (SOTA) method (94.4% compared to XANet's 90.6%) with 1-second decision window for the widely used KULeuven (KUL) dataset, and the code to implement our work is available on Github: //github.com/xuxiran/ASAD_DenseNet
Unveiling the underlying governing equations of nonlinear dynamic systems remains a significant challenge, especially when encountering noisy observations and no prior knowledge available. This study proposes R-DISCOVER, a framework designed to robustly uncover open-form partial differential equations (PDEs) from limited and noisy data. The framework operates through two alternating update processes: discovering and embedding. The discovering phase employs symbolic representation and a reinforcement learning (RL)-guided hybrid PDE generator to efficiently produce diverse open-form PDEs with tree structures. A neural network-based predictive model fits the system response and serves as the reward evaluator for the generated PDEs. PDEs with superior fits are utilized to iteratively optimize the generator via the RL method and the best-performing PDE is selected by a parameter-free stability metric. The embedding phase integrates the initially identified PDE from the discovering process as a physical constraint into the predictive model for robust training. The traversal of PDE trees automates the construction of the computational graph and the embedding process without human intervention. Numerical experiments demonstrate our framework's capability to uncover governing equations from nonlinear dynamic systems with limited and highly noisy data and outperform other physics-informed neural network-based discovery methods. This work opens new potential for exploring real-world systems with limited understanding.
Quantum reinforcement learning (QRL) has emerged as a framework to solve sequential decision-making tasks, showcasing empirical quantum advantages. A notable development is through quantum recurrent neural networks (QRNNs) for memory-intensive tasks such as partially observable environments. However, QRL models incorporating QRNN encounter challenges such as inefficient training of QRL with QRNN, given that the computation of gradients in QRNN is both computationally expensive and time-consuming. This work presents a novel approach to address this challenge by constructing QRL agents utilizing QRNN-based reservoirs, specifically employing quantum long short-term memory (QLSTM). QLSTM parameters are randomly initialized and fixed without training. The model is trained using the asynchronous advantage actor-aritic (A3C) algorithm. Through numerical simulations, we validate the efficacy of our QLSTM-Reservoir RL framework. Its performance is assessed on standard benchmarks, demonstrating comparable results to a fully trained QLSTM RL model with identical architecture and training settings.
This study presents a comparative analysis of three predictive models with an increasing degree of flexibility: hidden dynamic geostatistical models (HDGM), generalised additive mixed models (GAMM), and the random forest spatiotemporal kriging models (RFSTK). These models are evaluated for their effectiveness in predicting PM$_{2.5}$ concentrations in Lombardy (North Italy) from 2016 to 2020. Despite differing methodologies, all models demonstrate proficient capture of spatiotemporal patterns within air pollution data with similar out-of-sample performance. Furthermore, the study delves into station-specific analyses, revealing variable model performance contingent on localised conditions. Model interpretation, facilitated by parametric coefficient analysis and partial dependence plots, unveils consistent associations between predictor variables and PM$_{2.5}$ concentrations. Despite nuanced variations in modelling spatiotemporal correlations, all models effectively accounted for the underlying dependence. In summary, this study underscores the efficacy of conventional techniques in modelling correlated spatiotemporal data, concurrently highlighting the complementary potential of Machine Learning and classical statistical approaches.
This paper explores the generalization characteristics of iterative learning algorithms with bounded updates for non-convex loss functions, employing information-theoretic techniques. Our key contribution is a novel bound for the generalization error of these algorithms with bounded updates, extending beyond the scope of previous works that only focused on Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD). Our approach introduces two main novelties: 1) we reformulate the mutual information as the uncertainty of updates, providing a new perspective, and 2) instead of using the chaining rule of mutual information, we employ a variance decomposition technique to decompose information across iterations, allowing for a simpler surrogate process. We analyze our generalization bound under various settings and demonstrate improved bounds when the model dimension increases at the same rate as the number of training data samples. To bridge the gap between theory and practice, we also examine the previously observed scaling behavior in large language models. Ultimately, our work takes a further step for developing practical generalization theories.
Science mapping is an important tool to gain insight into scientific fields, to identify emerging research trends, and to support science policy. Understanding the different ways in which different science mapping approaches capture the structure of scientific fields is critical. This paper presents a comparative analysis of two commonly used approaches, topic modeling (TM) and citation-based clustering (CC), to assess their respective strengths, weaknesses, and the characteristics of their results. We compare the two approaches using cluster-to-topic and topic-to-cluster mappings based on science maps of cardiovascular research (CVR) generated by TM and CC. Our findings reveal that relations between topics and clusters are generally weak, with limited overlap between topics and clusters. Only in a few exceptional cases do more than one-third of the documents in a topic belong to the same cluster, or vice versa. CC excels at identifying diseases and generating specialized clusters in Clinical Treatment & Surgical Procedures, while TM focuses on sub-techniques within diagnostic techniques, provides a general perspective on Clinical Treatment & Surgical Procedures, and identifies distinct topics related to practical guidelines. Our work enhances the understanding of science mapping approaches based on TM and CC and delivers practical guidance for scientometricians on how to apply these approaches effectively.
Machine learning techniques are attractive options for developing highly-accurate automated analysis tools for nanomaterials characterization, including high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). However, successfully implementing such machine learning tools can be difficult due to the challenges in procuring sufficiently large, high-quality training datasets from experiments. In this work, we introduce Construction Zone, a Python package for rapidly generating complex nanoscale atomic structures, and develop an end-to-end workflow for creating large simulated databases for training neural networks. Construction Zone enables fast, systematic sampling of realistic nanomaterial structures, and can be used as a random structure generator for simulated databases, which is important for generating large, diverse synthetic datasets. Using HRTEM imaging as an example, we train a series of neural networks on various subsets of our simulated databases to segment nanoparticles and holistically study the data curation process to understand how various aspects of the curated simulated data -- including simulation fidelity, the distribution of atomic structures, and the distribution of imaging conditions -- affect model performance across several experimental benchmarks. Using our results, we are able to achieve state-of-the-art segmentation performance on experimental HRTEM images of nanoparticles from several experimental benchmarks and, further, we discuss robust strategies for consistently achieving high performance with machine learning in experimental settings using purely synthetic data.
Machine-learning models have demonstrated great success in learning complex patterns that enable them to make predictions about unobserved data. In addition to using models for prediction, the ability to interpret what a model has learned is receiving an increasing amount of attention. However, this increased focus has led to considerable confusion about the notion of interpretability. In particular, it is unclear how the wide array of proposed interpretation methods are related, and what common concepts can be used to evaluate them. We aim to address these concerns by defining interpretability in the context of machine learning and introducing the Predictive, Descriptive, Relevant (PDR) framework for discussing interpretations. The PDR framework provides three overarching desiderata for evaluation: predictive accuracy, descriptive accuracy and relevancy, with relevancy judged relative to a human audience. Moreover, to help manage the deluge of interpretation methods, we introduce a categorization of existing techniques into model-based and post-hoc categories, with sub-groups including sparsity, modularity and simulatability. To demonstrate how practitioners can use the PDR framework to evaluate and understand interpretations, we provide numerous real-world examples. These examples highlight the often under-appreciated role played by human audiences in discussions of interpretability. Finally, based on our framework, we discuss limitations of existing methods and directions for future work. We hope that this work will provide a common vocabulary that will make it easier for both practitioners and researchers to discuss and choose from the full range of interpretation methods.