How Well Generative Adversarial Networks Learn Distributions

This paper studies the rates of convergence for learning distributions implicitly with the adversarial framework and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), which subsume Wasserstein, Sobolev, MMD GAN, and Generalized/Simulated Method of Moments (GMM/SMM) as special cases. We study a wide range of parametric and nonparametric target distributions under a host of objective evaluation metrics. We investigate how to obtain valid statistical guarantees for GANs through the lens of regularization.

Training Neural Networks as Learning Data-adaptive Kernels: Provable Representation and Approximation Benefits

What are the provable benefits of the adaptive representation by neural networks compared to the pre-specified fixed basis representation in the classical nonparametric literature? We answer the above questions via a dynamic reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) approach indexed by the training process of neural networks.

On the Multiple Descent of Minimum-Norm Interpolants and Restricted Lower Isometry of Kernels

We study the risk of minimum-norm interpolants of data in Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces. Our upper bounds on the risk are of a multiple-descent shape. Empirical evidence supports our finding that minimum-norm interpolants in RKHS can exhibit this unusual non-monotonicity in sample size.

Mehler’s Formula, Branching Process, and Compositional Kernels of Deep Neural Networks

We utilize a connection between compositional kernels and branching processes via Mehler’s formula to study deep neural networks. This new probabilistic insight provides us a novel perspective on the mathematical role of activation functions in compositional neural networks. We study the unscaled and rescaled limits of the compositional kernels and explore the different phases of the limiting behavior, as the compositional depth increases.

Learning When the Concept Shifts: Confounding, Invariance, and Dimension Reduction

Confounding can obfuscate the definition of the best prediction model (concept shift) and shift covariates to domains yet unseen (covariate shift). Therefore, a model maximizing prediction accuracy in the source environment could suffer a significant accuracy drop in the target environment. We propose a new domain adaptation method for observational data in the presence of confounding, and characterize the the stability and predictability tradeoff leveraging a structural causal model.