arXiv AI

Stochastic Penalty-Barrier Method for Constrained Machine Learning

arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 15

Neural Slack Variables for Shape Constraints

arXiv:2606. 13803v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Enforcing functional inequality constraints such as monotonicity and convexity in neural networks is a fundamental challenge in many industrial and scientific applications.

By Ruben Wiedemann, Antoine Jacquier, Lukas Gonon
arXiv AI
Aug 28

CG4AI: A Column Generation Framework for Training AI Models Under Constraints

CG4AI is a column generation framework that trains AI models while enforcing linear constraints on their outputs. It constructs a convex combination of models, using a master linear program to set mixture weights and a pricing subproblem to generate new models guided by dual variables, focusing on the most violated constraints. The method is applied to MNIST digit classification—demonstrating constraint learning, adversarial robustness, error correction, and output relabeling—and to multi‑commodity flow routing, achieving feasible predictors with higher accuracy than single‑model baselines.

By Youcef Magnouche, Abderrahmane Driouch, S\'ebastien Martin, Pierre Bauguion
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 29

Gradient Surgery for Physics-Informed Neural Networks

The paper introduces PAM-GS, a physics-aware gradient surgery technique for Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs). It addresses the highly imbalanced multi-task optimisation problem in PINNs by adaptively mitigating task interference based on observed gradient conflicts. Experiments on four PDE benchmarks show that PAM-GS achieves competitive solution accuracy while maintaining strong task-balanced performance, outperforming existing methods on most problems.

By Thomas Borsani, Giuseppe Di Fatta
arXiv Machine Learning
5d ago

Position: Adopt Constraints Over Fixed Penalties in Deep Learning

The paper argues against using fixed weighted-sum penalties to enforce constraints in deep learning, citing three main issues: non-equivalence of penalized and constrained problems in non-convex settings, difficulty in selecting appropriate penalty coefficients, and the softening of hard requirements. It contends that these problems can lead to non-compliance and relaxed constraints. The authors recommend directly solving the constrained problem when non-negotiable requirements are present.

By Juan Ramirez, Meraj Hashemizadeh, Simon Lacoste-Julien
arXiv Machine Learning
Oct 3

HUANet: Hard-Constrained Unrolled ADMM for Constrained Convex Optimization

HUANet is a deep neural network architecture that unrolls the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) into a trainable model for accelerating parametric constrained convex optimization. It embeds a hard‑constrained neural network in each ADMM iteration, using a differentiable correction stage to enforce affine equalities of the primal subproblem. The method also incorporates first‑order optimality conditions into a self‑supervised training loss, and numerical experiments on benchmark problems and a control application demonstrate its effectiveness in speeding up constrained convex optimization.

By Trinh Tran, Binh Nguyen, Truong X. Nghiem
arXiv Machine Learning
Oct 3

Rate-Optimal Algorithm for Adversarial Linear CMDPs

The paper introduces a new primal–dual algorithm for episodic adversarial linear constrained Markov decision processes (CMDPs) with unknown transitions. It achieves a rate‑optimal ×O(√K) regret and cumulative constraint violation, improving upon the previous ×O(K^{3/4}) bound and eliminating the need for Slater’s condition. The method combines adaptive FTRL, contracted value estimation, and an exponential Lyapunov function, enabling uniform concentration over the value function class and computational efficiency independent of the state‑space size.

By Kihyun Yu, Honghao Wei, Dabeen Lee
arXiv AI
Jun 4

Scenario Generation for Risk-Aware Reinforcement Learning with Probably Approximately Safe Guarantees

arXiv:2606. 04812v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Guaranteeing safety is critical to the deployment of reinforcement learning (RL) agents in the real-world, especially as policies learned using deep RL may demonstrate susceptibility to transition perturbations that result in unknown or unsafe behaviour.

By Mohit Prashant, Arvind Easwaran