arXiv Machine Learning

Smoothing the Score Function to Enhance Generalization in Diffusion Models

The paper investigates memorization in diffusion models, showing that the empirical score function is a weighted sum of Gaussian score functions with sharp softmax weights, causing individual training samples to dominate and lead to sampling collapse. By approximating this function with a neural network, the authors obtain a smoother representation that generalizes better. They introduce two techniques—Noise Unconditioning and Temperature Smoothing—to further reduce single‑sample dominance, and demonstrate improved generalization across multiple datasets while preserving generation quality.

arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 10

The Emergence of Reproducibility and Generalizability in Diffusion Models

arXiv:2310. 05264v5 Announce Type: replace Abstract: In this work, we investigate an intriguing and prevalent phenomenon of diffusion models which we term as "consistent model reproducibility": given the same starting noise input and a deterministic sampler, different diffusion models often yield remarkably similar outputs.

By Huijie Zhang, Jinfan Zhou, Yifu Lu, Minzhe Guo, Peng Wang, Liyue Shen, Qing Qu
arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 10

MAD: Manifold Attracted Diffusion

arXiv:2509. 24710v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Score-based diffusion models are a highly effective method for generating samples from a distribution of images.

By Dennis Elbr\"achter, Giovanni S. Alberti, Matteo Santacesaria
arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 26

Generalization, memorization, and overfitting for diffusion models trained in the lazy high-dimensional regime

The paper investigates diffusion models trained in a lazy high‑dimensional regime, extending benign overfitting theory to generative settings. By analyzing denoising score matching in a vector‑valued RKHS with an inner‑product kernel, the authors derive exact risk trajectories under gradient flow when the number of samples scales proportionally with dimensionality. These trajectories reveal three distinct phases—spectral generalization, noise‑dominated interpolation, and empirical Bayes memorization—whose interplay shapes the distribution of generated samples.

By Hugo Latourelle-Vigeant, Sinho Chewi, Aram-Alexandre Pooladian, John Sous, Theodor Misiakiewicz
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 7

Benign Overfitting Does Not Occur in Diffusion Models

arXiv:2607. 02671v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Benign overfitting and double descent have come to shape our understanding of generalization in deep learning, establishing that overfitting is not only compatible with good generalization but can actively benefit it.

By Tyler Farghly, Benjamin Dupuis, Alain Durmus, Umut Simsekli
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 20

Diffusion models recover accurate mixture weights despite score function insensitivity

arXiv:2607. 15485v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Score-based generative models exhibit a puzzling behavior: they often appear to cover all modes of a target multimodal distribution and yet may fail to learn the correct relative mode amplitudes, which can be interpreted as mixture weights.

By Andrew Dennehy, Ramchandran Muthukumar, Rebecca Willett, Nisha Chandramoorthy
arXiv AI
Aug 28

The Principles of Diffusion Models

The book "The Principles of Diffusion Models" outlines the foundational concepts behind diffusion models, tracing their evolution from a forward process that corrupts data into noise to a reverse process that reconstructs data. It presents three complementary perspectives—variational, score-based, and flow-based—each describing how a time-dependent velocity field transports a simple prior to the data distribution. The text also covers practical guidance for controllable generation, efficient solvers, and diffusion-inspired flow-map models, providing a mathematically grounded framework for readers with basic deep‑learning knowledge.

By Chieh-Hsin Lai, Yang Song, Dongjun Kim, Yuki Mitsufuji, Stefano Ermon