arXiv Machine Learning

Hierarchical Attention via Domain Decomposition

arXiv:2606. 18525v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: We propose a hierarchical attention mechanism based on two-level overlapping Schwarz domain decomposition.

arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 4

High-Dimensional Learning Dynamics of Attention-Indexed Models

The paper investigates the training dynamics of attention mechanisms in high-dimensional settings, focusing on attention-indexed models that encompass multi-layer and multi-head architectures. It shows that while the loss landscape can be described by a finite set of trace order parameters, the online stochastic gradient descent dynamics involve an infinite hierarchy of matrix moments that can be accurately approximated by a finite truncated system. The study further reveals that the choice of attention parameterization acts as an implicit bias: untied attention can get trapped in uninformative states, whereas tied attention induces symmetry breaking and enables weak recovery with θ(d² log d) samples, and untied attention exhibits a fast-slow dynamic leading to weak recovery when symmetry is broken.

By Yizhou Xu, Margarita Sagitova, Lenka Zdeborov\'a, Florent Krzakala
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 18

Low-rank Orthogonalization for Large-scale Matrix Optimization with Applications to Foundation Model Training

The paper introduces low‑rank orthogonalization, a technique that exploits the low‑rank nature of gradients in neural network training to perform matrix orthogonalization more efficiently. Building on this, the authors present low‑rank matrix‑signed gradient descent (MSGD) and a low‑rank variant of the Muon optimizer, showing through experiments that low‑rank Muon matches or surpasses vanilla Muon on GPT‑2 and LLaMA pretraining, especially for larger models. Theoretical analysis provides iteration‑complexity bounds for both low‑rank MSGD and low‑rank Muon under heavy‑tailed noise.

By Chuan He, Zhanwang Deng, Zhaosong Lu
Hugging Face Trending Papers
Sep 3

Projected Riemannian Gradient Descent for the Bures-Wasserstein Barycenter: Dimension-Independent Linear Convergence at Unit Step Size

The paper introduces a Projected Riemannian Gradient Descent (RGD) algorithm for computing the Bures‑Wasserstein barycenter of positive definite matrices, achieving dimension‑independent linear convergence at unit step size. It resolves a previous dichotomy by showing that clipping eigenvalues to a fixed interval yields a closed‑form, non‑expansive projection in the BW metric, allowing the algorithm to match the empirical speed of unit‑step RGD while maintaining theoretical guarantees. The method also extends to the invariant matrix projection problem, providing a unified dimension‑independent analysis.

arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 5

When Attention Beats Fourier: Multi-Scale Transformers for PDE Solving on Irregular Domains

arXiv:2605. 08318v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: We study the problem of \emph{architecture selection} for deep learning models trained to solve partial differential equations (PDEs), asking when transformer-based architectures with learned attention outperform Fourier-domain neural operators.

By Brandon Yee, Pairie Koh, Jack Rodriguez, Mihir Tekal