arXiv Machine Learning

Convex Basins in Single-Index Model Loss Landscapes: Applications to Robust Recovery under Strong Adversarial Corruption

arXiv:2605. 29497v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: We study the problem of robustly learning Gaussian Single Index Models (SIMs) in the presence of heavy-tailed noise and a constant fraction of adversarially corrupted covariates and responses.

arXiv AI
Oct 12

On the Rate of Convergence of GD in Non-linear Neural Networks: An Adversarial Robustness Perspective

The paper analyzes Gradient Descent (GD) on a minimal binary classification problem with a two‑neuron ReLU network trained on two instances. It proves that GD converges to an optimal robustness margin—maximizing the distance between the decision boundary and training points—but does so at a very slow rate, specifically θ(1/ln(t)). Empirical simulations confirm this slow convergence across various initializations, and the authors provide a rigorous analysis of GD trajectories across different activation patterns to establish the first explicit lower bound on robustness convergence in a non‑linear model.

By Guy Smorodinsky, Sveta Gimpleson, Itay Safran
arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 26

Multi-Source Complex Network Reconstruction via Wasserstein Distributionally Robust Optimization and Algorithm Unrolling

The paper introduces MS‑WDRO, a multi‑source Wasserstein distributionally robust optimization framework for reconstructing complex network topologies from scarce target‑domain data and abundant heterogeneous source data. It fuses sources via a weighted Wasserstein barycenter, builds an ambiguity set around it, and solves a regularized Laplacian estimator using a provably convergent ADMM scheme. The authors provide finite‑sample guarantees, demonstrate that naive aggregation is suboptimal, and show through experiments on synthetic data and the ABIDE I neuroimaging dataset that MS‑WDRO outperforms seven baselines in graph recovery, sample efficiency, and diagnostic utility, especially when target samples are limited.

By Chuansen Peng, Yifan Xia, Jinshan Zhong, Xiaojing Shen
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 14

Demixing Sparse Signals from Nonlinear Observations using Generalized Non-convex Regularization

arXiv:2607. 10618v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: We consider the recovery of a pair of sparse vectors from a limited number of nonlinear observations of their superposition: $y_i=g(\inner{\ba_i}{\bPhi\bw^\ast+\bPsi\bz^\ast})+e_i$, $i=1,\dots,m$, with $m\ll n$, incoherent orthonormal bases $\bPhi,\bPsi$, a scalar link $g$, and noise $e_i$ that may be heavy-tailed or contaminated.

By Raziyeh Takbiri
arXiv Machine Learning
Oct 16

Personalized Projected Ascent for Federated Stackelberg Optimization

The paper introduces a federated minimax framework where the minimization variable is shared across clients while each client retains a personalized maximization variable. It proposes a projected ascent method for the personalized variables and shows that in nonconvex-concave settings it achieves a sublinear convergence rate, but in nonconvex-PL settings it suffers from a noise floor. To overcome this, the authors develop VR-SGDA, a variance‑reduced algorithm that eliminates the noise floor through a two‑timescale update scheme, and demonstrate its effectiveness on subpopulation‑robustness and NLP adversarial training tasks.

By M Yashwanth, Sharannya Ghosh, Saikiran Bulusu, Anirban Chakraborty