arXiv Machine Learning
Oct 7

Algorithmically Aligned Neural Agglomerative Tree Construction

The paper introduces NN‑linkage, a neural network model that learns task‑specific merge rules for hierarchical clustering while preserving the recursive structure and efficiency of classical linkage algorithms. It aligns with the Lance‑Williams recurrence, enabling it to approximate any continuous linkage function and even implement symmetric constant‑coefficient LW recurrences exactly. Experiments on clock‑tree routing and phylogenetic reconstruction show that NN‑linkage outperforms both traditional linkage methods and other neural approaches, extending efficient hierarchical clustering to new scientific and engineering tasks.

By Robert R Nerem, Pranav Singh, Cheyenne Ward, Yusu Wang
arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 7

Phylogenetic Tree Inference with Tropical Axial Attention

arXiv:2605. 13894v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: In this work, we introduce a Tropical Axial Attention neural reasoning architecture that replaces vanilla softmax dot-product attention with max-plus operators, inducing a piecewise-linear structure aligned with dynamic programming formulations.

By Chris Teska, Kurt Pasque, Ruriko Yoshida, Baran Hashemi