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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Stein, Dario, Samuelson, Richard
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.02291
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author Stein, Dario
Samuelson, Richard
author_facet Stein, Dario
Samuelson, Richard
contents We introduce a compositional framework for convex analysis based on the notion of convex bifunction of Rockafellar. This framework is well-suited to graphical reasoning, and exhibits rich dualities such as the Legendre-Fenchel transform, while generalizing formalisms like graphical linear algebra, convex relations and convex programming. We connect our framework to probability theory by interpreting the Laplace approximation in its context: The exactness of this approximation on normal distributions means that logdensity is a functor from Gaussian probability (densities and integration) to concave bifunctions and maximization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_02291
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Towards a Compositional Framework for Convex Analysis (with Applications to Probability Theory)
Stein, Dario
Samuelson, Richard
Category Theory
Optimization and Control
18M35 (Primary) 52A41 (Secondary)
We introduce a compositional framework for convex analysis based on the notion of convex bifunction of Rockafellar. This framework is well-suited to graphical reasoning, and exhibits rich dualities such as the Legendre-Fenchel transform, while generalizing formalisms like graphical linear algebra, convex relations and convex programming. We connect our framework to probability theory by interpreting the Laplace approximation in its context: The exactness of this approximation on normal distributions means that logdensity is a functor from Gaussian probability (densities and integration) to concave bifunctions and maximization.
title Towards a Compositional Framework for Convex Analysis (with Applications to Probability Theory)
topic Category Theory
Optimization and Control
18M35 (Primary) 52A41 (Secondary)
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.02291