Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Liang, Yurou, Zadorozhnyi, Oleksandr, Drton, Mathias
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10976
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866911996524363776
author Liang, Yurou
Zadorozhnyi, Oleksandr
Drton, Mathias
author_facet Liang, Yurou
Zadorozhnyi, Oleksandr
Drton, Mathias
contents Causal discovery amounts to learning a directed acyclic graph (DAG) that encodes a causal model. This model selection problem can be challenging due to its large combinatorial search space, particularly when dealing with non-parametric causal models. Recent research has sought to bypass the combinatorial search by reformulating causal discovery as a continuous optimization problem, employing constraints that ensure the acyclicity of the graph. In non-parametric settings, existing approaches typically rely on finite-dimensional approximations of the relationships between nodes, resulting in a score-based continuous optimization problem with a smooth acyclicity constraint. In this work, we develop an alternative approximation method by utilizing reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) and applying general sparsity-inducing regularization terms based on partial derivatives. Within this framework, we introduce an extended RKHS representer theorem. To enforce acyclicity, we advocate the log-determinant formulation of the acyclicity constraint and show its stability. Finally, we assess the performance of our proposed RKHS-DAGMA procedure through simulations and illustrative data analyses.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_10976
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Kernel-Based Differentiable Learning of Non-Parametric Directed Acyclic Graphical Models
Liang, Yurou
Zadorozhnyi, Oleksandr
Drton, Mathias
Machine Learning
Causal discovery amounts to learning a directed acyclic graph (DAG) that encodes a causal model. This model selection problem can be challenging due to its large combinatorial search space, particularly when dealing with non-parametric causal models. Recent research has sought to bypass the combinatorial search by reformulating causal discovery as a continuous optimization problem, employing constraints that ensure the acyclicity of the graph. In non-parametric settings, existing approaches typically rely on finite-dimensional approximations of the relationships between nodes, resulting in a score-based continuous optimization problem with a smooth acyclicity constraint. In this work, we develop an alternative approximation method by utilizing reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) and applying general sparsity-inducing regularization terms based on partial derivatives. Within this framework, we introduce an extended RKHS representer theorem. To enforce acyclicity, we advocate the log-determinant formulation of the acyclicity constraint and show its stability. Finally, we assess the performance of our proposed RKHS-DAGMA procedure through simulations and illustrative data analyses.
title Kernel-Based Differentiable Learning of Non-Parametric Directed Acyclic Graphical Models
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10976