Minimax Optimal Two-Stage Algorithm For Moment Estimation Under Covariate Shift

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhang, Zhen, Liu, Xin, Wang, Shaoli, Teng, Jiaye
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Zhang, Zhen
Liu, Xin
Wang, Shaoli
Teng, Jiaye
author_facet Zhang, Zhen
Liu, Xin
Wang, Shaoli
Teng, Jiaye
contents Covariate shift occurs when the distribution of input features differs between the training and testing phases. In covariate shift, estimating an unknown function's moment is a classical problem that remains under-explored, despite its common occurrence in real-world scenarios. In this paper, we investigate the minimax lower bound of the problem when the source and target distributions are known. To achieve the minimax optimal bound (up to a logarithmic factor), we propose a two-stage algorithm. Specifically, it first trains an optimal estimator for the function under the source distribution, and then uses a likelihood ratio reweighting procedure to calibrate the moment estimator. In practice, the source and target distributions are typically unknown, and estimating the likelihood ratio may be unstable. To solve this problem, we propose a truncated version of the estimator that ensures double robustness and provide the corresponding upper bound. Extensive numerical studies on synthetic examples confirm our theoretical findings and further illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_23453
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Minimax Optimal Two-Stage Algorithm For Moment Estimation Under Covariate Shift
Zhang, Zhen
Liu, Xin
Wang, Shaoli
Teng, Jiaye
Machine Learning
Covariate shift occurs when the distribution of input features differs between the training and testing phases. In covariate shift, estimating an unknown function's moment is a classical problem that remains under-explored, despite its common occurrence in real-world scenarios. In this paper, we investigate the minimax lower bound of the problem when the source and target distributions are known. To achieve the minimax optimal bound (up to a logarithmic factor), we propose a two-stage algorithm. Specifically, it first trains an optimal estimator for the function under the source distribution, and then uses a likelihood ratio reweighting procedure to calibrate the moment estimator. In practice, the source and target distributions are typically unknown, and estimating the likelihood ratio may be unstable. To solve this problem, we propose a truncated version of the estimator that ensures double robustness and provide the corresponding upper bound. Extensive numerical studies on synthetic examples confirm our theoretical findings and further illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.
title Minimax Optimal Two-Stage Algorithm For Moment Estimation Under Covariate Shift
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.23453