Quantization through Piecewise-Affine Regularization: Optimization and Statistical Guarantees

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ma, Jianhao, Xiao, Lin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ma, Jianhao
Xiao, Lin
author_facet Ma, Jianhao
Xiao, Lin
contents Optimization problems over discrete or quantized variables are very challenging in general due to the combinatorial nature of their search space. Piecewise-affine regularization (PAR) provides a flexible modeling and computational framework for quantization based on continuous optimization. In this work, we focus on the setting of supervised learning and investigate the theoretical foundations of PAR from optimization and statistical perspectives. First, we show that in the overparameterized regime, where the number of parameters exceeds the number of samples, every critical point of the PAR-regularized loss function exhibits a high degree of quantization. Second, we derive closed-form proximal mappings for various (convex, quasi-convex, and non-convex) PARs and show how to solve PAR-regularized problems using the proximal gradient method, its accelerated variant, and the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers. Third, we study statistical guarantees of PAR-regularized linear regression problems; specifically, we can approximate classical formulations of $\ell_1$-, squared $\ell_2$-, and nonconvex regularizations using PAR and obtain similar statistical guarantees with quantized solutions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_11112
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Quantization through Piecewise-Affine Regularization: Optimization and Statistical Guarantees
Ma, Jianhao
Xiao, Lin
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Optimization and Control
Optimization problems over discrete or quantized variables are very challenging in general due to the combinatorial nature of their search space. Piecewise-affine regularization (PAR) provides a flexible modeling and computational framework for quantization based on continuous optimization. In this work, we focus on the setting of supervised learning and investigate the theoretical foundations of PAR from optimization and statistical perspectives. First, we show that in the overparameterized regime, where the number of parameters exceeds the number of samples, every critical point of the PAR-regularized loss function exhibits a high degree of quantization. Second, we derive closed-form proximal mappings for various (convex, quasi-convex, and non-convex) PARs and show how to solve PAR-regularized problems using the proximal gradient method, its accelerated variant, and the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers. Third, we study statistical guarantees of PAR-regularized linear regression problems; specifically, we can approximate classical formulations of $\ell_1$-, squared $\ell_2$-, and nonconvex regularizations using PAR and obtain similar statistical guarantees with quantized solutions.
title Quantization through Piecewise-Affine Regularization: Optimization and Statistical Guarantees
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.11112