arXiv:2605.19947cs.LG2026-05被引 2

利用边权重非负性简化有向无环图学习,提升优化稳定性与准确性。

Exploiting Non-Negativity in DAG Structure Learning

论文配图:Exploiting Non-Negativity in DAG Structure Learning
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 基于边权非负假设,重构无环性约束为更易处理的数学形式。
  • 理论证明真实图是唯一全局最优解,且无虚假驻点。
  • 适用于因果推断与结构学习,尤其适合追求可解释性的场景。

本文研究从线性结构方程模型生成的节点观测数据中学习有向无环图(DAG)的问题。DAG学习在信号处理、机器学习和因果推断中至关重要,但其难点在于无环性是全局组合性质。现有连续化方法虽用光滑等式约束替代离散约束,但仍面临非凸优化难题,且可能产生退化的梯度零点。本文聚焦于边权重非负的DAG,利用这一额外结构,获得更简洁的无环性刻画。基于此,提出正则化的非负DAG学习问题,并设计基于乘子法的算法。进一步分析表明,非负性诱导出良性优化景观:在总体情况下,真实图是唯一全局极小值点;且无虚假内部驻点,真实图是唯一的无环KKT点。合成与真实数据实验显示,该方法优于现有先进连续DAG学习方法。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

This work addresses the problem of learning directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) from nodal observations generated by a linear structural equation model. DAG learning is a central task in signal processing, machine learning, and causal inference, but it remains challenging because acyclicity is a global combinatorial property. Continuous acyclicity constraints have led to important algorithmic advances by replacing the discrete DAG constraint with smooth equality constraints. However, existing formulations still involve difficult non-convex optimization landscapes and may suffer from degenerate first-order optimality conditions. Here, we restrict attention to DAGs with non-negative edge weights and exploit this additional structure to obtain a simpler characterization of acyclicity. Building on this characterization, we formulate a regularized non-negative DAG learning problem and develop an algorithm based on the method of multipliers. We further analyze the benign optimization landscape induced by non-negativity. In the population regime, we show that the true DAG is the unique global minimizer of the proposed augmented-Lagrangian formulation; moreover, the landscape contains no spurious interior stationary points, and the true DAG is the only acyclic KKT point. Numerical experiments on synthetic and real-world data show that the proposed method improves over state-of-the-art continuous DAG-learning alternatives.

因果推断DAG学习优化理论

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