神经模型发现的变量交互可能是假象,需用数据支持几何判断真伪。
When Are Neural Interaction Discoveries Real? Identifiability, Recoverability, and a Pre-Fit Diagnostic

- 基于输入数据支撑集几何结构判断交互是否可识别
- 有效秩低时交互恢复失败,且独立训练结果不稳定
- 无需拟合即可通过预诊断判断交互可靠性,适合研究者验证
当神经时间序列模型声称某一变量调制另一变量对目标的影响时,这种发现是数据真实属性,还是模型灵活性导致的伪影?我们指出这本质上是可识别性问题,由观测输入支撑集的几何结构决定,而非具体神经架构。在乘性门控扩展的神经加性向量自回归(GNAVAR)模型中,源贡献受其他滞后变量调制。我们证明:表示能力不等于可识别性;相关输入导致边特异性交互项泄漏,低维支撑集允许不同交互分解在观测数据上一致但整体不同。我们建立归一化最小GNAVAR分解在明确支撑条件下的人群可识别性定理,涵盖共享调制器情形。理论导出简单实用诊断:联合滞后块协方差的有效秩可在拟合前预测交互恢复可行性。候选集未知时,双种子稳定性检验提供实用操作测试。相同支撑条件将实证结果组织为理论预测的三种状态。结果表明:交互恢复依赖支撑几何,有效秩是可行的预诊断指标,跨独立拟合的不稳定性是不可识别交互发现的特征标志。该可识别现象、支撑条件与不稳定性信号具有模型无关性;GNAVAR仅为使其可证明的载体。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
When a neural time-series model reports that one variable modulates another's effect on a target, is the discovered interaction a property of the data or an artifact of model flexibility? We argue that this is fundamentally a question of identifiability, governed by the geometry of the observed input support rather than by the specific neural architecture. We study the problem in a multiplicative-gating extension of neural additive vector autoregression (GNAVAR), in which source contributions are modulated by other lagged variables. We show that representational capacity is not identifiability: dependent inputs induce leakage between edge-specific interaction terms, and low-dimensional support permits distinct interaction decompositions that agree on the observed data while differing elsewhere. We then prove a population identifiability theorem for normalized minimal GNAVAR decompositions under explicit support conditions, including settings with shared modulators. The theory yields a simple practitioner-facing diagnostic: the effective rank of the joint lag-block covariance predicts, before fitting, whether interaction recovery is feasible for a given candidate set. When the candidate set is unknown, a two-seed stability check provides a practical operational test. The same support condition organizes empirical outcomes into the three states predicted by the theory. Our results show that interaction recoverability depends on support geometry, that effective rank provides a practical pre-fit diagnostic, and that instability across independent fits is a characteristic signature of non-identifiable interaction discovery. The identifiability phenomenon, the support condition, and the instability signature are model-agnostic; GNAVAR is the vehicle that makes them provable.
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