构建数据流形几何的可控测试平台,揭示真实模型与理论假设的差距。
The Data Manifold under the Microscope

- 基于dSprites和COIL-20扩展生成带密集采样的可控流形数据
- 用有限差分法精确估算曲率、可达性与体积,接近真实值
- 适用于校准几何估计器,验证理论边界在真实场景中的表现
深度学习中理论与实践之间存在显著差距。泛化与近似误差界常基于简化模型推导,或过于宽松而无实际意义。许多研究依赖流形假说及内在维度、曲率、可达性等几何正则性。突破需深入理解数据流形几何并建立合适基准,但现有方法两极分化:解析流形几何已知但应用有限,真实数据集几何仅能粗略估计。本文提出一个研究数据几何的基准框架,通过增加变换维度并进行密集轴对齐采样,扩展dSprites和COIL-20,并结合有限差分估计器,在通用估计器不可靠或难部署的条件下,实现曲率、可达性与体积的近似真值级精度恢复。该框架旨在作为受控测试环境,可用于校准几何估计器,探索理论假设。我们通过两个应用案例展示其价值:评估Genovese等人与Fefferman等人边界随规模的变化行为,以及追踪β-VAE各层几何演化,揭示当前边界表现局限性,并凸显受控基准对指导和验证未来理论的重要性。参考实现见https://github.com/koulakis/manifold-microscope。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
A significant gap exists between theory and practice in deep learning. Generalization and approximation error bounds are often derived for simplified models or are too loose to be informative. Many rely on the manifold hypothesis and on geometric regularity such as intrinsic dimension, curvature, and reach. Progress requires insight into data-manifold geometry and suitable benchmarks, yet existing options are polarized: analytic manifolds with known geometry but limited applicability, or real-world datasets where geometry is only coarsely estimable. We introduce a benchmarking framework for studying data geometry. We repurpose and extend dSprites and COIL-20 with additional transformation dimensions and dense, axis-aligned sampling, and pair them with finite-difference estimators that recover curvature, reach, and volume at near-ground-truth accuracy in a regime where general-purpose estimators are unreliable or difficult to deploy. The framework is intended as a controlled testbed, useful as a calibration environment for geometric estimators and a sandbox for probing theoretical assumptions. To illustrate its use, we present two application studies, namely assessing the scaling behavior of the bounds of Genovese et al. and Fefferman et al., and tracking the layer-wise geometry of a $β$-VAE, highlighting the behavior of current bounds and the value of controlled benchmarks for guiding and validating future theory. A reference implementation is available at https://github.com/koulakis/manifold-microscope.
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