arXiv:2608.01032cs.LGcs.IT2026-08中稿 · ITW2026

发现线性模型在训练误差变大时反而泛化更好,打破直觉。

The Fourth Quadrant: A Stylized View of Benign Misfitting

  • 在特定数据结构下,最优预测器需故意不拟合训练数据。
  • 当训练样本数介于 $d/γ^2$ 到 $d/γ$ 之间时,过拟合反而能更好泛化。
  • 一阶随机梯度下降在该区间仍可取得良好测试性能。

研究在确定性 $(d+1)$ 维单尖峰模型下的线性回归问题,其中每个训练向量具有相同信息坐标 $\ ext{amp} = \sqrt{\gamma}$($\gamma > 1$),其余为正交噪声分量。所有标签为 1,测试点服从 $\vec{x}_{\rm test} \sim \mathcal{N}(\vec{0},\operatorname{diag}(\gamma,1,\ldots,1))$,理想标签为归一化的首坐标。我们聚焦训练向量张成空间内的线性预测器,此类预测器自然由零初始化梯度下降生成。研究发现存在一个训练集大小范围 $n$,使得所有泛化良好的预测器必须比零预测器更差地拟合训练数据,此即“良性错配”(benign misfitting)或第四象限。最佳张成预测器在 $n \gg d/\gamma^2$ 时开始泛化,而插值方法直到 $n \gg d/\gamma$ 才能泛化。在 $d/\gamma^2 \ll n \ll d/\gamma$ 区间内,张成空间中的有效预测超出插值:对训练点的预测值超过真实标签。我们证明,学习率较大的一阶随机梯度下降(SGD)在该区间内能获得接近最优预测器的测试误差(对数因子内)。同时验证其经验训练误差显著大于零。最后发现,导致训练错配的不可避免的噪声分量也决定了预测器的对抗敏感性。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Training error is what we can observe on a training set; test error is the quantity we actually care about. We study linear regression with squared-error in a deterministic $(d+1)$-dimensional single-spike model. Each stylized training vector has the same informative spike coordinate, of amplitude $\sqrtγ$ with $γ>1$. The remaining directions are nuisance, and the nuisance components of distinct training vectors all have equal norm and are mutually orthogonal. The training labels are all $1$. Fresh test points are drawn from $\vec{x}_{\rm test} \sim \mathcal{N}(\vec{0},\operatorname{diag}(γ,1,\ldots,1))$, with the noise-free test labels being the normalized spike coordinate $x_{\rm test}[1]/\sqrtγ$. We focus on linear predictors in the span of the training vectors, the class naturally reached by zero-initialized linear gradient methods. We exhibit a range of training-set sizes $n$ in which every span predictor that generalizes well must fit the training data \emph{worse} than the zero predictor. We call this regime \emph{benign misfitting}, or the fourth quadrant. The best span predictor begins to generalize when $n\gg d/γ^2$, while interpolation does not generalize until the later threshold $n\gg d/γ$. In the window $d/γ^2 \ll n \ll d/γ$, useful prediction within the linear span lies beyond interpolation: predictions on the training points overshoot the labels. We show that one-pass stochastic gradient descent (SGD), with a large constant learning rate, reaches small test error throughout this window---matching the best span predictor up to a logarithmic factor. We also verify directly that it indeed has \emph{large} empirical training error (despite the descent premise in its name). Finally, we show that the unavoidable nuisance component responsible for the training misfit also controls the predictor's adversarial sensitivity.

泛化理论线性模型良性错配梯度下降

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