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Namrata Vaswani

Publications and source records attributed to Namrata Vaswani.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2025

Locally Permuted Low Rank Column-wise Sensing

We precisely formulate, and provide a solution for, the Low Rank Columnwise Sensing (LRCS) problem when some of the observed data is scrambled/permuted/unlabeled. This problem, which we refer to as permuted LRCS, lies at the intersection of two distinct topics of recent research: unlabeled sensing and low rank column-wise (matrix) sensing. We introduce a novel generalization of the recently developed Alternating Gradient Descent and Minimization (AltGDMin) algorithm to solve this problem. We also develop an alternating minimization (AltMin) solution. We show, using simulation experiments, that both converge but PermutedAltGDmin is much faster than Permuted-AltMin.

eess.SP↗
arXiv2025

Decentralized Communication-Efficient Multi-Task Representation Learning

This work develops a provably accurate fully-decentralized alternating projected gradient descent (GD) algorithm for recovering a low rank (LR) matrix from mutually independent projections of each of its columns, in a fast and communication-efficient fashion. To our best knowledge, this work is the first attempt to develop a provably correct decentralized algorithm (i) for any problem involving the use of an alternating projected GD algorithm; (ii) and for any problem in which the constraint set to be projected to is a non-convex set.

cs.IT↗
arXiv2025

Low Latency and Generalizable Dynamic MRI via L+S Alternating GD and Minimization

In this work, we develop novel MRI reconstruction approaches that are accurate, fast and low-latency for a large number of dynamic MRI applications, sampling schemes and sampling rates; without any problem-specific parameter tuning. We refer to this property of a single algorithm, without parameter tuning, being accurate and fast for many settings as generalizability. Generalizability is possible only for simple (few parameter) models such as low-rank (LR) or LR plus sparse (L plus S), and for simple few parameter algorithms based on these models, which is what we develop and evaluate in this work.

eess.IV↗
arXiv2025

AltGDmin: Alternating GD and Minimization for Partly-Decoupled (Federated) Optimization

This article describes a novel optimization solution framework, called alternating gradient descent (GD) and minimization (AltGDmin), that is useful for many problems for which alternating minimization (AltMin) is a popular solution. AltMin is a special case of the block coordinate descent algorithm that is useful for problems in which minimization w.r.t one subset of variables keeping the other fixed is closed form or otherwise reliably solved. Denote the two blocks/subsets of the optimization variables Z by Za, Zb, i.e., Z = {Za, Zb}. AltGDmin is often a faster solution than AltMin for any problem for which (i) the minimization over one set of variables, Zb, is much quicker than that over the other set, Za; and (ii) the cost function is differentiable w.r.t. Za. Often, the reason for one minimization to be quicker is that the problem is ``decoupled" for Zb and each of the decoupled problems is quick to solve. This decoupling is also what makes AltGDmin communication-efficient for federated settings. Important examples where this assumption holds include (a) low rank column-wise compressive sensing (LRCS), low rank matrix completion (LRMC), (b) their outlier-corrupted extensions such as robust PCA, robust LRCS and robust LRMC; (c) phase retrieval and its sparse and low-rank model based extensions; (d) tensor extensions of many of these problems such as tensor LRCS and tensor completion; and (e) many partly discrete problems where GD does not apply -- such as clustering, unlabeled sensing, and mixed linear regression. LRCS finds important applications in multi-task representation learning and few shot learning, federated sketching, and accelerated dynamic MRI. LRMC and robust PCA find important applications in recommender systems, computer vision and video analytics.

cs.LG↗
arXiv2025

Noisy Low Rank Column-wise Sensing

This letter studies the AltGDmin algorithm for solving the noisy low rank column-wise sensing (LRCS) problem. Our sample complexity guarantee improves upon the best existing one by a factor $\max(r, \log(1/ε))/r$ where $r$ is the rank of the unknown matrix and $ε$ is the final desired accuracy. A second contribution of this work is a detailed comparison of guarantees from all work that studies the exact same mathematical problem as LRCS, but refers to it by different names.

eess.SP↗
arXiv2025

Democratizing Signal Processing and Machine Learning: Math Learning Equity for Elementary and Middle School Students

Signal Processing (SP) and Machine Learning (ML) rely on good math and coding knowledge, in particular, linear algebra, probability, trigonometry, and complex numbers. A good grasp of these relies on scalar algebra learned in middle school. The ability to understand and use scalar algebra well, in turn, relies on a good foundation in basic arithmetic. Because of various systemic barriers, many students are not able to build a strong foundation in arithmetic in elementary school. This leads them to struggle with algebra and everything after that. Since math learning is cumulative, the gap between those without a strong early foundation and everyone else keeps increasing over the school years and becomes difficult to fill in college. In this article we discuss how SP faculty, students, and professionals can play an important role in starting, and participating in, university-run, or other, out-of-school math support programs to supplement students' learning. Two example programs run by the authors, CyMath at Iowa State and Algebra by 7th Grade (Ab7G) at Purdue, and one run by the Actuarial Foundation, are described. We conclude with providing some simple zero-cost suggestions for public schools that, if adopted, could benefit a much larger number of students than what out-of-school programs can reach.

math.HO↗
arXiv2025

Fast Low Rank column-wise Compressive Sensing for Accelerated Dynamic MRI

This work develops a fast, memory-efficient, and general algorithm for accelerated/undersampled dynamic MRI by assuming an approximate LR model on the matrix formed by the vectorized images of the sequence. By general, we mean that our algorithm can be used for multiple accelerated dynamic MRI applications and multiple sampling rates (acceleration rates) and patterns with a single choice of parameters (no parameter tuning). We show that our proposed algorithms, alternating Gradient Descent (GD) and minimization for MRI (altGDmin-MRI and altGDmin-MRI2), outperform many existing approaches while also being faster than all of them, on average. This claim is based on comparisons on 8 different retrospectively undersampled single- or multi-coil dynamic MRI applications, undersampled using either 1D Cartesian or 2D pseudo-radial undersampling at multiple sampling rates. All comparisons used the same set of algorithm parameters. Our second contribution is a mini-batch and a fully online extension that can process new measurements and return reconstructions either as soon as measurements of a new image frame arrive, or after a short delay.

eess.IV↗
arXiv2025

Fast and Sample Efficient Multi-Task Representation Learning in Stochastic Contextual Bandits

We study how representation learning can improve the learning efficiency of contextual bandit problems. We study the setting where we play T contextual linear bandits with dimension d simultaneously, and these T bandit tasks collectively share a common linear representation with a dimensionality of r much smaller than d. We present a new algorithm based on alternating projected gradient descent (GD) and minimization estimator to recover a low-rank feature matrix. Using the proposed estimator, we present a multi-task learning algorithm for linear contextual bandits and prove the regret bound of our algorithm. We presented experiments and compared the performance of our algorithm against benchmark algorithms.

cs.LG↗
arXiv2024

Fast Low Rank column-wise Compressive Sensing for Accelerated Dynamic MRI

This work develops a novel set of algorithms, alternating Gradient Descent (GD) and minimization for MRI (altGDmin-MRI1 and altGDmin-MRI2), for accelerated dynamic MRI by assuming an approximate low-rank (LR) model on the matrix formed by the vectorized images of the sequence. The LR model itself is well-known in the MRI literature; our contribution is the novel GD-based algorithms which are much faster, memory efficient, and general compared with existing work; and careful use of a 3-level hierarchical LR model. By general, we mean that, with a single choice of parameters, our method provides accurate reconstructions for multiple accelerated dynamic MRI applications, multiple sampling rates and sampling schemes. We show that our methods outperform many of the popular existing approaches while also being faster than all of them, on average. This claim is based on comparisons on 8 different retrospectively under sampled multi-coil dynamic MRI applications, sampled using either 1D Cartesian or 2D pseudo radial under sampling, at multiple sampling rates. Evaluations on some prospectively under sampled datasets are also provided. Our second contribution is a mini-batch subspace tracking extension that can process new measurements and return reconstructions within a short delay after they arrive. The recovery algorithm itself is also faster than its batch counterpart.

eess.IV↗
arXiv2024

Efficient Federated Low Rank Matrix Completion

In this work, we develop and analyze a Gradient Descent (GD) based solution, called Alternating GD and Minimization (AltGDmin), for efficiently solving the low rank matrix completion (LRMC) in a federated setting. LRMC involves recovering an $n \times q$ rank-$r$ matrix $\Xstar$ from a subset of its entries when $r \ll \min(n,q)$. Our theoretical guarantees (iteration and sample complexity bounds) imply that AltGDmin is the most communication-efficient solution in a federated setting, is one of the fastest, and has the second best sample complexity among all iterative solutions to LRMC. In addition, we also prove two important corollaries. (a) We provide a guarantee for AltGDmin for solving the noisy LRMC problem. (b) We show how our lemmas can be used to provide an improved sample complexity guarantee for AltMin, which is the fastest centralized solution.

cs.LG↗
arXiv2024

Byzantine-Resilient Federated PCA and Low Rank Column-wise Sensing

This work considers two related learning problems in a federated attack prone setting: federated principal components analysis (PCA) and federated low rank column-wise sensing (LRCS). The node attacks are assumed to be Byzantine which means that the attackers are omniscient and can collude. We introduce a novel provably Byzantine-resilient communication-efficient and sampleefficient algorithm, called Subspace-Median, that solves the PCA problem and is a key part of the solution for the LRCS problem. We also study the most natural Byzantine-resilient solution for federated PCA, a geometric median based modification of the federated power method, and explain why it is not useful. Our second main contribution is a complete alternating gradient descent (GD) and minimization (altGDmin) algorithm for Byzantine-resilient horizontally federated LRCS and sample and communication complexity guarantees for it. Extensive simulation experiments are used to corroborate our theoretical guarantees. The ideas that we develop for LRCS are easily extendable to other LR recovery problems as well.

cs.IT↗
arXiv2023

A Fast Algorithm for Low Rank + Sparse column-wise Compressive Sensing

This paper focuses studies the following low rank + sparse (LR+S) column-wise compressive sensing problem. We aim to recover an $n \times q$ matrix, $\X^* =[ \x_1^*, \x_2^*, \cdots , \x_q^*]$ from $m$ independent linear projections of each of its $q$ columns, given by $\y_k :=\A_k\x_k^*$, $k \in [q]$. Here, $\y_k$ is an $m$-length vector with $m < n$. We assume that the matrix $\X^*$ can be decomposed as $\X^*=Ł^*+§^*$, where $Ł^*$ is a low rank matrix of rank $r << \min(n,q)$ and $§^*$ is a sparse matrix. Each column of $§$ contains $ρ$ non-zero entries. The matrices $\A_k$ are known and mutually independent for different $k$. To address this recovery problem, we propose a novel fast GD-based solution called AltGDmin-LR+S, which is memory and communication efficient. We numerically evaluate its performance by conducting a detailed simulation-based study.

eess.IV↗
arXiv2023

Detection and Mitigation of Byzantine Attacks in Distributed Training

A plethora of modern machine learning tasks require the utilization of large-scale distributed clusters as a critical component of the training pipeline. However, abnormal Byzantine behavior of the worker nodes can derail the training and compromise the quality of the inference. Such behavior can be attributed to unintentional system malfunctions or orchestrated attacks; as a result, some nodes may return arbitrary results to the parameter server (PS) that coordinates the training. Recent work considers a wide range of attack models and has explored robust aggregation and/or computational redundancy to correct the distorted gradients. In this work, we consider attack models ranging from strong ones: $q$ omniscient adversaries with full knowledge of the defense protocol that can change from iteration to iteration to weak ones: $q$ randomly chosen adversaries with limited collusion abilities which only change every few iterations at a time. Our algorithms rely on redundant task assignments coupled with detection of adversarial behavior. We also show the convergence of our method to the optimal point under common assumptions and settings considered in literature. For strong attacks, we demonstrate a reduction in the fraction of distorted gradients ranging from 16%-99% as compared to the prior state-of-the-art. Our top-1 classification accuracy results on the CIFAR-10 data set demonstrate 25% advantage in accuracy (averaged over strong and weak scenarios) under the most sophisticated attacks compared to state-of-the-art methods.

cs.LG↗
arXiv2022

Fast and Sample-Efficient Federated Low Rank Matrix Recovery from column-wise Linear and Quadratic Projections

We study the following lesser-known low rank (LR) recovery problem: recover an $n \times q$ rank-$r$ matrix, $X^* =[x^*_1 , x^*_2, ..., x^*_q]$, with $r \ll \min(n,q)$, from $m$ independent linear projections of each of its $q$ columns, i.e., from $y_k := A_k x^*_k , k \in [q]$, when $y_k$ is an $m$-length vector with $m < n$. The matrices $A_k$ are known and mutually independent for different $k$. We introduce a novel gradient descent (GD) based solution called AltGD-Min. We show that, if the $A_k$s are i.i.d. with i.i.d. Gaussian entries, and if the right singular vectors of $X^*$ satisfy the incoherence assumption, then $ε$-accurate recovery of $X^*$ is possible with order $(n+q) r^2 \log(1/ε)$ total samples and order $ mq nr \log (1/ε)$ time. Compared with existing work, this is the fastest solution. For $ε< r^{1/4}$, it also has the best sample complexity. A simple extension of AltGD-Min also provably solves LR Phase Retrieval, which is a magnitude-only generalization of the above problem. AltGD-Min factorizes the unknown $X$ as $X = UB$ where $U$ and $B$ are matrices with $r$ columns and rows respectively. It alternates between a (projected) GD step for updating $U$, and a minimization step for updating $B$. Its each iteration is as fast as that of regular projected GD because the minimization over $B$ decouples column-wise. At the same time, we can prove exponential error decay for it, which we are unable to for projected GD. Finally, it can also be efficiently federated with a communication cost of only $nr$ per node, instead of $nq$ for projected GD.

cs.IT↗
arXiv2022

Federated Over-Air Subspace Tracking from Incomplete and Corrupted Data

In this work we study the problem of Subspace Tracking with missing data (ST-miss) and outliers (Robust ST-miss). We propose a novel algorithm, and provide a guarantee for both these problems. Unlike past work on this topic, the current work does not impose the piecewise constant subspace change assumption. Additionally, the proposed algorithm is much simpler (uses fewer parameters) than our previous work. Secondly, we extend our approach and its analysis to provably solving these problems when the data is federated and when the over-air data communication modality is used for information exchange between the $K$ peer nodes and the center. We validate our theoretical claims with extensive numerical experiments.

cs.LG↗
arXiv2021

Fully Decentralized and Federated Low Rank Compressive Sensing

In this work we develop a fully decentralized, federated, and fast solution to the recently studied Low Rank Compressive Sensing (LRCS) problem: recover an nxq low-rank matrix from column-wise linear projections. An important application where this problem occurs, and a decentralized solution is desirable is in federated sketching: efficiently compressing the vast amounts of distributed images/videos generated by smartphones and various other devices while respecting the users' privacy. Images from different devices, once grouped by category, are similar and hence the matrix formed by the vectorized images of a certain category is well-modeled as being low rank. Suppose there are p nodes (say p smartphones), and each store a subset of the sketches of its images. We develop a decentralized projected gradient descent (GD) based approach to jointly reconstruct the images of all the phones/users from their respective stored sketches. The algorithm is such that the phones/users never share their raw data but only summaries of this data with the other phones at each algorithm iteration. Also, the reconstructed images of user g are obtained only locally. Other users cannot reconstruct them. Only the column span of the matrix is reconstructed globally. By "decentralized" we mean that there is no central node to which all nodes are connected and thus the only way to aggregate the summaries from the various nodes is by use of an iterative consensus algorithm that eventually provides an estimate of the aggregate at each node, as long as the network is strongly connected. We validated the effectiveness of our algorithm via extensive simulation experiments.

cs.DS↗
arXiv2021

Sample-Efficient Low Rank Phase Retrieval

This work studies the Low Rank Phase Retrieval (LRPR) problem: recover an $n \times q$ rank-$r$ matrix $X^*$ from $y_k = |A_k^\top x^*_k|$, $k=1, 2,..., q$, when each $y_k$ is an m-length vector containing independent phaseless linear projections of $x^*_k$. The different matrices $A_k$ are i.i.d. and each contains i.i.d. standard Gaussian entries. We obtain an improved guarantee for AltMinLowRaP, which is an Alternating Minimization solution to LRPR that was introduced and studied in our recent work. As long as the right singular vectors of $X^*$ satisfy the incoherence assumption, we can show that the AltMinLowRaP estimate converges geometrically to $X^*$ if the total number of measurements $mq \gtrsim nr^2 (r + \log(1/ε))$. In addition, we also need $m \gtrsim max(r, \log q, \log n)$ because of the specific asymmetric nature of our problem. Compared to our recent work, we improve the sample complexity of the AltMin iterations by a factor of $r^2$, and that of the initialization by a factor of $r$. We also extend our result to the noisy case; we prove stability to corruption by small additive noise.

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