Transfer Learning for Latent Variable Network Models

Akhil Jalan, Arya Mazumdar, Soumendu Sundar Mukherjee, Purnamrita Sarkar

Keywords: Transfer learning, network estimation, latent variable models

TL;DR: Transfer learning gets vanishing reconstruction error on the entire target network given o(1) fraction of the target nodes

Abstract: We study transfer learning for estimation in latent variable network models. In our setting, the conditional edge probability matrices given the latent variables are represented by $P$ for the source and $Q$ for the target. We wish to estimate $Q$ given two kinds of data: (1) edge data from a subgraph induced by an $o(1)$ fraction of the nodes of $Q$, and (2) edge data from all of $P$. If the source $P$ has no relation to the target $Q$, the estimation error must be $\Omega(1)$. However, we show that if the latent variables are shared, then vanishing error is possible. We give an efficient algorithm that utilizes the ordering of a suitably defined graph distance. Our algorithm achieves $o(1)$ error and does not assume a parametric form on the source or target networks. Next, for the specific case of Stochastic Block Models we prove a minimax lower bound and show that a simple algorithm achieves this rate. Finally, we empirically demonstrate our algorithm's use on real-world and simulated graph transfer problems.

Primary Area: Learning theory

Submission Number: 13183