Zhiliang Ying

A Latent Topic Model with Markovian Transition for Process Data

2019 · arXiv (Cornell University)

We propose a latent topic model with a Markovian transition for process data, which consist of time-stamped events recorded in a log file. Such data are becoming more widely available in computer-based educational assessment with …

Robust and Adaptive Spectral Method for Representation Multi-Task Learning with Contamination

2025 · arXiv (Cornell University)

Representation-based multi-task learning (MTL) improves efficiency by learning a shared structure across tasks, but its practical application is often hindered by contamination, outliers, or adversarial tasks. Most existing methods and theories assume a clean or …

Breaking a Logarithmic Barrier in the Stopping Time Convergence Rate of Stochastic First-order Methods

2025 · arXiv (Cornell University)

This work provides a novel convergence analysis for stochastic optimization in terms of stopping times, addressing the practical reality that algorithms are often terminated adaptively based on observed progress. Unlike prior approaches, our analysis: 1. …