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Documents authored by Yang, Hongseok

Document
Invited Talk
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSCD.2019.4
Some Semantic Issues in Probabilistic Programming Languages (Invited Talk)

Authors: Hongseok Yang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 131, 4th International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD 2019)

Abstract
This is a slightly extended abstract of my talk at FSCD'19 about probabilistic programming and a few semantic issues on it. The main purpose of this abstract is to provide keywords and references on the work mentioned in my talk, and help interested audience to do follow-up study.
Cite as

Hongseok Yang. Some Semantic Issues in Probabilistic Programming Languages (Invited Talk). In 4th International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD 2019). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 131, pp. 4:1-4:6, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2019)

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@InProceedings{yang:LIPIcs.FSCD.2019.4,
  author =	{Yang, Hongseok},
  title =	{{Some Semantic Issues in Probabilistic Programming Languages}},
  booktitle =	{4th International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD 2019)},
  pages =	{4:1--4:6},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-107-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2019},
  volume =	{131},
  editor =	{Geuvers, Herman},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSCD.2019.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-105118},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSCD.2019.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: Probabilistic Programming, Denotational Semantics, Non-differentiable Models, Bayesian Nonparametrics, Exchangeability}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.141
The Beta-Bernoulli process and algebraic effects

Authors: Sam Staton, Dario Stein, Hongseok Yang, Nathanael L. Ackerman, Cameron E. Freer, and Daniel M. Roy

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 107, 45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018)

Abstract
In this paper we use the framework of algebraic effects from programming language theory to analyze the Beta-Bernoulli process, a standard building block in Bayesian models. Our analysis reveals the importance of abstract data types, and two types of program equations, called commutativity and discardability. We develop an equational theory of terms that use the Beta-Bernoulli process, and show that the theory is complete with respect to the measure-theoretic semantics, and also in the syntactic sense of Post. Our analysis has a potential for being generalized to other stochastic processes relevant to Bayesian modelling, yielding new understanding of these processes from the perspective of programming.
Cite as

Sam Staton, Dario Stein, Hongseok Yang, Nathanael L. Ackerman, Cameron E. Freer, and Daniel M. Roy. The Beta-Bernoulli process and algebraic effects. In 45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 107, pp. 141:1-141:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)

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@InProceedings{staton_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.141,
  author =	{Staton, Sam and Stein, Dario and Yang, Hongseok and Ackerman, Nathanael L. and Freer, Cameron E. and Roy, Daniel M.},
  title =	{{The Beta-Bernoulli process and algebraic effects}},
  booktitle =	{45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018)},
  pages =	{141:1--141:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-076-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{107},
  editor =	{Chatzigiannakis, Ioannis and Kaklamanis, Christos and Marx, D\'{a}niel and Sannella, Donald},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.141},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-91456},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.141},
  annote =	{Keywords: Beta-Bernoulli process, Algebraic effects, Probabilistic programming, Exchangeability}
}
Document
Invited Talk
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2017.3
Probabilistic Programming (Invited Talk)

Authors: Hongseok Yang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 85, 28th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2017)

Abstract
Probabilistic programming refers to the idea of using standard programming constructs for specifying probabilistic models from machine learning and statistics, and employing generic inference algorithms for answering various queries on these models, such as posterior inference and estimation of model evidence. Although this idea itself is not new and was, in fact, explored by several programming-language and statistics researchers in the early 2000, it is only in the last few years that probabilistic programming has gained a large amount of attention among researchers in machine learning and programming languages, and that expressive and efficient probabilistic programming systems (such as Anglican, Church, Figaro, Infer.net, PSI, PyMC, Stan, and Venture) started to appear and have been taken up by a nontrivial number of users. The primary goal of my talk is to introduce probabilistic programming to the CONCUR/QUEST/FORMATS audience. At the end of my talk, I want the audience to understand basic results and techniques in probabilistic programming and to feel that these results and techniques are relevant or at least related to what she or he studies, although they typically come from foreign research areas, such as machine learning and statistics. My talk will contain both technical materials and lessons that I learnt from my machine-learning colleagues in Oxford, who are developing a highly-expressive higher-order probabilistic programming language, called Anglican. It will also include my work on the denotational semantics of higher-order probabilistic programming languages and their inference algorithms, which are jointly pursued with colleagues in Cambridge, Edinburgh, Oxford and Tubingen.
Cite as

Hongseok Yang. Probabilistic Programming (Invited Talk). In 28th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 85, p. 3:1, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

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@InProceedings{yang:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2017.3,
  author =	{Yang, Hongseok},
  title =	{{Probabilistic Programming}},
  booktitle =	{28th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2017)},
  pages =	{3:1--3:1},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-048-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{85},
  editor =	{Meyer, Roland and Nestmann, Uwe},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2017.3},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-78088},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2017.3},
  annote =	{Keywords: Probabilistic programming, Machine learning, Denotational semantics}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2017.26
Algebraic Laws for Weak Consistency

Authors: Andrea Cerone, Alexey Gotsman, and Hongseok Yang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 85, 28th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2017)

Abstract
Modern distributed systems often rely on so called weakly consistent databases, which achieve scalability by weakening consistency guarantees of distributed transaction processing. The semantics of such databases have been formalised in two different styles, one based on abstract executions and the other based on dependency graphs. The choice between these styles has been made according to intended applications. The former has been used for specifying and verifying the implementation of the databases, while the latter for proving properties of client programs of the databases. In this paper, we present a set of novel algebraic laws (inequalities) that connect these two styles of specifications. The laws relate binary relations used in a specification based on abstract executions to those used in a specification based on dependency graphs. We then show that this algebraic connection gives rise to so called robustness criteria: conditions which ensure that a client program of a weakly consistent database does not exhibit anomalous behaviours due to weak consistency. These criteria make it easy to reason about these client programs, and may become a basis for dynamic or static program analyses. For a certain class of consistency models specifications, we prove a full abstraction result that connects the two styles of specifications.
Cite as

Andrea Cerone, Alexey Gotsman, and Hongseok Yang. Algebraic Laws for Weak Consistency. In 28th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 85, pp. 26:1-26:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

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@InProceedings{cerone_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2017.26,
  author =	{Cerone, Andrea and Gotsman, Alexey and Yang, Hongseok},
  title =	{{Algebraic Laws for Weak Consistency}},
  booktitle =	{28th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2017)},
  pages =	{26:1--26:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-048-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{85},
  editor =	{Meyer, Roland and Nestmann, Uwe},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2017.26},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-77946},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2017.26},
  annote =	{Keywords: Weak Consistency Models, Distributed Databases, Dependency Graphs}
}
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