A Unified Framework for Entropy Search and Expected Improvement in Bayesian Optimization

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2501.18756v1
• Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2025 21:15:00 GMT
• Title: A Unified Framework for Entropy Search and Expected Improvement in Bayesian Optimization
• Authors: Nuojin Cheng, Leonard Papenmeier, Stephen Becker, Luigi Nardi,
• Abstract summary: We introduce a unified theoretical framework, Variational Entropy Search, which reveals that EI and information-theoretic acquisition functions are more closely related than previously recognized.<n>We propose VES-Gamma, a novel acquisition function that balances the strengths of EI and MES.
• Score: 6.745285924097932
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: Bayesian optimization is a widely used method for optimizing expensive black-box functions, with Expected Improvement being one of the most commonly used acquisition functions. In contrast, information-theoretic acquisition functions aim to reduce uncertainty about the function's optimum and are often considered fundamentally distinct from EI. In this work, we challenge this prevailing perspective by introducing a unified theoretical framework, Variational Entropy Search, which reveals that EI and information-theoretic acquisition functions are more closely related than previously recognized. We demonstrate that EI can be interpreted as a variational inference approximation of the popular information-theoretic acquisition function, named Max-value Entropy Search. Building on this insight, we propose VES-Gamma, a novel acquisition function that balances the strengths of EI and MES. Extensive empirical evaluations across both low- and high-dimensional synthetic and real-world benchmarks demonstrate that VES-Gamma is competitive with state-of-the-art acquisition functions and in many cases outperforms EI and MES.

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