Abstract:We present BayesQ, an uncertainty-guided post-training quantization framework that is the first to optimize quantization under the posterior expected loss. BayesQ fits a lightweight Gaussian posterior over weights (diagonal Laplace by default; optional K-FAC/low-rank), whitens by the posterior covariance, designs codebooks to minimize posterior-expected distortion, and allocates mixed precision via a greedy knapsack that maximizes marginal expected-loss reduction per bit under a global budget. For scalar quantizers, posterior-expected MSE yields closed-form tables; task-aware proxies are handled by short Monte Carlo on a small calibration set. An optional calibration-only distillation aligns the quantized model with the posterior predictive teacher. At matched average bits/weight of 3.0/3.5/4.0, BayesQ improves over strong PTQ baselines on ResNet-50 (ImageNet) and BERT-base (GLUE) e.g., vs. GPTQ by $+1.5/+0.7/+0.3$ top-1 percentage points on RN50 and $+1.1/+0.4/+0.2$ GLUE points on BERT, while requiring one-time preprocessing comparable to a GPTQ pass. BayesQ reframes low-bit quantization as uncertainty-aware risk minimization in a practical, post-training pipeline.
Abstract:We introduce Simplex-FEM Networks (SiFEN), a learned piecewise-polynomial predictor that represents f: R^d -> R^k as a globally C^r finite-element field on a learned simplicial mesh in an optionally warped input space. Each query activates exactly one simplex and at most d+1 basis functions via barycentric coordinates, yielding explicit locality, controllable smoothness, and cache-friendly sparsity. SiFEN pairs degree-m Bernstein-Bezier polynomials with a light invertible warp and trains end-to-end with shape regularization, semi-discrete OT coverage, and differentiable edge flips. Under standard shape-regularity and bi-Lipschitz warp assumptions, SiFEN achieves the classic FEM approximation rate M^(-m/d) with M mesh vertices. Empirically, on synthetic approximation tasks, tabular regression/classification, and as a drop-in head on compact CNNs, SiFEN matches or surpasses MLPs and KANs at matched parameter budgets, improves calibration (lower ECE/Brier), and reduces inference latency due to geometric locality. These properties make SiFEN a compact, interpretable, and theoretically grounded alternative to dense MLPs and edge-spline networks.