Zero Sum SVD: Balancing Loss Sensitivity for Low Rank LLM Compression

Advances in large language models have driven strong performance across many tasks, but their memory and compute costs still hinder deployment. SVD-based compression reduces storage and can speed up inference via low-rank factors, yet performance depends on how rank is allocated under a global compression ratio. Prior methods often use homogeneous ranks for similarly sized matrices, despite large differences in loss sensitivity, or rely on expensive iterative pre-truncation optimization to determine per matrix ranks. We propose \textbf{Zero Sum SVD} (\textbf{ZS-SVD}), a post-training method that performs \emph{global} singular component selection using activation whitening and first-order calibration loss estimates in whitened coordinates. \textbf{ZS-SVD} prunes components across the whole model with a \textbf{zero sum} rule that keeps the cumulative predicted loss change near zero, automatically yielding heterogeneous ranks without solving a rank allocation optimization. Motivated by evidence that gradients near pretrained solutions exhibit low rank structure, we also introduce an optional lightweight correction that applies a \textbf{single} projected gradient update after truncation, followed by re-truncation. Extensive experiments across multiple LLM architectures show consistent gains across diverse benchmarks and compression ratios. Code is available at https://github.com/mint-vu/Zero-Sum-SVD

Neural-Augmented Kelvinlet: Real-Time Soft Tissue Deformation with Multiple Graspers

Fast and accurate simulation of soft tissue deformation is a critical factor for surgical robotics and medical training. In this paper, we introduce a novel physics-informed neural simulator that approximates soft tissue deformations in a realistic and real-time manner. Our framework integrates Kelvinlet-based priors into neural simulators, making it the first approach to leverage Kelvinlets for residual learning and regularization in data-driven soft tissue modeling. By incorporating large-scale Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations of both linear and nonlinear soft tissue responses, our method improves neural network predictions across diverse architectures, enhancing accuracy and physical consistency while maintaining low latency for real-time performance. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by performing accurate surgical maneuvers that simulate the use of standard laparoscopic tissue grasping tools with high fidelity. These results establish Kelvinlet-augmented learning as a powerful and efficient strategy for real-time, physics-aware soft tissue simulation in surgical applications.