The Inverse of Exact Renormalization Group Flows as Statistical Inference
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Abstract (arXiv)
We build on the view of the Exact Renormalization Group (ERG) as an instantiation of Optimal Transport described by a functional convection-diffusion equation. We provide a new information theoretic perspective for understanding the ERG through the intermediary of Bayesian Statistical Inference. This connection is facilitated by the Dynamical Bayesian Inference scheme, which encodes Bayesian inference in the form of a one parameter family of probability distributions solving an integro-differential equation derived from Bayes' law. In this note, we demonstrate how the Dynamical Bayesian Inference equation is, itself, equivalent to a diffusion equation which we dub Bayesian Diffusion. Identifying the features that define Bayesian Diffusion, and mapping them onto the features that define the ERG, we obtain a dictionary outlining how renormalization can be understood as the inverse of statistical inference.
Key facts. Cited by 12 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Builds on 7 of its 81 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 21 Dec 2022.
Builds on
7 of 81 references.
References · 7
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Citing papers per year: 2023: 1; 2024: 6; 2025: 2; 2026: 3.
12 papers.
- 2024FAdam: Adam is a natural gradient optimizer using diagonal empirical Fisher informationcited by 18
- 2023Bayesian Renormalizationcited by 14
- 2024Rigor with Machine Learning from Field Theory to the Poincar'e Conjecturecited by 12
- 2024On learning higher-order cumulants in diffusion modelscited by 10
- 2024Bayesian RG Flow in Neural Network Field Theoriescited by 9
- 2024NCoder -- A Quantum Field Theory approach to encoding datacited by 8
- 2024Wilsonian Renormalization of Neural Network Gaussian Processescited by 8
- 2025Fermions and Supersymmetry in Neural Network Field Theoriescited by 6
- 2025Grokking vs. Learning: Same Features, Different Encodingscited by 2
- 2026A path to natural language through tokenisation and transformerscited by 2
- 2026Lecture Notes on Statistical Physics and Neural Networkscited by 0
- 2026Optimal Pruning for Neural Architectures using Fisher Information Distancescited by 0
- 2026Optimal Pruning for Neural Architectures using Fisher Information Distances14 Sep 2026
- 2026Lecture Notes on Statistical Physics and Neural Networks7 May 2026
- 2026A path to natural language through tokenisation and transformers6 Jan 2026
- 2025Fermions and Supersymmetry in Neural Network Field Theories20 Nov 2025
- 2025Grokking vs. Learning: Same Features, Different Encodings3 Feb 2025
- 2024On learning higher-order cumulants in diffusion models28 Oct 2024
- 2024Bayesian RG Flow in Neural Network Field Theories27 May 2024
- 2024FAdam: Adam is a natural gradient optimizer using diagonal empirical Fisher information21 May 2024
- 2024Wilsonian Renormalization of Neural Network Gaussian Processes9 May 2024
- 2024Rigor with Machine Learning from Field Theory to the Poincar'e Conjecture20 Feb 2024
- 2024NCoder -- A Quantum Field Theory approach to encoding data1 Feb 2024
- 2023Bayesian Renormalization17 May 2023