Observability conditions for neural state-space models with eigenvalues and their roots of unity
On the map: State-space sequence models (S4, Mamba) → Core SSM architectures for language
Abstract (arXiv)
We operate through the lens of ordinary differential equations and control theory to study the concept of observability in the context of neural state-space models and the Mamba architecture. We develop strategies to enforce observability, which are tailored to a learning context, specifically where the hidden states are learnable at initial time, in conjunction to over its continuum, and high-dimensional. We also highlight our methods emphasize eigenvalues, roots of unity, or both. Our methods effectuate computational efficiency when enforcing observability, sometimes at great scale. We formulate observability conditions in machine learning based on classical control theory and discuss their computational complexity. Our nontrivial results are fivefold. We discuss observability through the use of permutations in neural applications with learnable matrices without high precision. We present two results built upon the Fourier transform that effect observability with high probability up to the randomness in the learning. These results are worked with the interplay of representations in Fourier space and their eigenstructure, nonlinear mappings, and the observability matrix. We present a result for Mamba that is similar to a Hautus-type condition, but instead employs an argument using a Vandermonde matrix instead of eigenvectors. Our final result is a shared-parameter construction of the Mamba system, which is computationally efficient in high exponentiation. We develop a training algorithm with this coupling, showing it satisfies a Robbins-Monro condition under certain orthogonality, while a more classical training procedure fails to satisfy a contraction with high Lipschitz constant.
Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Core SSM architectures for language, one of 10 directions in State-space sequence models (S4, Mamba). Builds on 18 of its 40 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 22 Apr 2025.
Builds on
18 of 40 references.
Closest ancestors · 5
Same direction, newest first
- 2024Sparse Mamba: Introducing Controllability, Observability, And Stability To Structural State Space Models31 Aug
- 2024MambaLRP: Explaining Selective State Space Sequence Models11 Jun
- 2023Mamba: Linear-Time Sequence Modeling with Selective State Spaces1 Dec
- 2022Simplified State Space Layers for Sequence Modeling9 Aug
- 2021Efficiently Modeling Long Sequences with Structured State Spaces31 Oct
Other references · 13
- 2013Stochastic First- and Zeroth-order Methods for Nonconvex Stochastic Programmingcited by 724
- 2014Convex Optimization: Algorithms and Complexitycited by 575
- 2019Lower Bounds for Non-Convex Stochastic Optimizationcited by 307
- 2018AdaGrad stepsizes: Sharp convergence over nonconvex landscapescited by 182
- 2017Lower Bounds for Finding Stationary Points Icited by 126
- 2017Lower Bounds for Finding Stationary Points II: First-Order Methodscited by 58
- 2019Stochastic Gradient Descent for Nonconvex Learning without Bounded Gradient Assumptionscited by 48
- 2024State-space models are accurate and efficient neural operators for dynamical systemscited by 28
- 2024State Space Models as Foundation Models: A Control Theoretic Overviewcited by 19
- 2023Functional observability and subspace reconstruction in nonlinear systemscited by 2
- 2018On the Use of the Observability Gramian for Partially Observed Robotic Path Planning Problemscited by 1
- 2023Neural State-Space Models: Empirical Evaluation of Uncertainty Quantificationcited by 1
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