Browse › Theoretical computer science › 140 Memory–sample lower bounds for noiseless Gaussian regression
Memory and precision in noiseless Gaussian regression
Open PDFCite Report a problem Add a reference or comment Interested in working on this Start a discussion
Edit NOTES.md · Existing issues · Source on GitHub
Abstract
For every fixed A > 0, a learner that retains at most $Ad^2$ bits between fresh exact Gaussian linear measurements needs $\Omega_A(d\log(1/\epsilon))$ measurements to estimate a uniformly random unit vector to angular error at most ϵ, for any $0\lt \epsilon\le 1/10$, with probability at least 2/3. The constant is absolute for $o(d^2)$ memory.
If the PDF does not display here, open it directly: Open PDF.
Notes
No notes yet. Add a reference, a comment or your name with the buttons above, or edit NOTES.md on GitHub.
Automatically collected notes (unreviewed)
work in progress
Collected automatically by AI tools (Claude Opus 5.5 and GPT-6 Astra, 2026-10-21) and not checked by a person. May be wrong or incomplete. Report an error.
Follow-up works
- GitHub user acprk (author name not given), The leading constant of the memory–sample tradeoff for noiseless Gaussian regression (GitHub note, v0.1.0, 2026-10-10). Claims the constant $2^{-16}$ of the subsphere paper can be replaced by any $c < 2\ln 2$ for $o(d^2)$ memory, matched by finite-bit randomized Kaczmarz, conditional on the upstream proof; it cites this paper for the order of the sample complexity. [AI-generated per source]
- Draft posted by ミトKeY(MeatKey), Edge Transfer of Fault-Diagnosis Models Based on the Stability of Optimal Transport Maps (public revised draft with placeholder author names, posted 2026-10-12). Section 3.2 cites this paper and proposes a quantized Kaczmarz calibration bound within a synthetic fault-diagnosis transfer experiment. [AI-generated per source]
Formalization
- OpenAI, Memory–sample lower bounds for noiseless Gaussian regression: Lean scope notes (oai-math-revised mirror of openai/math, 2026-10). Describes the Lean formalization across the six papers, with eight comparator files (e.g. NoiselessRegression.lean, SubsphereCurrent.lean); for this paper it reports fixed-quadratic-memory and subquadratic-memory precision bounds, with inverse-Gram and exact-projection supporting estimates. [family-level]
Related prior literature mentioned by others
- V. Sharan, A. Sidford and G. Valiant, Memory-Sample Tradeoffs for Linear Regression with Small Error (arXiv:1904.08544, STOC 2019). Identified by VibeMathed as the noisy-regression precursor to the family's precision question. [family-level]
- Marsden, Sharan, Sidford, Valiant, Efficient Convex Optimization Requires Superlinear Memory (arXiv:2203.15260, 2022; COLT 2022). Cited by the acprk leading-constant note as related memory lower-bound work for first-order convex optimization.
- Blanchard, Zhang, Jaillet, Quadratic Memory is Necessary for Optimal Query Complexity in Convex Optimization: Center-of-Mass is Pareto-Optimal (arXiv:2302.04963, 2023; COLT 2023). Cited by the acprk leading-constant note as related work on quadratic-memory thresholds.
Possibly relevant literature (found by the agent, not checked)
- Brown, Bun, Smith, Strong Memory Lower Bounds for Learning Natural Models (arXiv:2206.04743, COLT 2022). One-pass memory lower bounds for natural learning problems, whose abstract notes earlier linear-regression bounds covered only narrow sample-size ranges; relevant to the claim that the bound holds uniformly in accuracy.
- Menart, Nikolov, Shamir, Stronger Memory-Query Tradeoffs for Convex Optimization: The Limitations of Subquadratic Memory (arXiv:2607.24827, 2026-07-21). Reports a sharp change in query complexity near memory $m \approx d^2$ for convex optimization, a related phenomenon to the $Ad^2$ memory threshold in the main theorem.
- Berg, Ordentlich, Shayevitz, Statistical Inference with Limited Memory: A Survey (arXiv:2312.15225, 2023, rev. 2024; JSAIT). Survey of memory-constrained estimation and lower-bound techniques, background for the finite-state learner model used here.
Digests and expositions
- Latent Seminar, Memory and samples in noiseless Gaussian regression (Latent Seminar, 2026-10-07). Explains the backward successful-mass invariant and block selection cost, and states that the complete proofs were not independently verified. [family-level]
- Perplexity / Orply, Bounded Memory Forces Logarithmically More Samples for Precise Gaussian Regression (Orply, 2026-10-11). An AI-assisted exposition of this paper's finite-state model, backward mass invariant, projection argument, and reflection endpoint. [AI-generated per source]
News and blogs
- ミトKeY(MeatKey), OpenAIの"openai/math"の広い意味での研究へのインパクトについての「ある実験」 (note.com, 2026-10-12). Presents an AI-generated application experiment using family 140 for sensor calibration and discusses proposed finite-bit Kaczmarz and manufacturing-transfer extensions. [AI-generated per source] [family-level]
Elsewhere
- VibeMathed: Problem record
- Emergent Mind: family 140
Independent sites; their content is not reviewed here.
Cite
@misc{OAI:Memory-and-precision-in-noiseless-Gaussian-regression-September-27-2026,
author = {{OpenAI}},
title = {{Memory and precision in noiseless Gaussian regression}},
howpublished = {OpenAI Math Release preprint
\href{https://github.com/openai/math/blob/main/preprints/Memory-and-precision-in-noiseless-Gaussian-regression-September-27-2026/paper.pdf}{OAI:Memory-and-precision-in-noiseless-Gaussian-regression-September-27-2026}},
year = {2026}
}Lean formalization
OpenAI provides Lean files for this family: lean/docs/140.md. The Lean statements have not been checked by people against the paper's claims.
Family 140: Memory–sample lower bounds for noiseless Gaussian regression
For fixed A > 0, a one-pass learner with $Ad^2$ persistent bits needs $\Omega_A(d\log(1/\epsilon))$ noiseless Gaussian samples to recover a unit vector to angular error $0\lt \epsilon\le1/10$ with probability 2/3, uniformly in accuracy for large d. Computation and randomized updates are unrestricted, but output uses only the terminal state, stopping index and fresh randomness.
Other papers in this family:
- Posterior replicas and conditional information in Gaussian regression · September 27, 2026
- Localization costs and information growth for exact Gaussian observations · September 27, 2026
- Projection moments, positive cap domination, and Riesz estimates on the sphere · September 27, 2026
- Replacing Gaussian observations in memory-constrained inference · September 27, 2026
- Subsphere methods for memory-sample lower bounds in noiseless Gaussian regression · September 27, 2026