patrick-kidger / patrick-kidger/diffrax
`IController`: investigate removing the `stop_gradient`s
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- Dominant language
- Python
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Description
At the moment there are several stop_gradients in there, primarily to avoid instability observed in the backward pass. There's been a few bugs fixed in IController since then, so this may no longer be the case?
It may still be nice to keep as an option, since non-backpropagation through rejected steps is an increase in efficiency with minimal change to the gradient.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by locating IController and each stop_gradient call, then review the backward-pass instability fixes made since this issue was opened. Compare behavior with and without those stops and determine whether removal is safe; document or test an optional non-backpropagation path if it remains useful.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- machine-learning
- Issue type
- Refactor
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100