AC/DC on a Budget - Alternating Sparse Phases
State-of-the-art neural network sparsification relies on alternating dense and sparse training phases. While computationally expensive, dense phases are critical for performance. Our empirical analysis reveals the mechanics behind this gain: upon reintroduction, previously masked parameters receive disproportionately large gradients that drive essential mask rewiring and parameter sign-flipping. Building on these insights, we optimize the performance-to-FLOPs Pareto frontier through three innovations: (1) zero-initializing masked parameters during dense phases to promote relevant sign flips, (2) shortening dense phases, and (3) replacing the dense phase entirely with a sparse rewiring pha...
| Authors | Rahul Nittala, Advait Gadhikar, Tom Jacobs et al. |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.LG |
| Published | 20 October 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 20 October 2026 |
Silytics shows public metadata from arXiv and links to the original. Information may be incomplete or out of date. Last refreshed 21 October 2026. Licenses and terms of the original apply to the work itself. Not financial, legal or professional advice.