Data-Driven Energy-Based Learning via Gibbs Measures on Hierarchical Structures
2606.30064

Authors

L. U. Abdullaev,F. Herrera,U. A. Rozikov,M. V. Velasco

Abstract

We introduce a data-driven probabilistic framework for learning systems based on Gibbs measures on hierarchical structures. Unlike standard empirical risk minimization, where a dataset is used to identify a single optimal parameter, our approach transforms the empirical loss function into an interaction potential defining an energy-based model.

The resulting Gibbs distribution describes a family of equilibrium learning states generated by the data. We formulate the consistency conditions of the associated finite-volume distributions and derive nonlinear integral fixed-point equations whose solutions characterize the admissible learning states.

These equations provide a rigorous connection between empirical loss landscapes and probabilistic inference on trees. For translation-invariant solutions, the problem reduces to the analysis of positive compact operators induced by data-dependent kernels, allowing us to establish existence and uniqueness conditions in the one-dimensional setting.

Furthermore, we show that hierarchical learning systems may exhibit phase-transition phenomena: for certain empirical kernels on Cayley trees, multiple Gibbs measures emerge beyond a critical inverse temperature, corresponding to distinct equilibrium prediction regimes. Numerical experiments with non-separable kernels illustrate the appearance of multiple solution branches and demonstrate the coexistence of several data-induced learning states.

Our results provide a new perspective on energy-based learning, where data do not merely determine an optimal model through minimization but define an entire probabilistic landscape of possible inference states.

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