about
The Matrix Calculus You Need For Deep Learning (arxiv.org)
26 points by ghosthamlet on Feb 10, 2018 | hide | past | pdf | 4 comments on HN

In plain words: A guide to the matrix calculus behind training neural networks, needing only first-year calculus and refreshing the basics as it goes. It ends with a reference section collecting every key rule, for readers who already know neural network basics and want the underlying math.

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to explain all the matrix calculus you need in order to understand the training of deep neural networks. We assume no math knowledge beyond what you learned in calculus 1, and provide links to help you refresh the necessary math where needed. Note that you do not need to understand this material before you start learning to train and use deep learning in practice; rather, this material is for those who are already familiar with the basics of neural networks, and wish to deepen their understanding of the underlying math. Don't worry if you get stuck at some point along the way---just go back and reread the previous section, and try writing down and working through some examples. And if you're still stuck, we're happy to answer your questions in the Theory category at forums.fast.ai. Note: There is a reference section at the end of the paper summarizing all the key matrix calculus rules and terminology discussed here. See related articles at http://explained.ai

Terence Parr, Jeremy Howard
arXiv:1802.01528 · cs.LG, stat.ML · submitted Feb 5, 2018 · updated Jul 2, 2018
abstract · pdf · html · PDF version of mobile/web friendly version http://explained.ai/matrix-calculus/index.html

add comment on HN
Also discussed: Jan 2025 (3 points, 0 comments) · Oct 2022 (3 points, 0 comments) · Apr 2021 (168 points, 40 comments) · Jan 2020 (5 points, 0 comments) · Jan 2020 (7 points, 0 comments)

Is this essentially a dupe of the submission 10 days ago?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16267178

It looks like the arXiv version of the previous submission to me ...

Ah, missed that. Thanks!
I will stop associating arxiv with solely research papers now. I guess they getting filled with lots of these so-called "whitepapers". I appreciate the effort of this paper, though, it seems more like an idea for a textbook. It even seems like arxiv is welcoming this what with their "Computers > Learning" breadcrumb, good to see more types of educational documents in the research realm, but I feel that teaching and research are separate for a reason.
For those not familiar, Jeremy Howard (one of the two authors of this paper), is one of the founders of course.fast.ai, an excellent open course teaching machine learning geared toward software engineers and others with and without a strong academic background.

I really enjoy the course and encourage those who haven't yet looked into it to try it out, so long as one has an interest in machine learning.