Affine Invariance in Continuous-Domain Convolutional Neural Networks

The notion of group invariance helps neural networks in recognizing patterns and features under geometric transformations. Indeed, it has been shown that group invariance can largely improve deep learning performances in practice, where such transformations are very common. This research studies affine invariance on continuous-domain convolutional neural networks. Despite other research considering isometric invariance or similarity invariance, we focus on the full structure of affine transforms generated by the generalized linear group $\mathrm{GL}_2(\mathbb{R})$. We introduce a new criterion to assess the similarity of two input signals under affine transformations. Then, unlike conventional methods that involve solving complex optimization problems on the Lie group $G_2$, we analyze the convolution of lifted signals and compute the corresponding integration over $G_2$. In sum, our research could eventually extend the scope of geometrical transformations that practical deep-learning pipelines can handle.