Symmetry-Aware Feature Representations and Model Optimization for Interpretable Machine Learning
Mehtab Alam, Abdullah Alourani, Ashraf M Ali, Firoj Ahamad · Symmetry · 2025
This paper investigates the role of symmetry and asymmetry in the learning process of modern machine learning models, with a specific focus on feature representation and optimization. We introduce a novel symmetry-aware learning framework that identifies and preserves symmetric properties within high-dimensional datasets, while allowing model asymmetries to capture essential discriminative cues. Through analytical modeling and empirical evaluations on benchmark datasets, we demonstrate how symmetrical transformations of features (e.g., rotation, mirroring, permutation invariance) impact learning efficiency, interpretability, and generalization. Furthermore, we explore asymmetric regularization techniques that prioritize informative deviations from symmetry in model parameters, thereby improving classification and clustering performance. The proposed approach is validated using a variety of classifiers including neural networks and tested across domains such as image recognition, biomedical data, and social networks. Our findings highlight the critical importance of leveraging domain-specific symmetries to enhance both the performance and explainability of machine learning systems.