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Batch size counts the examples combined in a mini-batch. In the simple stochastic gradient descent loop where each group produces one parameter update, it controls how many examples contribute to that update. It differs from a training epoch, which counts a pass over the available training data.^[ref]

For an original counting example, partition ten examples with nominal batch size $b=4$ and retain the remainder. The actual sizes are $4,4,2$, giving $\lceil 10/4\rceil =3$ updates per training epoch. Discarding the remainder instead gives two updates and uses only eight examples. More generally the retained-remainder update count is $\lceil n/b\rceil$ for $n$ examples, provided there is one update per group.

Batch size also changes gradient sampling noise. If independently sampled component gradients at a fixed parameter have scalar variance ${\sigma }^2$, their sample mean hasFor an original exact example, suppose one component gradient is equally likely to be 0 or 2. Its mean is 1 and variance is 1. A two-example mini-batch gradient takes values $0,1,2$ with probabilities $1/4,1/2,1/4$, giving variance $1/2$. This calculation holds parameters fixed and assumes independent sampling; sampling without replacement has a finite population correction.

With gradient accumulation, several groups may contribute before an update. Two full four-example groups then involve eight examples per update if their gradients are normalized consistently. State whether a reported size counts the processed group or all examples contributing to an update. Lower sampling variance alone does not establish faster training for a fixed computation budget.

The effective batch size counts the example contributions combined in one optimizer update, including gradient accumulation and contributions from parallel workers. With $P$ workers, $a$ accumulated groups per worker and $b$ examples in each full group,The PyTorch documentation uses this count to specify when accumulated gradients are unscaled and the optimizer is stepped.^[ref]

For an original example, two workers each process three groups of four examples before updating: $b_{\mathrm{eff}}=2\cdot 3\cdot 4=24$. For an additive per-example loss function, the desired gradient is $24^{-1}{\sum }_{i=1}^{24}\nabla f_i(\theta )$, evaluated at unchanged parameters $\theta$. If each worker accumulates the three group-mean gradients divided by three, then averaging the two workers' results gives that normalization. Summing the workers instead would double the gradient.

Incomplete groups require their actual counts. Group sizes $4,4,2$ on each of two workers give $b_{\mathrm{eff}}=20$, and the combined mini-batch gradient weights each group mean by its example count. Dividing all six group means by six would overweight the two-example groups.

The count describes contributions, not necessarily distinct examples. If both workers process the same twelve example identifiers, there are 24 contributions but only twelve distinct examples. The usual inverse-count reduction of variance requires assumptions about independent random variables; duplication can violate them. Nor does this bookkeeping by itself establish a rule for changing the learning rate.

A mini-batch is a group of training examples processed together in one iteration of a learning algorithm. Its batch size counts examples, while a training epoch usually counts one pass over the available training data. In stochastic gradient descent, a mini-batch gradient combines the component gradients from the selected examples; the group of examples and the resulting numerical estimate are distinct objects.^[ref]

For an original counting example, partition eight examples into mini-batches with nominal batch size three and retain the final partial group. The sizes are $3,3,2$, giving three updates in one training epoch if each group produces one update. Discarding the final partial group changes which observations participate.

Unequal group sizes also matter when reporting a loss function. At fixed model parameters, suppose the three mini-batch mean losses are $1,1,10$. Their unweighted mean is $4$, but the mean over all eight examples isThe smaller last group must not receive the same weight as a larger group when the intended statistic is a per-example sample mean. This bookkeeping issue is separate from the randomness used to select a mini-batch.

Stochastic gradient descent updates an optimization parameter using a random estimate of the gradient:For a finite-sum objective $f(x)=m^{-1}{\sum }_{i=1}^m{f}_i(x)$, selecting an index uniformly and taking $G_k=\nabla f_{I_k}(x_k)$ gives an unbiased stochastic gradient. Averaging several selected gradients gives a mini-batch gradient. The saving is fewer component evaluations per update, while the randomness adds variance. Unbiasedness or a controlled bias is an assumption, rather than an automatic property of any approximate gradient.^[ref]

A simple noise example is $f(x)=x^2/2$ and $G_k=x_k+{\xi }_k$, where independent centered noises have variance ${\sigma }^2$. With a constant step size $0<\eta <2$,Its mean tends to zero, but its limiting variance is $\eta {\sigma }^2/(2-\eta )$: solve $v=(1-\eta {)}^{2}v+{\eta }^2{\sigma }^2$. Thus constant steps can leave a stochastic gradient noise floor even for this strictly convex quadratic. Smaller or diminishing steps change the balance between progress and noise; a nonconvex stationarity estimate must not be read as guaranteed convergence to a global minimum.