{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7154229170","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.11043","title":"EmergentBridge: Improving Zero-Shot Cross-Modal Transfer in Unified Multimodal Embedding Models","display_name":"EmergentBridge: Improving Zero-Shot Cross-Modal Transfer in Unified Multimodal Embedding Models","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-04-13","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7154229170","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.11043"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2604.11043","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.11043","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"article"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.11043","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5133558676","display_name":"Jincheng Xie","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Xie, Jincheng","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5133572463","display_name":"Xingchen Xiao","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xiao, Xingchen","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Huang, Heyan","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Huang, Heyan","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5133560203","display_name":"Zhongyi Huang","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Huang, Zhongyi","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5033085089","display_name":"Yu Zheng","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1803-8678"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zheng, Yu","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Liu, Runheng","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Liu, Runheng","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":6,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5133558676"],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11307","display_name":"Domain Adaptation and Few-Shot Learning","score":0.5522000193595886,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11307","display_name":"Domain Adaptation and Few-Shot Learning","score":0.5522000193595886,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10860","display_name":"Speech and Audio Processing","score":0.1469999998807907,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1711","display_name":"Signal Processing"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11714","display_name":"Multimodal Machine Learning Applications","score":0.11129999905824661,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/embedding","display_name":"Embedding","score":0.8338000178337097},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/pairwise-comparison","display_name":"Pairwise comparison","score":0.7893000245094299},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/bridging","display_name":"Bridging (networking)","score":0.5877000093460083},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/subspace-topology","display_name":"Subspace topology","score":0.585099995136261},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/proxy","display_name":"Proxy (statistics)","score":0.44699999690055847},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/modality","display_name":"Modality (human\u2013computer interaction)","score":0.4334000051021576},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/key","display_name":"Key (lock)","score":0.4268999993801117},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/scalability","display_name":"Scalability","score":0.42089998722076416}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41608201","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q980509","display_name":"Embedding","level":2,"score":0.8338000178337097},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C184898388","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1435712","display_name":"Pairwise comparison","level":2,"score":0.7893000245094299},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.6966000199317932},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C174348530","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q188635","display_name":"Bridging (networking)","level":2,"score":0.5877000093460083},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C32834561","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q660730","display_name":"Subspace topology","level":2,"score":0.585099995136261},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C80444323","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2878974","display_name":"Theoretical computer science","level":1,"score":0.5144000053405762},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.47589999437332153},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780148112","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1432581","display_name":"Proxy (statistics)","level":2,"score":0.44699999690055847},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780226545","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6888030","display_name":"Modality (human\u2013computer interaction)","level":2,"score":0.4334000051021576},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26517878","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228039","display_name":"Key (lock)","level":2,"score":0.4268999993801117},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C48044578","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q727490","display_name":"Scalability","level":2,"score":0.42089998722076416},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C165696696","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11287","display_name":"Exploit","level":2,"score":0.3652999997138977},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.364300012588501},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C99844830","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q102441924","display_name":"Scaling","level":2,"score":0.34860000014305115},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C124101348","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172491","display_name":"Data mining","level":1,"score":0.336899995803833},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C45493050","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7884934","display_name":"Unified Model","level":2,"score":0.3066999912261963},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C97931131","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5282087","display_name":"Discriminative model","level":2,"score":0.29840001463890076},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C11413529","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8366","display_name":"Algorithm","level":1,"score":0.28279998898506165},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C153180895","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7148389","display_name":"Pattern recognition (psychology)","level":2,"score":0.27570000290870667},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C136886441","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q926129","display_name":"Normalization (sociology)","level":2,"score":0.26510000228881836},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C150899416","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1820378","display_name":"Transfer of learning","level":2,"score":0.2646999955177307},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C91682802","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q620538","display_name":"Multidimensional scaling","level":2,"score":0.2572999894618988},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C51632099","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3985153","display_name":"Training set","level":2,"score":0.25270000100135803}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2604.11043","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.11043","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":null,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2604.11043","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.11043","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Unified":[0],"multimodal":[1],"embedding":[2,58,101,131],"spaces":[3],"underpin":[4],"practical":[5],"applications":[6],"such":[7],"as":[8],"cross-modal":[9],"retrieval":[10],"and":[11,41,140,176],"zero-shot":[12,46,174],"recognition.":[13],"In":[14],"many":[15],"real":[16],"deployments,":[17],"however,":[18],"supervision":[19],"is":[20,52,90],"available":[21],"only":[22,145],"for":[23,55],"a":[24,94,98,121,125],"small":[25],"subset":[26],"of":[27,132],"modality":[28,34,96],"pairs":[29,35,81],"(e.g.,":[30,36],"image--text),":[31],"leaving":[32],"\\emph{unpaired}":[33],"audio$\\leftrightarrow$depth,":[37],"infrared$\\leftrightarrow$audio)":[38],"weakly":[39],"connected":[40],"thus":[42],"performing":[43],"poorly":[44],"on":[45,78,173],"transfer.":[47],"Addressing":[48],"this":[49,117],"sparse-pairing":[50],"regime":[51],"therefore":[53],"essential":[54],"scaling":[56],"unified":[57],"systems":[59],"to":[60,97,150],"new":[61,95],"tasks":[62],"without":[63],"curating":[64],"exhaustive":[65,84],"pairwise":[66,85],"data.":[67],"We":[68],"propose":[69],"\\textbf{EmergentBridge},":[70],"an":[71,133,137],"embedding-level":[72],"bridging":[73],"framework":[74],"that":[75,91,110,123],"improves":[76],"performance":[77],"these":[79],"unpaired":[80],"\\emph{without":[82],"requiring":[83],"supervision}.":[86],"Our":[87],"key":[88],"observation":[89],"naively":[92],"aligning":[93],"synthesized":[99],"proxy":[100,130,143],"can":[102],"introduce":[103],"\\emph{gradient":[104],"interference},":[105],"degrading":[106],"the":[107,147,151],"anchor-alignment":[108,152],"structure":[109],"existing":[111],"retrieval/classification":[112],"relies":[113],"on.":[114],"EmergentBridge":[115,167],"addresses":[116],"by":[118],"(i)":[119],"learning":[120],"mapping":[122],"produces":[124],"\\emph{noisy":[126],"bridge":[127],"anchor}":[128],"(a":[129],"already-aligned":[134],"modality)":[135],"from":[136],"anchor":[138,155],"embedding,":[139],"(ii)":[141],"enforcing":[142],"alignment":[144,156],"in":[146],"subspace":[148],"orthogonal":[149],"direction,":[153],"preserving":[154],"while":[157],"strengthening":[158],"non-anchor":[159],"connectivity.":[160],"Across":[161],"nine":[162],"datasets":[163],"spanning":[164],"multiple":[165],"modalities,":[166],"consistently":[168],"outperforms":[169],"prior":[170],"binding":[171],"baselines":[172],"classification":[175],"retrieval,":[177],"demonstrating":[178],"strong":[179],"emergent":[180],"alignment.":[181]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-04-29T09:16:38.111599","created_date":"2026-04-15T00:00:00"}
