def vae(x, z_size, name=None):
  """Simple variational autoencoder without discretization.

  Args:
    x: Input to the discretization bottleneck.
    z_size: Number of bits, where discrete codes range from 1 to 2**z_size.
    name: Name for the bottleneck scope.

  Returns:
    Embedding function, latent, loss, mu and log_simga.
  """
  with tf.variable_scope(name, default_name="vae"):
    mu = tf.layers.dense(x, z_size, name="mu")
    log_sigma = tf.layers.dense(x, z_size, name="log_sigma")
    shape = common_layers.shape_list(x)
    epsilon = tf.random_normal([shape[0], shape[1], 1, z_size])
    z = mu + tf.exp(log_sigma / 2) * epsilon
    kl = 0.5 * tf.reduce_mean(
        tf.expm1(log_sigma) + tf.square(mu) - log_sigma, axis=-1)
    free_bits = z_size // 4
    kl_loss = tf.reduce_mean(tf.maximum(kl - free_bits, 0.0))
    return z, kl_loss, mu, log_sigma
Simple variational autoencoder without discretization.

  Args:
    x: Input to the discretization bottleneck.
    z_size: Number of bits, where discrete codes range from 1 to 2**z_size.
    name: Name for the bottleneck scope.

  Returns:
    Embedding function, latent, loss, mu and log_simga.