English

High-probability zeroth-order online convex optimisation beyond Euclidean geometry

Machine Learning 2026-05-12 v3 Machine Learning

Abstract

We study online convex optimisation with q\ell_q-Lipschitz losses, p\ell_p-regularised FTRL, and randomised two-point finite-difference gradient estimators based on cone-measure sampling from r\ell_r-spheres. For random Lipschitz losses whose mean is convex, we prove unified high-probability regret bounds for all p,q,r[1,]p,q,r \in [1,\infty]. The analysis is driven by all-moment bounds for the gradient estimator in the dual FTRL norm, yielding time-uniform control of the quadratic variation. The algorithm is anytime and data-driven; in the special cases previously studied, its rates recover the known in-expectation guarantees while strengthening them to time-uniform high probability. Together with constant-probability lower bounds, these results establish optimality for q[1,2]q\in[1,2] under appropriate sampling geometry, and expose a gap for q>2q>2 that appears intrinsic to the estimators themselves.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.21484,
  title  = {High-probability zeroth-order online convex optimisation beyond Euclidean geometry},
  author = {David Janz and El-Mahdi El-Mhamdi and Arya Akhavan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.21484},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T05:56:56.359Z