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In this paper we study stochastic quasi-Newton methods for nonconvex stochastic optimization, where we assume that only stochastic information of the gradients of the objective function is available via a stochastic first-order oracle…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2014-12-05 Xiao Wang , Shiqian Ma , Wei Liu

We provide a framework for computing the exact worst-case performance of any algorithm belonging to a broad class of oracle-based first-order methods for composite convex optimization, including those performing explicit, projected,…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2019-11-22 Adrien B. Taylor , Julien M. Hendrickx , François Glineur

Convex optimization with equality and inequality constraints is a ubiquitous problem in several optimization and control problems in large-scale systems. Recently there has been a lot of interest in establishing accelerated convergence of…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-07-06 Anjali Parashar , Priyank Srivastava , Anuradha M. Annaswamy

Gradient-based optimization is the foundation of deep learning and reinforcement learning. Even when the mechanism being optimized is unknown or not differentiable, optimization using high-variance or biased gradient estimates is still…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2018-02-27 Will Grathwohl , Dami Choi , Yuhuai Wu , Geoffrey Roeder , David Duvenaud

In this paper, we consider smooth convex optimization problems with simple constraints and inexactness in the oracle information such as value, partial or directional derivatives of the objective function. We introduce a unifying framework,…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2020-12-17 Pavel Dvurechensky , Alexander Gasnikov , Alexander Tiurin , Vladimir Zholobov

Block-coordinate descent (BCD) is the method of choice to solve numerous large scale optimization problems, however their theoretical study for non-convex optimization, has received less attention. In this paper, we present a new…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-01-30 Guillaume Lauga

In this paper, we propose a framework based on sum-of-squares programming to design iterative first-order optimization algorithms for smooth and strongly convex problems. Our starting point is to develop a polynomial matrix inequality as a…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2018-09-25 Mahyar Fazlyab , Manfred Morari , Victor M. Preciado

Single-objective black box optimization (also known as zeroth-order optimization) is the process of minimizing a scalar objective $f(x)$, given evaluations at adaptively chosen inputs $x$. In this paper, we consider multi-objective…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-06-11 Daniel Golovin , Qiuyi Zhang

This paper investigates a category of constrained fractional optimization problems that emerge in various practical applications. The objective function for this category is characterized by the ratio of a numerator and denominator, both…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2026-05-28 Yizun Lin , Jian-Feng Cai , Zhao-Rong Lai , Cheng Li

In this paper, we consider gradient methods for minimizing smooth convex functions, which employ the information obtained at the previous iterations in order to accelerate the convergence towards the optimal solution. This information is…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-06-02 Yurii Nesterov , Mihai I. Florea

In this thesis we develop a novel framework to study smooth and strongly convex optimization algorithms, both deterministic and stochastic. Focusing on quadratic functions we are able to examine optimization algorithms as a recursive…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2014-10-24 Yossi Arjevani

We study the problem of minimizing a convex function on a nonempty, finite subset of the integer lattice when the function cannot be evaluated at noninteger points. We propose a new underestimator that does not require access to…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-08-19 Jeffrey Larson , Sven Leyffer , Prashant Palkar , Stefan M. Wild

We consider a trader who wants to direct his portfolio towards a set of acceptable wealths given by a convex risk measure. We propose a black-box algorithm, whose inputs are the joint law of stock prices and the convex risk measure, and…

Probability · Mathematics 2008-12-10 Soumik Pal

In this paper, a novel stochastic extra-step quasi-Newton method is developed to solve a class of nonsmooth nonconvex composite optimization problems. We assume that the gradient of the smooth part of the objective function can only be…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2019-10-22 Minghan Yang , Andre Milzarek , Zaiwen Wen , Tong Zhang

In this paper, we deal with the problem of optimizing a black-box smooth function over a full-dimensional smooth convex set. We study sets of feasible curves that allow to properly characterize stationarity of a solution and possibly carry…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2026-04-03 Xiaoxi Jia , Matteo Lapucci , Pierluigi Mansueto

This paper proposes a novel convex optimization framework for designing robust Kalman filters that guarantee a user-specified steady-state error while maximizing process and sensor noise. The proposed framework simultaneously determines the…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2024-03-06 Himanshu Prabhat , Raktim Bhattacharya

When a black-box optimization objective can only be evaluated with costly or noisy measurements, most standard optimization algorithms are unsuited to find the optimal solution. Specialized algorithms that deal with exactly this situation…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-06-11 Laurens Bliek , Sicco Verwer , Mathijs de Weerdt

Bayesian optimization is a sample-efficient method for solving expensive, black-box optimization problems. Stochastic programming concerns optimization under uncertainty where, typically, average performance is the quantity of interest. In…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2025-02-19 Jack M. Buckingham , Ivo Couckuyt , Juergen Branke

We study the problem of constrained efficient global optimization, where both the objective and constraints are expensive black-box functions that can be learned with Gaussian processes. We propose CONFIG (CONstrained efFIcient Global…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-02-07 Wenjie Xu , Yuning Jiang , Bratislav Svetozarevic , Colin N. Jones

We focus on the optimization problem with smooth, possibly nonconvex objectives and a convex constraint set for which the Euclidean projection operation is practically available. Focusing on this setting, we carry out a general convergence…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2026-04-23 Matteo Lapucci , Giampaolo Liuzzi , Stefano Lucidi , Marco Sciandrone , Diego Scuppa