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An algorithm is proposed for solving optimization problems arising in neural network training for supervised learning. The unique feature of the algorithm is the use of an auxiliary loss, in addition to the original loss employed for model…
A major obstacle to non-convex optimization is the problem of getting stuck in local minima. We introduce a novel metaheuristic to handle this issue, creating an alternate Hamiltonian that shares minima with the original Hamiltonian only…
We study the smooth minimax optimization problem $\min_{\bf x}\max_{\bf y} f({\bf x},{\bf y})$, where $f$ is $\ell$-smooth, strongly-concave in ${\bf y}$ but possibly nonconvex in ${\bf x}$. Most of existing works focus on finding the…
We propose an unconstrained optimization method based on the well-known primal-dual hybrid gradient (PDHG) algorithm. We first formulate the optimality condition of the unconstrained optimization problem as a saddle point problem. We then…
Invex programs are a special kind of non-convex problems which attain global minima at every stationary point. While classical first-order gradient descent methods can solve them, they converge very slowly. In this paper, we propose new…
We develop optimization methods which offer new trade-offs between the number of gradient and Hessian computations needed to compute the critical point of a non-convex function. We provide a method that for any twice-differentiable $f\colon…
We derive several numerical methods for designing optimized first-order algorithms in unconstrained convex optimization settings. Our methods are based on the Performance Estimation Problem (PEP) framework, which casts the worst-case…
A major approach to saddle point optimization $\min_x\max_y f(x, y)$ is a gradient based approach as is popularized by generative adversarial networks (GANs). In contrast, we analyze an alternative approach relying only on an oracle that…
Second-order Newton-type algorithms that leverage the exact Hessian or its approximation are central to solve nonlinear optimization problems. However, their applications in solving large-scale nonconvex problems are hindered by three…
The article discusses distributed gradient-descent algorithms for computing local and global minima in nonconvex optimization. For local optimization, we focus on distributed stochastic gradient descent (D-SGD)--a simple network-based…
Second-order methods, which utilize gradients as well as Hessians to optimize a given function, are of major importance in mathematical optimization. In this work, we prove tight bounds on the oracle complexity of such methods for smooth…
A central challenge to many fields of science and engineering involves minimizing non-convex error functions over continuous, high dimensional spaces. Gradient descent or quasi-Newton methods are almost ubiquitously used to perform such…
Stochastic gradient descent (SGD) gives an optimal convergence rate when minimizing convex stochastic objectives $f(x)$. However, in terms of making the gradients small, the original SGD does not give an optimal rate, even when $f(x)$ is…
We present a new feasible proximal gradient method for constrained optimization where both the objective and constraint functions are given by the summation of a smooth, possibly nonconvex function and a convex simple function. The…
This paper proposes several novel optimization algorithms for minimizing a nonlinear objective function. The algorithms are enlightened by the optimal state trajectory of an optimal control problem closely related to the minimized objective…
We propose a fast second-order method that can be used as a drop-in replacement for current deep learning solvers. Compared to stochastic gradient descent (SGD), it only requires two additional forward-mode automatic differentiation…
Second-order methods are emerging as promising alternatives to standard first-order optimizers such as gradient descent and ADAM for training neural networks. Though the advantages of including curvature information in computing…
Large-scale non-convex optimization problems are expensive to solve due to computational and memory costs. To reduce the costs, first-order (computationally efficient) and asynchronous-parallel (memory efficient) algorithms are necessary to…
We introduce a generic scheme to solve nonconvex optimization problems using gradient-based algorithms originally designed for minimizing convex functions. Even though these methods may originally require convexity to operate, the proposed…
Composite convex optimization models arise in several applications, and are especially prevalent in inverse problems with a sparsity inducing norm and in general convex optimization with simple constraints. The most widely used algorithms…