Related papers: Catalyst Acceleration for First-order Convex Optim…
The graduated optimization approach, also known as the continuation method, is a popular heuristic to solving non-convex problems that has received renewed interest over the last decade. Despite its popularity, very little is known in terms…
We consider the projected gradient algorithm for the nonconvex best subset selection problem that minimizes a given empirical loss function under an $\ell_0$-norm constraint. Through decomposing the feasible set of the given sparsity…
Nesterov's momentum trick is famously known for accelerating gradient descent, and has been proven useful in building fast iterative algorithms. However, in the stochastic setting, counterexamples exist and prevent Nesterov's momentum from…
We formulate two classes of first-order algorithms more general than previously studied for minimizing smooth and strongly convex or, respectively, smooth and convex functions. We establish sufficient conditions, via new discrete Lyapunov…
We present a unifying framework for adapting the update direction in gradient-based iterative optimization methods. As natural special cases we re-derive classical momentum and Nesterov's accelerated gradient method, lending a new intuitive…
In this paper, we propose a proximal gradient method and an accelerated proximal gradient method for solving composite optimization problems, where the objective function is the sum of a smooth and a convex, possibly nonsmooth, function. We…
Mini-batch algorithms have been proposed as a way to speed-up stochastic convex optimization problems. We study how such algorithms can be improved using accelerated gradient methods. We provide a novel analysis, which shows how standard…
We present a simple scheme for restarting first-order methods for convex optimization problems. Restarts are made based only on achieving specified decreases in objective values, the specified amounts being the same for all optimization…
In this paper we propose a unified two-phase scheme for convex optimization to accelerate: (1) the adaptive cubic regularization methods with exact/inexact Hessian matrices, and (2) the adaptive gradient method, without any knowledge of the…
We propose an adaptive accelerated gradient method for solving smooth convex optimization problems. The method incorporates a scheme to determine the step size adaptively, by means of a local estimation of the smoothness constant, which is…
In convex optimization, there is an {\em acceleration} phenomenon in which we can boost the convergence rate of certain gradient-based algorithms. We can observe this phenomenon in Nesterov's accelerated gradient descent, accelerated mirror…
Nonnegative matrix factorization has been widely applied in face recognition, text mining, as well as spectral analysis. This paper proposes an alternating proximal gradient method for solving this problem. With a uniformly positive lower…
It is well-known that accelerated gradient first order methods possess optimal complexity estimates for the class of convex smooth minimization problems. In many practical situations, it makes sense to work with inexact gradients. However,…
We consider convex-concave saddle-point problems where the objective functions may be split in many components, and extend recent stochastic variance reduction methods (such as SVRG or SAGA) to provide the first large-scale linearly…
In this short note, we provide a simple version of an accelerated forward-backward method (a.k.a. Nesterov's accelerated proximal gradient method) possibly relying on approximate proximal operators and allowing to exploit strong convexity…
Ever since the original algorithm by Nesterov (1983), the true nature of the acceleration phenomenon has remained elusive, with various interpretations of why the method is actually faster. The diagnosis of the algorithm through the lens of…
In this paper, acceleration of gradient methods for convex optimization problems with weak levels of convexity and smoothness is considered. Starting from the universal fast gradient method which was designed to be an optimal method for…
In this paper, we study a bilinear saddle point problem of the form $\min_{x}\max_{y} F(x) + \langle Ax, y \rangle - G(y)$, where $F$ and $G$ are $\mu_F$- and $\mu_G$-strongly convex functions, respectively. By incorporating Nesterov…
This paper studies a class of double-loop (inner-outer) algorithms for convex composite optimization. For unconstrained problems, we develop a restarted accelerated composite gradient method that attains the optimal first-order complexity…
Subgradient methods are the natural extension to the non-smooth case of the classical gradient descent for regular convex optimization problems. However, in general, they are characterized by slow convergence rates, and they require…