Related papers: Convergence Rate of Block-Coordinate Maximization …
We study (constrained) nonconvex (composite) optimization problems where the decision variables vector can be split into blocks of variables. Random block projection is a popular technique to handle this kind of problem for its remarkable…
Semidefinite programs (SDPs) are standard convex problems that are frequently found in control and optimization applications. Interior-point methods can solve SDPs in polynomial time up to arbitrary accuracy, but scale poorly as the size of…
In this paper we consider the problem of minimizing a convex function using a randomized block coordinate descent method. One of the key steps at each iteration of the algorithm is determining the update to a block of variables. Existing…
By concisely representing a joint function of many variables as the combination of small functions, discrete graphical models (GMs) provide a powerful framework to analyze stochastic and deterministic systems of interacting variables. One…
In this paper, we propose the first continuous optimization algorithms that achieve a constant factor approximation guarantee for the problem of monotone continuous submodular maximization subject to a linear constraint. We first prove that…
Majorization-minimization algorithms consist of successively minimizing a sequence of upper bounds of the objective function. These upper bounds are tight at the current estimate, and each iteration monotonically drives the objective…
We consider the problem of identifying underlying community-like structures in graphs. Towards this end we study the Stochastic Block Model (SBM) on $k$-clusters: a random model on $n=km$ vertices, partitioned in $k$ equal sized clusters,…
We study the optimization landscape of a smooth nonconvex program arising from synchronization over the two-element group $\mathbf{Z}_2$, that is, recovering $z_1, \dots, z_n \in \{\pm 1\}$ from (noisy) relative measurements $R_{ij} \approx…
DR-submodular continuous functions are important objectives with wide real-world applications spanning MAP inference in determinantal point processes (DPPs), and mean-field inference for probabilistic submodular models, amongst others.…
The Lasserre hierarchy of semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxations is an effective scheme for finding computationally feasible SDP approximations of polynomial optimization over compact semi-algebraic sets. In this paper, we show that,…
In this paper we present a novel randomized block coordinate descent method for the minimization of a convex composite objective function. The method uses (approximate) partial second-order (curvature) information, so that the algorithm…
Consider the problem of minimizing the sum of a smooth (possibly non-convex) and a convex (possibly nonsmooth) function involving a large number of variables. A popular approach to solve this problem is the block coordinate descent (BCD)…
Bundle methods have been intensively studied for solving both convex and nonconvex optimization problems. In most of the bundle methods developed thus far, at least one quadratic programming (QP) subproblem needs to be solved in each…
Semi-supervised clustering is a basic problem in various applications. Most existing methods require knowledge of the ideal cluster number, which is often difficult to obtain in practice. Besides, satisfying the must-link constraints is…
Semidefinite programs (SDP) are one of the most versatile frameworks in numerical optimization, serving as generalizations of many conic programs and as relaxations of NP-hard combinatorial problems. Their main drawback is their…
This thesis explores algorithmic applications and limitations of convex relaxation hierarchies for approximating some discrete and continuous optimization problems. - We show a dichotomy of approximability of constraint satisfaction…
Due to the multi-linearity of tensors, most algorithms for tensor optimization problems are designed based on the block coordinate descent method. Such algorithms are widely employed by practitioners for their implementability and…
Matrix factorization is a popular approach for large-scale matrix completion. The optimization formulation based on matrix factorization can be solved very efficiently by standard algorithms in practice. However, due to the non-convexity…
The stochastic block model (SBM) is a popular tool for community detection in networks, but fitting it by maximum likelihood (MLE) involves a computationally infeasible optimization problem. We propose a new semidefinite programming (SDP)…
In this paper, we address a long-standing challenge: how to achieve both efficiency and scalability in solving semidefinite programming problems. We propose breakthrough acceleration techniques for a wide range of low-rank…