Related papers: Escaping local minima with derivative-free methods…
Local Bayesian optimization is a promising practical approach to solve the high dimensional black-box function optimization problem. Among them is the approximated gradient class of methods, which implements a strategy similar to gradient…
In this paper, we propose a new non-monotone line-search method for smooth unconstrained optimization problems with objective functions that have many non-global local minimizers. The method is based on a relaxed Armijo condition that…
This paper deals with the identification of linear stochastic dynamical systems, where the unknowns include system coefficients and noise variances. Conventional approaches that rely on the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) require…
Bayesian optimisation (BO) has been a successful approach to optimise functions which are expensive to evaluate and whose observations are noisy. Classical BO algorithms, however, do not account for errors about the location where…
We present GLASSES: Global optimisation with Look-Ahead through Stochastic Simulation and Expected-loss Search. The majority of global optimisation approaches in use are myopic, in only considering the impact of the next function value; the…
Model-based control is a crucial component of robotic navigation. However, it often struggles with entrapment in local minima due to its inherent nature as a finite, myopic optimization procedure. Previous studies have addressed this issue…
We extend our recently introduced stochastic nonlocal traffic flow model to more general random perturbations, including Markovian noise derived from a discretized Jacobi-type stochastic differential equation. Invoking a deterministic…
We consider the problem of global optimization of an unknown non-convex smooth function with zeroth-order feedback. In this setup, an algorithm is allowed to adaptively query the underlying function at different locations and receives noisy…
The challenge of taking many variables into account in optimization problems may be overcome under the hypothesis of low effective dimensionality. Then, the search of solutions can be reduced to the random embedding of a low dimensional…
Abstaining classifiers have been widely used in cost-sensitive applications to avoid ambiguous classification and reduce the cost of misclassification. Previous abstaining classification models rely on cost information, such as a cost…
Planning problems are hard, motion planning, for example, isPSPACE-hard. Such problems are even more difficult in the presence of uncertainty. Although, Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) provide a formal framework for such problems, finding…
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…
A gradient-free deterministic method is developed to solve global optimization problems for Lipschitz continuous functions defined in arbitrary path-wise connected compact sets in Euclidean spaces. The method can be regarded as granular…
Combinatorial optimization problems can be mapped onto Ising models, and their ground state is generally difficult to find. A lot of heuristics for these problems have been proposed, and one promising approach is to use continuous…
This paper investigates the problem of efficient constrained global optimization of hybrid models that are a composition of a known white-box function and an expensive multi-output black-box function subject to noisy observations, which…
We propose a derivative-free trust-region method based on finite-difference gradient approximations for smooth optimization problems with convex constraints. The proposed method does not require computing an approximate stationarity…
Policy optimization has drawn increasing attention in reinforcement learning, particularly in the context of derivative-free methods for linear quadratic regulator (LQR) problems with unknown dynamics. This paper focuses on characterizing…
Many computer vision problems are formulated as the optimization of a cost function. This approach faces two main challenges: (i) designing a cost function with a local optimum at an acceptable solution, and (ii) developing an efficient…
Variational Hybrid Quantum Classical Algorithms (VHQCAs) are a class of quantum algorithms intended to run on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. These algorithms employ a parameterized quantum circuit (ansatz) and a…
Robust discrete optimization is a highly active field of research where a plenitude of combinations between decision criteria, uncertainty sets and underlying nominal problems are considered. Usually, a robust problem becomes harder to…