Related papers: Lower Bounds for Smooth Nonconvex Finite-Sum Optim…
It is well-known that given a bounded, smooth nonconvex function, standard gradient-based methods can find $\epsilon$-stationary points (where the gradient norm is less than $\epsilon$) in $\mathcal{O}(1/\epsilon^2)$ iterations. However,…
We introduce and analyze an algorithm for the minimization of convex functions that are the sum of differentiable terms and proximable terms composed with linear operators. The method builds upon the recently developed smoothed gap…
This paper is devoted to a new modification of a recently proposed adaptive stochastic mirror descent algorithm for constrained convex optimization problems in the case of several convex functional constraints. Algorithms, standard and its…
A strategy is proposed for characterizing the worst-case performance of algorithms for solving nonconvex smooth optimization problems. Contemporary analyses characterize worst-case performance by providing, under certain assumptions on an…
In this paper, we investigate the problem of stochastic multi-level compositional optimization, where the objective function is a composition of multiple smooth but possibly non-convex functions. Existing methods for solving this problem…
We propose a stochastic optimization method for the minimization of the sum of three convex functions, one of which has Lipschitz continuous gradient as well as restricted strong convexity. Our approach is most suitable in the setting where…
Constrained Optimization solution algorithms are restricted to point based solutions. In practice, single or multiple objectives must be satisfied, wherein both the objective function and constraints can be non-convex resulting in multiple…
In recent years, nonconvex minimax problems have attracted significant attention due to their broad applications in machine learning, including generative adversarial networks, robust optimization and adversarial training. Most existing…
The softmax function is a ubiquitous component at the output of neural networks and increasingly in intermediate layers as well. This paper provides convex lower bounds and concave upper bounds on the softmax function, which are compatible…
We develop algorithms for the optimization of convex objectives that have H\"older continuous $q$-th derivatives by using a $q$-th order oracle, for any $q \geq 1$. Our algorithms work for general norms under mild conditions, including the…
In this paper, we develop stochastic variance reduced algorithms for solving a class of finite-sum hemivariational inequality (HVI) problem. In this HVI problem, the associated function is assumed to be differentiable, and both the vector…
In this paper, we discuss the problem of minimizing the sum of two convex functions: a smooth function plus a non-smooth function. Further, the smooth part can be expressed by the average of a large number of smooth component functions, and…
We propose a new algorithm that finds an $\varepsilon$-approximate fixed point of a smooth function from the $n$-dimensional $\ell_2$ unit ball to itself. We use the general framework of finding approximate solutions to a variational…
The subgradient method is one of the most fundamental algorithmic schemes for nonsmooth optimization. The existing complexity and convergence results for this method are mainly derived for Lipschitz continuous objective functions. In this…
An algorithm for unconstrained non-convex optimization is described, which does not evaluate the objective function and in which minimization is carried out, at each iteration, within a randomly selected subspace. It is shown that this…
This paper considers constrained stochastic nonsmooth minimax optimization problem of the form…
Many problems of theoretical and practical interest involve finding a convex or concave function. For instance, optimization problems such as finding the projection on the convex functions in $H^k(\Omega)$, or some problems in economics. In…
Superlinear convergence has been an elusive goal for black-box nonsmooth optimization. Even in the convex case, the subgradient method is very slow, and while some cutting plane algorithms, including traditional bundle methods, are popular…
We address the problem of minimizing a smooth function $f^0(x)$ over a compact set $D$ defined by smooth functional constraints $f^i(x)\leq 0,~ i = 1,\ldots, m$ given noisy value measurements of $f^i(x)$. This problem arises in…
We extend the standard notion of self-concordance to non-convex optimization and develop a family of second-order algorithms with global convergence guarantees. In particular, two function classes -- \textit{weakly self-concordant}…