Related papers: The Role of Memory in Stochastic Optimization
This paper introduces a new formulation for stochastic optimal control and stochastic dynamic optimization that ensures safety with respect to state and control constraints. The proposed methodology brings together concepts such as…
A number of optimization approaches have been proposed for optimizing nonconvex objectives (e.g. deep learning models), such as batch gradient descent, stochastic gradient descent and stochastic variance reduced gradient descent. Theory…
Stochastic difference-of-convex (DC) optimization is prevalent in numerous machine learning applications, yet its convergence properties under small batch sizes remain poorly understood. Existing methods typically require large batches or…
We present a stochastic descent algorithm for unconstrained optimization that is particularly efficient when the objective function is slow to evaluate and gradients are not easily obtained, as in some PDE-constrained optimization and…
Empirically, it has been observed that adding momentum to Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) accelerates the convergence of the algorithm. However, the literature has been rather pessimistic, even in the case of convex functions, about the…
First order optimization algorithms play a major role in large scale machine learning. A new class of methods, called adaptive algorithms, were recently introduced to adjust iteratively the learning rate for each coordinate. Despite great…
We investigate the dynamical and convergent properties of stochastic gradient descent (SGD) applied to Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). Characterizing the relation between learning rate, batch size and the properties of the final minima, such…
We study momentum-based first-order optimization algorithms in which the iterations utilize information from the two previous steps and are subject to an additive white noise. This setup uses noise to account for uncertainty in either…
Understanding the training dynamics of deep learning models is perhaps a necessary step toward demystifying the effectiveness of these models. In particular, how do data from different classes gradually become separable in their feature…
Momentum plays a crucial role in stochastic gradient-based optimization algorithms for accelerating or improving training deep neural networks (DNNs). In deep learning practice, the momentum is usually weighted by a well-calibrated…
Optimization problems involving sequential decisions in a stochastic environment were studied in Stochastic Programming (SP), Stochastic Optimal Control (SOC) and Markov Decision Processes (MDP). In this paper we mainly concentrate on SP…
This paper presents a novel stochastic gradient descent algorithm for constrained optimization. The proposed algorithm randomly samples constraints and components of the finite sum objective function and relies on a relaxed logarithmic…
Fractional-order stochastic gradient descent (FOSGD) leverages fractional exponents to capture long-memory effects in optimization. However, its utility is often limited by the difficulty of tuning and stabilizing these exponents. We…
In this paper we study the stability and its trade-off with optimization error for stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithms in the pairwise learning setting. Pairwise learning refers to a learning task which involves a loss function…
It is known that adaptive optimization algorithms represent the key pillar behind the rise of the Machine Learning field. In the Optimization literature numerous studies have been devoted to accelerated gradient methods but only recently…
Convergence detection of iterative stochastic optimization methods is of great practical interest. This paper considers stochastic gradient descent (SGD) with a constant learning rate and momentum. We show that there exists a transient…
Motivated by broad applications in machine learning, we study the popular accelerated stochastic gradient descent (ASGD) algorithm for solving (possibly nonconvex) optimization problems. We characterize the finite-time performance of this…
The performance of stochastic gradient descent (SGD) depends critically on how learning rates are tuned and decreased over time. We propose a method to automatically adjust multiple learning rates so as to minimize the expected error at any…
Stochastic differential equations (SDEs) are established tools to model physical phenomena whose dynamics are affected by random noise. By estimating parameters of an SDE intrinsic randomness of a system around its drift can be identified…
The convergence of stochastic gradient descent is highly dependent on the step-size, especially on non-convex problems such as neural network training. Step decay step-size schedules (constant and then cut) are widely used in practice…