Related papers: Dimension-Free Bounds on Chasing Convex Functions
In standard reinforcement learning (RL), a learning agent seeks to optimize the overall reward. However, many key aspects of a desired behavior are more naturally expressed as constraints. For instance, the designer may want to limit the…
We consider the problem of approximating the solution of variational problems subject to the constraint that the admissible functions must be convex. This problem is at the interface between convex analysis, convex optimization, variational…
We look for the minimizers of the functional $\jla{\la}(\oo)=\la|\oo|-P(\oo)$ among planar convex domains constrained to lie into a given ring. We prove that, according to the values of the parameter $\la$, the solutions are either a disc…
In the optimal partial transport problem, one is asked to transport a fraction $0<m \leq \min\{||f||_{L^1}, ||g||_{L^1}\}$ of the mass of $f=f \chi_\Omega$ onto $g=g\chi_\Lambda$ while minimizing a transportation cost. If $f$ and $g$ are…
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.…
We study a class of fused lasso problems where the estimated parameters in a sequence are regressed toward their respective observed values (fidelity loss), with $\ell_1$ norm penalty (regularization loss) on the differences between…
In this paper, we study the general problem of optimizing a convex function $F(L)$ over the set of $p \times p$ matrices, subject to rank constraints on $L$. However, existing first-order methods for solving such problems either are too…
In this work, we develop new insights into the fundamental problem of convexity testing of real-valued functions over the domain $[n]$. Specifically, we present a nonadaptive algorithm that, given inputs $\eps \in (0,1), s \in \mathbb{N}$,…
The $\mathcal{VU}$-algorithm is a superlinearly convergent method for minimizing nonsmooth, convex functions. At each iteration, the algorithm works with a certain $\mathcal{V}$-space and its orthogonal $\U$-space, such that the…
Consider a situation with $n$ agents or players where some of the players form a coalition with a certain collective objective. Simple games are used to model systems that can decide whether coalitions are successful (winning) or not…
We study global optimization of non-convex functions through optimal control theory. Our main result establishes that (quasi-)optimal trajectories of a discounted control problem converge globally and practically asymptotically to the set…
We present a model-based derivative-free method for optimization subject to general convex constraints, which we assume are unrelaxable and accessed only through a projection operator that is cheap to evaluate. We prove global convergence…
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…
The $k$-dimensional coding schemes refer to a collection of methods that attempt to represent data using a set of representative $k$-dimensional vectors, and include non-negative matrix factorization, dictionary learning, sparse coding,…
In optimal experimental design, the objective is to select a limited set of experiments that maximizes information about unknown model parameters based on factor levels. This work addresses the generalized D-optimal design problem, allowing…
In this paper, we consider the following free boundary problem $$ (P)\left\{\begin{array}{ll} \Delta u = \lambda \phi(x)\Sum_{i=1}^n H(u-\mu_i )& \quad \mbox{ in }\ \Omega=\Omega_2\setminus \overline{\Omega}_1, \\[0.3cm]u =0 &\quad \mbox{…
We investigate the problem of Min-cost Perfect Matching with Delays (MPMD) in which requests are pairwise matched in an online fashion with the objective to minimize the sum of space cost and time cost. Though linear-MPMD (i.e., time cost…
Contextual bandits are a central framework for sequential decision-making, with applications ranging from recommendation systems to clinical trials. While nonparametric methods can flexibly model complex reward structures, they suffer from…
We study the design of functional incentive mechanisms for dynamical systems, in which a leader designs a fixed incentive function to motivate a self-interested follower to actuate the system beneficially over an extended horizon, without…
We address the problem of \emph{convex optimization with dueling feedback}, where the goal is to minimize a convex function given a weaker form of \emph{dueling} feedback. Each query consists of two points and the dueling feedback returns a…