Related papers: Optimization with Zeroth-Order Oracles in Formatio…
Variable order structures model situations in which the comparison between two points depends on a point-to-cone map. In this paper, an inexact projected gradient method for solving smooth constrained vector optimization problems on…
Zeroth-order optimization (ZO) algorithms have been recently used to solve black-box or simulation-based learning and control problems, where the gradient of the objective function cannot be easily computed but can be approximated using the…
This letter studies distributed stochastic optimization over a peer-to-peer network when agents can query only zeroth-order function values. We propose ZOOM-PB, a coordinate-sampling distributed zeroth-order method equipped with a…
We study a networked multi-agent reinforcement learning (NMARL) problem with human feedback in an infinite-horizon setting, where agents interact over an underlying network with localized state dependencies and aim to collaboratively…
This paper considers a distributed optimization problem in a multi-agent system where a fraction of the agents act in an adversarial manner. Specifically, the malicious agents steer the network of agents away from the optimal solution by…
This paper considers a distributed optimization problem over a multi-agent network, in which the objective function is a sum of individual cost functions at the agents. We focus on the case when communication between the agents is described…
We study the problems of offline and online contextual optimization with feedback information, where instead of observing the loss, we observe, after-the-fact, the optimal action an oracle with full knowledge of the objective function would…
There is a growing cross-disciplinary effort in the broad domain of optimization and learning with streams of data, applied to settings where traditional batch optimization techniques cannot produce solutions at time scales that match the…
As application demands for zeroth-order (gradient-free) optimization accelerate, the need for variance reduced and faster converging approaches is also intensifying. This paper addresses these challenges by presenting: a) a comprehensive…
Gradient-based optimization is now ubiquitous across graphics, but unfortunately can not be applied to problems with undefined or zero gradients. To circumvent this issue, the loss function can be manually replaced by a ``surrogate'' that…
This review presents modern gradient-free methods to solve convex optimization problems. By gradient-free methods, we mean those that use only (noisy) realizations of the objective value. We are motivated by various applications where…
A major approach to saddle point optimization $\min_x\max_y f(x, y)$ is a gradient based approach as is popularized by generative adversarial networks (GANs). In contrast, we analyze an alternative approach relying only on an oracle that…
We investigate the mechanism design problem faced by a principal who hires \emph{multiple} agents to gather and report costly information. Then, the principal exploits the information to make an informed decision. We model this problem as a…
We introduce a distributed, cooperative framework and method for Bayesian estimation and control in decentralized agent networks. Our framework combines joint estimation of time-varying global and local states with information-seeking…
This work introduces a distributed formation control strategy for multi-agent systems based solely on rotation symmetry constraints. We propose a potential function that enforces inter-agent \textbf{rotational} symmetries, whose gradient…
As a step towards studying human-agent collectives we conduct an online game with human participants cooperating on a network. The game is presented in the context of achieving group formation through local coordination. The players set…
Differentiable simulators promise faster computation time for reinforcement learning by replacing zeroth-order gradient estimates of a stochastic objective with an estimate based on first-order gradients. However, it is yet unclear what…
Existing methods for multi-agent navigation typically assume fully known environments, offering limited support for partially known scenarios with outdated or imperfect prior maps, such as warehouses or factory floors. There, agents need to…
The field of optimization has the goal to find an optimal solution to a target function, i.e. to minimize (or maximize) the target function. When trying to find such a global minimum, one often encounters local minima due to unfavorable…
Formation control allows agents to maintain geometric patterns using local information, but most existing methods assume ideal communication. This paper introduces a goal-oriented framework combining control, cooperative positioning, and…