Related papers: Escaping Saddle Points with Stochastically Control…
We give the first polynomial time algorithms for escaping from high-dimensional saddle points under a moderate number of constraints. Given gradient access to a smooth function $f \colon \mathbb R^d \to \mathbb R$ we show that (noisy)…
First order policy optimization has been widely used in reinforcement learning. It guarantees to find the optimal policy for the state-feedback linear quadratic regulator (LQR). However, the performance of policy optimization remains…
Stopping criteria for Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) methods play important roles from enabling adaptive step size schemes to providing rigor for downstream analyses such as asymptotic inference. Unfortunately, current stopping criteria…
Neural network optimization remains one of the most consequential yet poorly understood challenges in modern AI research, where improvements in training algorithms can lead to enhanced feature learning in foundation models,…
The graduated optimization approach is a method for finding global optimal solutions for nonconvex functions by using a function smoothing operation with stochastic noise. This paper makes three contributions regarding graduated…
We study stochastic gradient descent (SGD) for composite optimization problems with $N$ sequential operators subject to perturbations in both the forward and backward passes. Unlike classical analyses that treat gradient noise as additive…
We consider (stochastic) convex-concave saddle point (SP) problems with high-dimensional decision variables, arising in various applications including machine learning problems. To contend with the challenges in computing full gradients, we…
This paper presents fault-tolerant asynchronous Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) algorithms. SGD is widely used for approximating the minimum of a cost function $Q$, as a core part of optimization and learning algorithms. Our algorithms…
In this paper, we investigate a general class of stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithms, called Conditioned SGD, based on a preconditioning of the gradient direction. Using a discrete-time approach with martingale tools, we establish…
We show that stochastic gradient descent (SGD) escapes from sharp minima exponentially fast even before SGD reaches stationary distribution. SGD has been a de-facto standard training algorithm for various machine learning tasks. However,…
We consider a class of stochastic smooth convex optimization problems under rather general assumptions on the noise in the stochastic gradient observation. As opposed to the classical problem setting in which the variance of noise is…
Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) is a fundamental algorithm in machine learning, representing the optimization backbone for training several classic models, from regression to neural networks. Given the recent practical focus on…
Stochastic gradient descent (SGD) is an essential element in Machine Learning (ML) algorithms. Asynchronous parallel shared-memory SGD (AsyncSGD), including synchronization-free algorithms, e.g. HOGWILD!, have received interest in certain…
Stochastic Gradient Decent (SGD) is one of the core techniques behind the success of deep neural networks. The gradient provides information on the direction in which a function has the steepest rate of change. The main problem with basic…
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…
We study stochastic nonconvex optimization under heavy-tailed noise. In this setting, the stochastic gradients only have bounded $p$-th central moment ($p$-BCM) for some $p \in (1,2]$. Building on the foundational work of Arjevani et al.…
The learning rate is an important tuning parameter for stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and can greatly influence its performance. However, appropriate selection of a learning rate schedule across all iterations typically requires a…
SketchySGD improves upon existing stochastic gradient methods in machine learning by using randomized low-rank approximations to the subsampled Hessian and by introducing an automated stepsize that works well across a wide range of convex…
Machine learning problems such as neural network training, tensor decomposition, and matrix factorization, require local minimization of a nonconvex function. This local minimization is challenged by the presence of saddle points, of which…
Large-scale constrained optimization problems are at the core of many tasks in control, signal processing, and machine learning. Notably, problems with functional constraints arise when, beyond a performance{\nobreakdash-}centric goal…