Related papers: Descent modulus and applications

We study the asymptotic shape of the trajectory of the stochastic gradient descent algorithm applied to a convex objective function. Under mild regularity assumptions, we prove a functional central limit theorem for the properly rescaled…

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…

We consider the classical gradient descent algorithm with constant stepsizes, where some error is introduced in the computation of each gradient. More specifically, we assume some relative bound on the inexactness, in the sense that the…

In this paper, we address stochastic optimization problems involving a composition of a non-smooth outer function and a smooth inner function, a formulation frequently encountered in machine learning and operations research. To deal with…

The main result of this paper is: {\bf Theorem.} Let $f:\mathbb{R}^k\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a $C^{1}$ function, so that $\nabla f$ is locally Lipschitz continuous. Assume moreover that $f$ is $C^2$ near its generalised saddle points. Fix…

We analyze the convergence of a nonlocal gradient descent method for minimizing a class of high-dimensional non-convex functions, where a directional Gaussian smoothing (DGS) is proposed to define the nonlocal gradient (also referred to as…

We consider optimizing a function smooth convex function $f$ that is the average of a set of differentiable functions $f_i$, under the assumption considered by Solodov [1998] and Tseng [1998] that the norm of each gradient $f_i'$ is bounded…

The idea that the brain functions so as to minimize certain costs pervades theoretical neuroscience. Since a cost function by itself does not predict how the brain finds its minima, additional assumptions about the optimization method need…

Consider an open set $\mathbb{D}\subseteq\mathbb{R}^n$, equipped with a probability measure $\mu$. An important characteristic of a smooth function $f:\mathbb{D}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ is its \emph{second-moment matrix} $\Sigma_{\mu}:=\int…

We consider the problem of minimizing a strongly convex function that depends on an uncertain parameter $\theta$. The uncertainty in the objective function means that the optimum, $x^*(\theta)$, is also a function of $\theta$. We propose an…

We perform the first tight convergence analysis of the gradient method with varying step sizes when applied to smooth hypoconvex (weakly convex) functions. Hypoconvex functions are smooth nonconvex functions whose curvature is bounded and…

In this paper, we study the problem of maximizing continuous submodular functions that naturally arise in many learning applications such as those involving utility functions in active learning and sensing, matrix approximations and network…

Sharpness-Aware Minimization (SAM) is an optimizer that takes a descent step based on the gradient at a perturbation $y_t = x_t + \rho \frac{\nabla f(x_t)}{\lVert \nabla f(x_t) \rVert}$ of the current point $x_t$. Existing studies prove…

The article considers the discrete analogue of the method of quickest descent for an inverse Acoustics problem in case of a smooth source. The authors derived the gradient of functional in differential and discrete cases, described the…

Mirror Descent is a popular algorithm, that extends Gradients Descent (GD) beyond the Euclidean geometry. One of its benefits is to enable strong convergence guarantees through smooth-like analyses, even for objectives with exploding or…

We identity the optimal non-infinitesimal direction of descent for a convex function. An algorithm is developed that can theoretically minimize a subset of (non-convex) functions.

We analyze the constant step size subgradient method on nonsmooth, nonconvex functions. We identify geometric assumptions on the objective function under which i) its domain admits a partition (stratification) into smooth manifolds (strata)…

We show that gradient descent can converge to any local minimum of a smooth semi-algebraic function. This holds if the step sizes are nonsummable and sufficiently small. The same results hold for the subgradient method on locally Lipschitz…

This paper studies the asymptotic behavior of the constant step Stochastic Gradient Descent for the minimization of an unknown function F , defined as the expectation of a non convex, non smooth, locally Lipschitz random function. As the…

Steepest descent is central in variational mathematics. We present a new transparent existence proof for curves of near-maximal slope --- an influential notion of steepest descent in a nonsmooth setting. We moreover show that for…