Related papers: Deterministic Langevin Unconstrained Optimization …
We propose and analyze a model-based derivative-free (DFO) algorithm for solving bound-constrained optimization problems where the objective function is the composition of a smooth function and a vector of black-box functions. We assume…
Derivative-free optimization (DFO) consists in finding the best value of an objective function without relying on derivatives. To tackle such problems, one may build approximate derivatives, using for instance finite-difference estimates.…
Bayesian Optimization (BO) has been recognized for its effectiveness in optimizing expensive and complex objective functions. Recent advancements in Latent Bayesian Optimization (LBO) have shown promise by integrating generative models such…
We propose a general purpose Bayesian inference algorithm for expensive likelihoods, replacing the stochastic term in the Langevin equation with a deterministic density gradient term. The particle density is evaluated from the current…
We consider minimizing functions for which it is expensive to compute the (possibly stochastic) gradient. Such functions are prevalent in reinforcement learning, imitation learning and adversarial training. Our target optimization framework…
In many optimization problems arising from scientific, engineering and artificial intelligence applications, objective and constraint functions are available only as the output of a black-box or simulation oracle that does not provide…
Bayesian optimization has attracted huge attention from diverse research areas in science and engineering, since it is capable of efficiently finding a global optimum of an expensive-to-evaluate black-box function. In general, a…
While traditional Deep Learning (DL) optimization methods treat all training samples equally, Distributionally Robust Optimization (DRO) adaptively assigns importance weights to different samples. However, a significant gap exists between…
This paper considers the efficient minimization of the infinite time average of a stationary ergodic process in the space of a handful of design parameters which affect it. Problems of this class, derived from physical or numerical…
Derivative-Free Optimization (DFO) involves methods that rely solely on evaluations of the objective function. One of the earliest strategies for designing DFO methods is to adapt first-order methods by replacing gradients with…
This work explores a novel perspective on solving nonconvex and nonsmooth optimization problems by leveraging sampling based methods. Instead of treating the objective function purely through traditional (often deterministic) optimization…
Bayesian Optimisation (BO) methods seek to find global optima of objective functions which are only available as a black-box or are expensive to evaluate. Such methods construct a surrogate model for the objective function, quantifying the…
This work proposes a simple yet effective sampling framework for combinatorial optimization (CO). Our method builds on discrete Langevin dynamics (LD), an efficient gradient-guided generative paradigm. However, we observe that directly…
In this paper, we provide new insights on the Unadjusted Langevin Algorithm. We show that this method can be formulated as a first order optimization algorithm of an objective functional defined on the Wasserstein space of order $2$. Using…
We tackle the general differentiable meta learning problem that is ubiquitous in modern deep learning, including hyperparameter optimization, loss function learning, few-shot learning, invariance learning and more. These problems are often…
This paper describes a simple, but effective sampling method for optimizing and learning a discrete approximation (or surrogate) of a multi-dimensional function along a one-dimensional line segment of interest. The method does not rely on…
This paper considers global optimization with a black-box unknown objective function that can be non-convex and non-differentiable. Such a difficult optimization problem arises in many real-world applications, such as parameter tuning in…
In this work, we propose a heuristic based open source solver for finding global solution to constrained derivative-free optimization (DFO) problems. Our solver named Global optimization using Surrogates for Derivative-free Optimization…
Gradient-free optimization methods, such as surrogate based optimization (SBO) methods, and genetic (GAs), or evolutionary (EAs) algorithms have gained popularity in the field of constrained optimization of expensive black-box functions.…
Many real-world decisions are made under uncertainty by solving optimization problems using predicted quantities. This predict-then-optimize paradigm has motivated decision-focused learning, which trains models with awareness of how the…