Related papers: Stochastic Average Gradient : A Simple Empirical I…

In this paper, we study the problem of distributed multi-agent optimization over a network, where each agent possesses a local cost function that is smooth and strongly convex. The global objective is to find a common solution that…

Training Artificial Neural Networks poses a challenging and critical problem in machine learning. Despite the effectiveness of gradient-based learning methods, such as Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD), in training neural networks, they do…

This paper generalizes the optimized gradient method (OGM) that achieves the optimal worst-case cost function bound of first-order methods for smooth convex minimization. Specifically, this paper studies a generalized formulation of OGM and…

We present and analyze several strategies for improving the performance of stochastic variance-reduced gradient (SVRG) methods. We first show that the convergence rate of these methods can be preserved under a decreasing sequence of errors…

We introduce two new stochastic conjugate frameworks for a class of nonconvex and possibly also nonsmooth optimization problems. These frameworks are built upon Stochastic Recursive Gradient Algorithm (SARAH) and we thus refer to them as…

Stochastic computation graphs (SCGs) provide a formalism to represent structured optimization problems arising in artificial intelligence, including supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning. Previous work has shown that an…

Machine learning models trained with \emph{stochastic} gradient descent (SGD) can generalize better than those trained with deterministic gradient descent (GD). In this work, we study SGD's impact on generalization through the lens of the…

A scaled conjugate gradient method that accelerates existing adaptive methods utilizing stochastic gradients is proposed for solving nonconvex optimization problems with deep neural networks. It is shown theoretically that, whether with…

This paper proposes a new family of algorithms for training neural networks (NNs). These are based on recent developments in the field of non-convex optimization, going under the general name of successive convex approximation (SCA)…

In machine learning, nonconvex optimization problems with multiple local optimums are often encountered. Graduated Optimization Algorithm (GOA) is a popular heuristic method to obtain global optimums of nonconvex problems through…

Adaptive gradient methods, e.g. \textsc{Adam}, have achieved tremendous success in machine learning. Scaling the learning rate element-wisely by a certain form of second moment estimate of gradients, such methods are able to attain rapid…

We introduce a simple algorithm, True Asymptotic Natural Gradient Optimization (TANGO), that converges to a true natural gradient descent in the limit of small learning rates, without explicit Fisher matrix estimation. For quadratic models…

The alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is a powerful optimization solver in machine learning. Recently, stochastic ADMM has been integrated with variance reduction methods for stochastic gradient, leading to SAG-ADMM and…

We consider a wide range of regularized stochastic minimization problems with two regularization terms, one of which is composed with a linear function. This optimization model abstracts a number of important applications in artificial…

Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) has played a central role in machine learning. However, it requires a carefully hand-picked stepsize for fast convergence, which is notoriously tedious and time-consuming to tune. Over the last several…

Stochastic gradient descent is a canonical tool for addressing stochastic optimization problems, and forms the bedrock of modern machine learning and statistics. In this work, we seek to balance the fact that attenuating step-size is…

Recent studies have shown that many nonconvex machine learning problems satisfy a generalized-smooth condition that extends beyond traditional smooth nonconvex optimization. However, the existing algorithms are not fully adapted to such…

The performance of stochastic gradient descent (SGD) depends critically on how learning rates are tuned and decreased over time. We propose a method to automatically adjust multiple learning rates so as to minimize the expected error at any…

We consider a composite convex minimization problem associated with regularized empirical risk minimization, which often arises in machine learning. We propose two new stochastic gradient methods that are based on stochastic dual averaging…

This paper proposes AB-SAGA, a first-order distributed stochastic optimization method to minimize a finite-sum of smooth and strongly convex functions distributed over an arbitrary directed graph. AB-SAGA removes the uncertainty caused by…