Related papers: Tannenbaum's gain-margin optimization meets Polyak…
This thesis focuses on the intersection of mathematical and computational optimization and quantum information. Main contributions are open-source software code: A hybrid approach mixing "traditional" nonconvex and convex methods can make…
In this paper, we explore the merits of various algorithms for polynomial optimization problems, focusing on alternatives to sum of squares programming. While we refer to advantages and disadvantages of Quantifier Elimination, Reformulation…
This paper focuses on optimal control problem for a class of discrete-time nonlinear systems. In practical applications, computation time is a crucial consideration when solving nonlinear optimal control problems, especially under real-time…
The connection between control algorithms for Markov decision processes and optimization algorithms has been implicitly and explicitly exploited since the introduction of dynamic programming algorithm by Bellman in the 1950s. Recently, this…
We present a new algorithm for solving a polynomial program P based on the recent "joint + marginal" approach of the first author for, parametric optimization. The idea is to first consider the variable x1 as a parameter and solve the…
We focus on the solutions of second-order stable linear difference equations and demonstrate that their behavior can be non-monotone and exhibit peak effects depending on initial conditions. The results are applied to the analysis of the…
In this paper, we consider robust control using randomized algorithms. We extend the existing order statistics distribution theory to the general case in which the distribution of population is not assumed to be continuous and the order…
First-order iterative optimization methods play a fundamental role in large scale optimization and machine learning. This paper presents control interpretations for such optimization methods. First, we give loop-shaping interpretations for…
Simple stochastic momentum methods are widely used in machine learning optimization, but their good practical performance is at odds with an absence of theoretical guarantees of acceleration in the literature. In this work, we aim to close…
Iterative gradient-based optimization algorithms are widely used to solve difficult or large-scale optimization problems. There are many algorithms to choose from, such as gradient descent and its accelerated variants such as Polyak's Heavy…
This work links optimization approaches from hierarchical least-squares programming to instantaneous prioritized whole-body robot control. Concretely, we formulate the hierarchical Newton's method which solves prioritized non-linear…
In this paper we design a novel class of online distributed optimization algorithms leveraging control theoretical techniques. We start by focusing on quadratic costs, and assuming to know an internal model of their variation. In this…
This paper presents an inverse optimality method to solve the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation for a class of nonlinear problems for which the cost is quadratic and the dynamics are affine in the input. The method is inverse optimal because…
We leverage second-order information for tuning of inverse optimal controllers for a class of discrete-time nonlinear input-affine systems. For this, we select the input penalty matrix, representing a tuning knob, to yield the Hessian of…
We consider stochastic programs where the distribution of the uncertain parameters is only observable through a finite training dataset. Using the Wasserstein metric, we construct a ball in the space of (multivariate and non-discrete)…
The topics treated in this thesis are inherently two-fold. The first part considers the problem of a market maker optimally setting bid/ask quotes over a finite time horizon, to maximize her expected utility. The intensities of the orders…
The long time behavior and detailed convergence analysis of Langevin equations has received increased attention over the last years. Difficulties arise from a lack of coercivity, usually termed hypocoercivity, of the underlying kinetic…
Both the backpropagation algorithm in machine learning and the maximum principle in optimal control theory are posed as a two-point boundary problem, resulting in a "forward-backward" lock. We derive a reformulation of the maximum principle…
A new training algorithm is presented for delayed reinforcement learning problems that does not assume the existence of a critic model and employs the polytope optimization algorithm to adjust the weights of the action network so that a…
Traditional mathematical programming solvers require long computational times to solve constrained minimization problems of complex and large-scale physical systems. Therefore, these problems are often transformed into unconstrained ones,…