Related papers: SPICE: Scaling-Aware Prediction Correction Methods…
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…
In this paper, an inexact proximal-point penalty method is studied for constrained optimization problems, where the objective function is non-convex, and the constraint functions can also be non-convex. The proposed method approximately…
We propose a novel method for selective classification (SC), a problem which allows a classifier to abstain from predicting some instances, thus trading off accuracy against coverage (the fraction of instances predicted). In contrast to…
Prediction models are typically optimized independently from decision optimization. A smart predict then optimize (SPO) framework optimizes prediction models to minimize downstream decision regret. In this paper we present dboost, the first…
For minimizing a strongly convex objective function subject to linear inequality constraints, we consider a penalty approach that allows one to utilize stochastic methods for problems with a large number of constraints and/or objective…
Gradient boosting is a state-of-the-art prediction technique that sequentially produces a model in the form of linear combinations of simple predictors---typically decision trees---by solving an infinite-dimensional convex optimization…
Sparse learning is a very important tool for mining useful information and patterns from high dimensional data. Non-convex non-smooth regularized learning problems play essential roles in sparse learning, and have drawn extensive attentions…
The analysis of projection-free first order methods is often complicated by the presence of different kinds of "good" and "bad" steps. In this article, we propose a unifying framework for projection-free methods, aiming to simplify the…
Large sectors of the recent optimization literature focused in the last decade on the development of optimal stochastic first order schemes for constrained convex models under progressively relaxed assumptions. Stochastic proximal point is…
In this paper, we propose a new technique named \textit{Stochastic Path-Integrated Differential EstimatoR} (SPIDER), which can be used to track many deterministic quantities of interest with significantly reduced computational cost. We…
While shrinkage is essential in high-dimensional settings, its use for low-dimensional regression-based prediction has been debated. It reduces variance, often leading to improved prediction accuracy. However, it also inevitably introduces…
In this paper, we proposed a new technique, {\em variance controlled stochastic gradient} (VCSG), to improve the performance of the stochastic variance reduced gradient (SVRG) algorithm. To avoid over-reducing the variance of gradient by…
We propose a novel algorithm for solving non-convex, nonlinear equality-constrained finite-sum optimization problems. The proposed algorithm incorporates an additional sampling strategy for sample size update into the well-known framework…
We study projection-free methods for functional constrained optimization with convex or smooth nonconvex objectives. Such problems arise in applications such as portfolio optimization and radiation therapy planning, where risk-aware…
Stochastic nonconvex optimization problems with nonlinear constraints have a broad range of applications in intelligent transportation, cyber-security, and smart grids. In this paper, first, we propose an inexact-proximal accelerated…
Projection-free optimization via different variants of the Frank-Wolfe (FW), a.k.a. Conditional Gradient method has become one of the cornerstones in optimization for machine learning since in many cases the linear minimization oracle is…
In this paper we analyze several new methods for solving nonconvex optimization problems with the objective function formed as a sum of two terms: one is nonconvex and smooth, and another is convex but simple and its structure is known.…
The choice of the stepsize in first-order convex optimization is typically based on the smoothness constant and plays a crucial role in the performance of algorithms. Recently, there has been a resurgent interest in introducing adaptive…
We propose a stochastic approximation method for approximating the efficient frontier of chance-constrained nonlinear programs. Our approach is based on a bi-objective viewpoint of chance-constrained programs that seeks solutions on the…
Gradient descent is slow to converge for ill-conditioned problems and non-convex problems. An important technique for acceleration is step-size adaptation. The first part of this paper contains a detailed review of step-size adaptation…