Related papers: The Method of Infinite Descent
This paper develops a general theory for first-order descent methods whose search directions are restricted to a prescribed dictionary in a reflexive Banach space. Instead of assuming that the linear span of the dictionary is dense, as in…
Methods for reconstructing the topology of complex networks from time-resolved observations of node dynamics are gaining relevance across scientific disciplines. Of biggest practical interest are methods that make no assumptions about…
In PDE-constrained optimization, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) provides a surrogate model of a (potentially expensive) PDE discretization, on which optimization iterations are executed. Because POD models usually provide good…
Variational algorithms have particular relevance for near-term quantum computers but require non-trivial parameter optimisations. Here we propose Analytic Descent: Given that the energy landscape must have a certain simple form in the local…
A novel inner approximation algorithm is proposed for dynamic optimization problems to ensure strict satisfaction of path constraints. Distinct from traditional methods relying on interval analysis, the proposed algorithm leverages the…
We study stochastic optimization from a joint continuous-discrete point of view. Starting from a second-order stochastic differential equation interpreted as a noisy accelerated gradient flow, we discretize the dynamics by a fully implicit…
Recent advances in convex optimization have leveraged computer-assisted proofs to develop optimized first-order methods that improve over classical algorithms. However, each optimized method is specially tailored for a particular problem…
Gradient-based algorithms are one of the methods of choice for the optimisation of Markov Decision Processes. In this article we will present a novel approximate Newton algorithm for the optimisation of such models. The algorithm has…
Forecasting of time series in continuous systems becomes an increasingly relevant task due to recent developments in IoT and 5G. The popular forecasting model ARIMA is applied to a large variety of applications for decades. An online…
This work presents a new algorithm for empirical risk minimization. The algorithm bridges the gap between first- and second-order methods by computing a search direction that uses a second-order-type update in one subspace, coupled with a…
We propose \emph{Taylorized training} as an initiative towards better understanding neural network training at finite width. Taylorized training involves training the $k$-th order Taylor expansion of the neural network at initialization,…
Motivated, in particular, by the entropy-regularized optimal transport problem, we consider convex optimization problems with linear equality constraints, where the dual objective has Lipschitz $p$-th order derivatives, and develop two…
We propose a gradient descent method for solving optimization problems arising in settings of tropical geometry - a variant of algebraic geometry that has attracted growing interest in applications such as computational biology, economics,…
Quasi-Newton methods form an important class of methods for solving nonlinear optimization problems. In such methods, first order information is used to approximate the second derivative. The aim is to mimic the fast convergence that can be…
We study the training dynamics of gradient descent in a softmax self-attention layer trained to perform linear regression and show that a simple first-order optimization algorithm can converge to the globally optimal self-attention…
In this paper, we propose a descent method for composite optimization problems with linear operators. Specifically, we first design a structure-exploiting preconditioner tailored to the linear operator so that the resulting preconditioned…
Working with any gradient-based machine learning algorithm involves the tedious task of tuning the optimizer's hyperparameters, such as its step size. Recent work has shown how the step size can itself be optimized alongside the model…
Gradient-based minimax optimal algorithms have greatly promoted the development of continuous optimization and machine learning. One seminal work due to Yurii Nesterov [Nes83a] established $\tilde{\mathcal{O}}(\sqrt{L/\mu})$ gradient…
We study the composite convex optimization problems with a Quasi-Self-Concordant smooth component. This problem class naturally interpolates between classic Self-Concordant functions and functions with Lipschitz continuous Hessian.…
The goal of this paper is to debunk and dispel the magic behind black-box optimizers and stochastic optimizers. It aims to build a solid foundation on how and why the techniques work. This manuscript crystallizes this knowledge by deriving…