Related papers: Exponential stability of finite-$N$ consensus-base…
Central Force Optimization is a deterministic metaheuristic for an evolutionary algorithm that searches a decision space by flying probes whose trajectories are computed using a gravitational metaphor. CFO benefits substantially from the…
Many statistical estimators are defined as the fixed point of a data-dependent operator, with estimators based on minimizing a cost function being an important special case. The limiting performance of such estimators depends on the…
We derive fundamental performance limitations for intrinsic average consensus problems in open multi-agent systems, which are systems subject to frequent arrivals and departures of agents. Each agent holds a value, and the objective of the…
In this era of fast and large-scale opinion formation, a mathematical understanding of opinion evolution, a.k.a. opinion dynamics, acquires importance. Linear graph-based dynamics and bounded confidence dynamics are the two popular models…
We propose constrained causal Bayesian optimization (cCBO), an approach for finding interventions in a known causal graph that optimize a target variable under some constraints. cCBO first reduces the search space by exploiting the graph…
We study zeroth-order optimisation under context distributional uncertainty, a setting commonly tackled using Bayesian optimisation (BO). A prevailing strategy to make BO more robust to the complex and noisy nature of data is to employ an…
This paper studies the problem of globally optimizing a variable of interest that is part of a causal model in which a sequence of interventions can be performed. This problem arises in biology, operational research, communications and,…
In this paper, we consider discrete-time partially observed mean-field games with the risk-sensitive optimality criterion. We introduce risk-sensitivity behaviour for each agent via an exponential utility function. In the game model, each…
This paper introduces the Trust-Based Optimization (TBO), a novel extension of the island model in evolutionary computation that replaces conventional periodic migrations with a flexible, agent-driven interaction mechanism based on trust or…
This paper studies stochastic optimization for a sum of compositional functions, where the inner-level function of each summand is coupled with the corresponding summation index. We refer to this family of problems as finite-sum coupled…
In this paper we simulate an ensemble of cooperating, mobile sensing agents that implement the cyclic stochastic optimization (CSO) algorithm in an attempt to survey and track multiple targets. In the CSO algorithm proposed, each agent uses…
We study the stability of quantum pure states and, more generally, subspaces for stochastic dynamics that describe continuously--monitored systems. We show that the target subspace is almost surely invariant if and only if it is invariant…
Bayesian optimization (BO) is a model-based approach to sequentially optimize expensive black-box functions, such as the validation error of a deep neural network with respect to its hyperparameters. In many real-world scenarios, the…
Bayesian optimization (BO) has become popular for sequential optimization of black-box functions. When BO is used to optimize a target function, we often have access to previous evaluations of potentially related functions. This begs the…
Data-driven approaches to predict-then-optimize decision-making problems seek to mitigate the risk of uncertainty region misspecification in safety-critical settings. Current approaches, however, suffer from considering overly conservative…
This paper investigates some aspects of a recently proposed nonlinear mathematical model of opinion dynamics. The main objective is to identify the network structures that maximize the average equilibrium opinion (HMO). We prove that…
This work establishes a rigorous connection between stability properties of discrete-time algorithms (DTAs) and corresponding continuous-time dynamical systems derived through $ O(s^r) $-resolution ordinary differential equations (ODEs). We…
We study a simple continuous-time multi-agent system related to Krause's model of opinion dynamics: each agent holds a real value, and this value is continuously attracted by every other value differing from it by less than 1, with an…
We study the problem of global maximization of a function f given a finite number of evaluations perturbed by noise. We consider a very weak assumption on the function, namely that it is locally smooth (in some precise sense) with respect…
This work interprets and generalizes consensus-type algorithms as switching dynamics leading to symmetrization of some vector variables with respect to the actions of a finite group. We show how the symmetrization framework we develop…