Related papers: Non-Convex Global Optimization as an Optimal Stabi…
This paper proposes a stochastic gradient descent method with an adaptive Gaussian noise term for the global minimization of nearly convex functions, which are nonconvex and possess multiple strict local minimizers. The noise term,…
This paper is concerned with a finite-horizon inverse control problem, which has the goal of reconstructing, from observations, the possibly non-convex and non-stationary cost driving the actions of an agent. In this context, we present a…
We consider discrete-time infinite horizon deterministic optimal control problems with nonnegative cost per stage, and a destination that is cost-free and absorbing. The classical linear-quadratic regulator problem is a special case. Our…
We study a finite-horizon stochastic control criterion for non-convex optimization in which Brownian exploration is balanced against a quadratic control cost. Rather than emphasizing the classical Hopf--Cole representation, we isolate the…
The advancement of artificial intelligence has cast a new light on the development of optimization algorithm. This paper proposes to learn a two-phase (including a minimization phase and an escaping phase) global optimization algorithm for…
For an infinite-horizon continuous-time optimal stopping problem under non-exponential discounting, we look for an optimal equilibrium, which generates larger values than any other equilibrium does on the entire state space. When the…
Selecting the best hyperparameters for a particular optimization instance, such as the learning rate and momentum, is an important but nonconvex problem. As a result, iterative optimization methods such as hypergradient descent lack global…
Optimization problems involving the minimization of a finite sum of smooth, possibly non-convex functions arise in numerous applications. To achieve a consensus solution over a network, distributed optimization algorithms, such as…
We consider the problem of finite-horizon optimal control design under uncertainty for imperfectly observed discrete-time systems with convex costs and constraints. It is known that this problem can be cast as an infinite-dimensional convex…
Policy gradients methods apply to complex, poorly understood, control problems by performing stochastic gradient descent over a parameterized class of polices. Unfortunately, even for simple control problems solvable by standard dynamic…
We present a detailed set of performance comparisons of two state-of-the-art solvers for the application of designing time-delay compensators, an important problem in the field of robust control. Formulating such robust control mechanics as…
We propose a new gradient descent algorithm with added stochastic terms for finding the global optimizers of nonconvex optimization problems. A key component in the algorithm is the adaptive tuning of the randomness based on the value of…
In this paper, we focus on a method based on optimal control to address the optimization problem. The objective is to find the optimal solution that minimizes the objective function. We transform the optimization problem into optimal…
General distribution steering is intrinsically an infinite-dimensional problem, when the continuous distributions to steer are arbitrary. We put forward a moment representation of the primal system for control in [42]. However, the system…
We show a connection between global unconstrained optimization of a continuous function $f$ and weak KAM theory for an eikonal-type equation arising also in ergodic control. A solution $v$ of the critical Hamilton-Jacobi equation is built…
In this paper we study a second order dynamical system with variable coefficients in connection to the minimization problem of a smooth nonconvex function. The convergence of the trajectories generated by the dynamical system to a critical…
We consider the nonconvex minimization problem, with quartic objective function, that arises in the exact recovery of a configuration matrix $P\in \R^{nd}$ of $n$ points when a Euclidean distance matrix, \EDMp, is given with embedding…
This paper concerns a new class of discontinuous dynamical systems for constrained optimization. These dynamics are particularly suited to solve nonlinear, non-convex problems in closed-loop with a physical system. Such approaches using…
The paper is concerned with a class of optimization problems for moving sets $t\mapsto\Omega(t)\subset\mathbb{R}^2$, motivated by the control of invasive biological populations. Assuming that the initial contaminated set $\Omega_0$ is…
Optimization problems with composite functions consist of an objective function which is the sum of a smooth and a (convex) nonsmooth term. This particular structure is exploited by the class of proximal gradient methods and some of their…