Related papers: A Smooth Approximation Framework for Weakly Convex…
This paper proposes a novel technique called "successive stochastic smoothing" that optimizes nonsmooth and discontinuous functions while considering various constraints. Our methodology enables local and global optimization, making it a…
Recent work has shown that stochastically perturbed gradient methods can efficiently escape strict saddle points of smooth functions. We extend this body of work to nonsmooth optimization, by analyzing an inexact analogue of a…
This paper investigates new families of compositional optimization problems, called $\underline{\bf n}$on-$\underline{\bf s}$mooth $\underline{\bf w}$eakly-$\underline{\bf c}$onvex $\underline{\bf f}$inite-sum $\underline{\bf c}$oupled…
This monograph presents the main complexity theorems in convex optimization and their corresponding algorithms. Starting from the fundamental theory of black-box optimization, the material progresses towards recent advances in structural…
We propose a new family of subgradient- and gradient-based methods which converges with optimal complexity for convex optimization problems whose feasible region is simple enough. This includes cases where the objective function is…
In this paper we first study a smooth optimization approach for solving a class of nonsmooth strictly concave maximization problems whose objective functions admit smooth convex minimization reformulations. In particular, we apply…
Optimization problems with uncertainty in the constraints occur in many applications. Particularly, probability functions present a natural form to deal with this situation. Nevertheless, in some cases, the resulting probability functions…
We aim to solve a structured convex optimization problem, where a nonsmooth function is composed with a linear operator. When opting for full splitting schemes, usually, primal-dual type methods are employed as they are effective and also…
In this manuscript we would like to address the classical optimization problem of minimizing a proper, convex and lower semicontinuous function via the second order in time dynamics, combining viscous and Hessian-driven damping with a…
We propose a variable smoothing algorithm for solving nonconvexly constrained nonsmooth optimization problems. The target problem has two issues that need to be addressed: (i) the nonconvex constraint and (ii) the nonsmooth term. To handle…
We consider the problem of minimizing the sum of an average function of a large number of smooth convex components and a general, possibly non-differentiable, convex function. Although many methods have been proposed to solve this problem…
In this paper, we consider the minimization of a nonsmooth nonconvex objective function $f(x)$ over a closed convex subset $\mathcal{X}$ of $\mathbb{R}^n$, with additional nonsmooth nonconvex constraints $c(x) = 0$. We develop a unified…
We propose a variable smoothing algorithm for minimizing a nonsmooth and nonconvex cost function. The cost function is the sum of a smooth function and a composition of a difference-of-convex (DC) function with a smooth mapping. At each…
In this paper we consider stochastic weakly convex composite problems, however without the existence of a stochastic subgradient oracle. We present a derivative free algorithm that uses a two point approximation for computing a gradient…
Optimization models with non-convex constraints arise in many tasks in machine learning, e.g., learning with fairness constraints or Neyman-Pearson classification with non-convex loss. Although many efficient methods have been developed…
In this paper, we study stochastic constrained minimax optimization problems with nonconvex-nonconcave structure, a central problem in modern machine learning, for which reliable and efficient algorithms remain largely unexplored due to its…
It is well-known that given a smooth, bounded-from-below, and possibly nonconvex function, standard gradient-based methods can find $\epsilon$-stationary points (with gradient norm less than $\epsilon$) in $\mathcal{O}(1/\epsilon^2)$…
We consider minimization of functions that are compositions of convex or prox-regular functions (possibly extended-valued) with smooth vector functions. A wide variety of important optimization problems fall into this framework. We describe…
In this paper we consider minimization of a difference-of-convex (DC) function with and without linear constraints. We first study a smooth approximation of a generic DC function, termed difference-of-Moreau-envelopes (DME) smoothing, where…
Minimax optimization has become a central tool in machine learning with applications in robust optimization, reinforcement learning, GANs, etc. These applications are often nonconvex-nonconcave, but the existing theory is unable to identify…