Related papers: Extremal Optimization: an Evolutionary Local-Searc…
The expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm introduced by Dempster et al in 1977 is a very general method to solve maximum likelihood estimation problems. In this informal report, we review the theory behind EM as well as a number of EM…
Rare event simulation and estimation for systems in equilibrium are among the most challenging topics in molecular dynamics. As was shown by Jarzynski and others, nonequilibrium forcing can theoretically be used to obtain equilibrium rare…
Chance constrained optimization problems allow to model problems where constraints involving stochastic components should only be violated with a small probability. Evolutionary algorithms have been applied to this scenario and shown to…
A hybrid evolutionary algorithm with importance sampling method is proposed for multi-dimensional optimization problems in this paper. In order to make use of the information provided in the search process, a set of visited solutions is…
In recent years, semidefinite relaxations of common optimization problems in robotics have attracted growing attention due to their ability to provide globally optimal solutions. In many cases, it was shown that specific handcrafted…
We present a powerful general framework for designing data-dependent optimization algorithms, building upon and unifying recent techniques in adaptive regularization, optimistic gradient predictions, and problem-dependent randomization. We…
Optimization is a ubiquitous modeling tool and is often deployed in settings which repeatedly solve similar instances of the same problem. Amortized optimization methods use learning to predict the solutions to problems in these settings,…
Nonlinear constrained optimization problems are encountered in many scientific fields. To utilize the huge calculation power of current computers, many mathematic models are also rebuilt as optimization problems. Most of them have…
Tackling complex optimization problems often relies on expert-designed heuristics, typically crafted through extensive trial and error. Recent advances demonstrate that large language models (LLMs), when integrated into well-designed…
Iterative algorithms aimed at solving some problems are discussed. For certain problems, such as finding a common point in the intersection of a finite number of convex sets, there often exist iterative algorithms that impose very little…
We provide a general theory of the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm for inferring high dimensional latent variable models. In particular, we make two contributions: (i) For parameter estimation, we propose a novel high dimensional EM…
This paper presents a Newton-based stochastic extremum-seeking control method for real-time optimization in multi-input systems with distinct input delays. It combines predictor-based feedback and Hessian inverse estimation via stochastic…
Evolutionary algorithms, inspired by natural evolution, aim to optimize difficult objective functions without computing derivatives. Here we detail the relationship between population genetics and evolutionary optimization and formulate a…
We propose a novel distribution-free scheme to solve optimization problems where the goal is to minimize the expected value of a cost function subject to probabilistic constraints. Unlike standard sampling-based methods, our idea consists…
The integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) into evolutionary frameworks has established a new paradigm for automated heuristic discovery. Despite their promise, these methods typically search in the discrete space of program syntax,…
Stochastic optimisation algorithms are the de facto standard for machine learning with large amounts of data. Handling only a subset of available data in each optimisation step dramatically reduces the per-iteration computational costs,…
Optimization problems aim to find the optimal solution, which is becoming increasingly complex and difficult to solve. Traditional evolutionary optimization methods always overlook the granular characteristics of solution space. In the real…
The paper is devoted to the study of a new class of optimal control problems governed by discontinuous constrained differential inclusions of the sweeping type with involving the duration of the dynamic process into optimization. We develop…
Gradient-based methods are widely used to solve various optimization problems, however, they are either constrained by local optima dilemmas, simple convex constraints, and continuous differentiability requirements, or limited to…
We consider the problem of parameter estimation in dynamic systems described by ordinary differential equations. A review of the existing literature emphasizes the need for deterministic global optimization methods due to the nonconvex…