Related papers: Approximate analysis of search algorithms with "ph…
We review the connection between statistical mechanics and the analysis of random optimization problems, with particular emphasis on the random k-SAT problem. We discuss and characterize the different phase transitions that are met in these…
We use differential equations based approaches to provide some {\it \textbf{physics}} insights into analyzing the dynamics of popular optimization algorithms in machine learning. In particular, we study gradient descent, proximal gradient…
Recently, it has been recognized that phase transitions play an important role in the probabilistic analysis of combinatorial optimization problems. However, there are in fact many other relations that lead to close ties between computer…
When looking for a solution, deterministic methods have the enormous advantage that they do find global optima. Unfortunately, they are very CPU-intensive, and are useless on untractable NP-hard problems that would require thousands of…
Locally-biased graph algorithms are algorithms that attempt to find local or small-scale structure in a large data graph. In some cases, this can be accomplished by adding some sort of locality constraint and calling a traditional graph…
Stochastic local search algorithms are frequently used to numerically solve hard combinatorial optimization or decision problems. We give numerical and approximate analytical descriptions of the dynamics of such algorithms applied to random…
Accelerator physics relies on numerical algorithms to solve optimization problems in online accelerator control and tasks such as experimental design and model calibration in simulations. The effectiveness of optimization algorithms in…
A decentralized search algorithm is a method of routing on a random graph that uses only limited, local, information about the realization of the graph. In some random graph models it is possible to define such algorithms which produce…
This paper describes stochastic search approaches, including a new stochastic algorithm and an adaptive mutation operator, for learning Bayesian networks from incomplete data. This problem is characterized by a huge solution space with a…
Many combinatorial optimization problems can be formulated as the search for a subgraph that satisfies certain properties and minimizes the total weight. We assume here that the vertices correspond to points in a metric space and can take…
We introduce an algorithm which can be directly used to feasible and optimum search in linear programming. Starting from an initial point the algorithm iteratively moves a point in a direction to resolve the violated constraints. At the…
Optimization under uncertainty deals with the problem of optimizing stochastic cost functions given some partial information on their inputs. These problems are extremely difficult to solve and yet pervade all areas of technological and…
The paper presents a comprehensive performance evaluation of some heuristic search algorithms in the context of autonomous systems and robotics. The objective of the study is to evaluate and compare the performance of different search…
Local optimization presents a promising approach to expensive, high-dimensional black-box optimization by sidestepping the need to globally explore the search space. For objective functions whose gradient cannot be evaluated directly,…
Combinatorial optimization problems implicitly define fitness landscapes that combine the numeric structure of the 'fitness' function to be maximized with the combinatorial structure of which assignments are 'adjacent'. Local search starts…
This paper proposes a new framework for providing approximation guarantees of local search algorithms. Local search is a basic algorithm design technique and is widely used for various combinatorial optimization problems. To analyze local…
Limited resources motivate decomposing large-scale problems into smaller,``local" subsystems and stitching together the so-found solutions. We explore the physics underlying this approach and discuss the concept of ``local hardness", i.e.,…
We present a unified approach for constraint displacement problems in which a robot finds a feasible path by displacing constraints or obstacles. To this end, we propose a two stage process that returns locally optimal obstacle…
Metaheuristic algorithms are methods devised to efficiently solve computationally challenging optimization problems. Researchers have taken inspiration from various natural and physical processes alike to formulate meta-heuristics that have…
We analyze the convergence rate of various momentum-based optimization algorithms from a dynamical systems point of view. Our analysis exploits fundamental topological properties, such as the continuous dependence of iterates on their…