Paper introduces a new framework for optimizing non-convex functions.
problem Optimizing non-convex functions, especially DR-submodular and concave functions.
method Developed a general meta-algorithm to convert linear/quadratic optimization to optimization of upper-linearizable/quadratizable functions.
result Unified approach to concave and DR-submodular optimization problems.
New algorithms solve DR-submodular maximization with faster convergence.
problem Maximizing monotone DR-submodular functions under convex constraints.
method Introduced strongly DR-submodular functions and proposed SDRFW and PGA algorithms.
result SDRFW achieves optimal approximation ratio after fewer iterations.
Diminishing-returns (DR) submodular optimization is an important field with many real-world applications in machine learning, economics and communication systems. It captures a subclass of non-convex optimization that provides both practical and theoretical guarantees. In this paper, we study the fundamental problem of…
New method tackles online DR-submodular maximization with improved regret guarantees.
problem Online maximization of non-monotone DR-submodular functions over down-closed convex sets.
method 1/e-linearization through exponential reparametrization, surrogate potential, and reduction to online linear optimization.
result Achieves O(T1/2) static regret with single gradient query per round, improving state of the art. DR-submodular continuous functions are important objectives with wide real-world applications spanning MAP inference in determinantal point processes (DPPs), and mean-field inference for probabilistic submodular models, amongst others. DR-submodularity captures a subclass of non-convex functions that enables both exact…
New framework for decentralized optimization of upper-linearizable functions with improved regret and complexity.
problem Decentralized optimization of upper-linearizable functions with general constraints.
method Decentralized projection-free optimization with upper-linearizable function framework.
result Regret of O(T1−θ/2) with communication complexity of O(Tθ) and linear optimization calls of O(T2θ). The paper studies continuous submodular functions and their optimization.
problem Maximizing continuous submodular functions in poly. time.
method Characterization of continuous submodularity, operations preserving it, and algorithms for constrained maximization.
result Continuous submodularity is equivalent to a weak DR property, leading to continuous DR-submodular functions with the full DR property.
In this paper, we study fundamental problems of maximizing DR-submodular continuous functions that have real-world applications in the domain of machine learning, economics, operations research and communication systems. It captures a subclass of non-convex optimization that provides both theoretical and practical guar…
New algorithms reduce regret for online submodular maximization under various conditions.
problem Online optimization of submodular functions with adversarial or random utilities.
method Characterized strongly DR-submodular functions and derived bounds for different utility classes.
result Logarithmic regret bounds for adversarial strongly DR-submodular functions and submodular functions with random order.
In this paper, we study a certain class of online optimization problems, where the goal is to maximize a function that is not necessarily concave and satisfies the Diminishing Returns (DR) property under budget constraints. We analyze a primal-dual algorithm, called the Generalized Sequential algorithm, and we obtain t…
Mean field inference in probabilistic models is generally a highly nonconvex problem. Existing optimization methods, e.g., coordinate ascent algorithms, can only generate local optima. In this work we propose provable mean filed methods for probabilistic log-submodular models and its posterior agreement (PA) with stron…
Paper tackles online DR-submodular maximization with stochastic constraints.
problem Maximizing utility while adhering to a cumulative resource constraint in an online setting.
method Proposes OLFW algorithm to solve the problem of online continuous DR-submodular maximization with linear stochastic constraints.
result Obtains sub-linear regret and constraint violation bounds.
A dissertation on scalable projection-free optimization methods.
problem Efficient optimization algorithms for large-scale machine learning problems.
method Study of Frank-Wolfe variants and their extensions to distributed and derivative-free settings.
result Development of 1-SFW and QFW, achieving state-of-the-art complexity and efficiency.
In this paper, we study the problem of monotone (weakly) DR-submodular continuous maximization. While previous methods require the gradient information of the objective function, we propose a derivative-free algorithm LDGM for the first time. We define β and α to characterize how close a function is to continuous D…
New method for probabilistic modeling of integer submodular functions.
problem Lack of probabilistic modeling for integer submodular functions.
method Proposed Generalized Multilinear Extension and block-coordinate ascent algorithm.
result Demonstrated effectiveness and viability on real-world datasets.
In this paper we study the fundamental problems of maximizing a continuous non-monotone submodular function over the hypercube, both with and without coordinate-wise concavity. This family of optimization problems has several applications in machine learning, economics, and communication systems. Our main result is the…
This paper considers stochastic optimization problems for a large class of objective functions, including convex and continuous submodular. Stochastic proximal gradient methods have been widely used to solve such problems; however, their applicability remains limited when the problem dimension is large and the projecti…
In this paper, we study a class of online optimization problems with long-term budget constraints where the objective functions are not necessarily concave (nor convex) but they instead satisfy the Diminishing Returns (DR) property. Specifically, a sequence of monotone DR-submodular objective functions $\{f_t(x)\}_{t=1…
Online optimization has been a successful framework for solving large-scale problems under computational constraints and partial information. Current methods for online convex optimization require either a projection or exact gradient computation at each step, both of which can be prohibitively expensive for large-scal…
In this paper, we propose three online algorithms for submodular maximisation. The first one, Mono-Frank-Wolfe, reduces the number of per-function gradient evaluations from T1/2 [Chen2018Online] and T3/2 [chen2018projection] to 1, and achieves a (1−1/e)-regret bound of O(T4/5). The second one, Bandit-F…
One of the beauties of the projected gradient descent method lies in its rather simple mechanism and yet stable behavior with inexact, stochastic gradients, which has led to its wide-spread use in many machine learning applications. However, once we replace the projection operator with a simpler linear program, as is d…
In this paper, we consider the problem of black box continuous submodular maximization where we only have access to the function values and no information about the derivatives is provided. For a monotone and continuous DR-submodular function, and subject to a bounded convex body constraint, we propose Black-box Contin…
Bayesian optimization reduces computational effort in aircraft design optimization.
problem High computational cost in industrial aircraft design optimization.
method Constrained Bayesian optimization (Super Efficient Global Optimization with Mixture of Experts)
result Significant computational efficiency improvements over existing Isight optimizers.
Bayesian optimization method tackles combinatorial spaces, scalable for large data.
problem Optimization over combinatorial categorical spaces in natural sciences.
method Combines variational optimization and continuous relaxations for gradient-based optimization.
result Method performs comparably to state-of-the-art methods while scaling well.
New algorithm solves complex stopping problems with robust optimization.
problem Solving complex stochastic optimal stopping problems.
method Simulation-based robust optimization with exact reformulation as a zero-one bilinear program.
result Developed polynomial-time heuristics and algorithms for practical solution.
L2O uses ML to optimize traditional optimization techniques.
problem Real-world optimization problems with shared structures.
method Exploiting shared structures to enhance optimization techniques.
result Better or faster solutions through machine learning integration.
When hyperparameter optimization of a machine learning algorithm is repeated for multiple datasets it is possible to transfer knowledge to an optimization run on a new dataset. We develop a new hyperparameter-free ensemble model for Bayesian optimization that is a generalization of two existing transfer learning extens…
Meta algorithm solves multivariate optimization using univariate optimizers.
problem Multivariate global optimization problems.
method Meta algorithm combining univariate global optimizers.
result Meta algorithm provides robust regret guarantees.
A novel neural network approach for optimization problems.
problem Constrained optimization problems.
method Neural Optimization Machine (NOM) using a specially designed NN architecture and training procedure.
result Solves optimization problems efficiently, especially in high-dimensional spaces.
New algorithms ensure reproducibility and optimal convergence in convex optimization.
problem Trade-off between reproducibility and convergence rate in convex optimization.
method Regularization-based algorithms for smooth convex minimization and minimax optimization.
result Achieves optimal reproducibility and near-optimal gradient complexity for various oracle settings.
New algorithm selects robust martingale for optimal stopping problems.
problem Optimal stopping problems in stochastic processes.
method Randomized dual martingale minimization algorithm.
result Efficiently selects Doob martingale as close as possible.
Numerical optimization is an important tool in the field of computational physics in general and in nano-optics in specific. It has attracted attention with the increase in complexity of structures that can be realized with nowadays nano-fabrication technologies for which a rational design is no longer feasible. Also, …
This paper shows how to combine optimal tests into log-optimal processes.
problem How to combine optimal sequential tests into log-optimal processes.
method Using a new class of WAIT e-processes, the paper aggregates asymptotically optimal sequential tests into asymptotically log-optimal processes.
result It is possible to aggregate asymptotically optimal sequential tests into asymptotically log-optimal e-processes.
Learning optimal feedback control laws capable of executing optimal trajectories is essential for many robotic applications. Such policies can be learned using reinforcement learning or planned using optimal control. While reinforcement learning is sample inefficient, optimal control only plans an optimal trajectory fr…
Paper studies optimal control for a specific geometric problem.
problem Optimal control problem associated with the Paneitz obstacle problem.
method Existence and regularity results for optimal controls.
result Existence of optimal controls and their properties.
New algorithm AG-OG optimizes separable convex-concave problems efficiently.
problem Efficiently solving separable convex-concave minimax optimization problems.
method Leverages Nesterov acceleration and optimistic gradient on component and coupling parts of the problem.
result Achieves optimal convergence rate for various settings including bilinearly coupled problems.
Adapts Bayesian optimization for mixed constraints in aircraft design.
problem Optimizing expensive black box functions with mixed constraints.
method Super efficient global optimization with upper trust bound for constraints, Gaussian process uncertainty, refinement procedure.
result Superior performance on aircraft design problem compared to state-of-the-art solvers.
Adam optimizer converges to zeros of a new vector field, not just gradient zeros.
problem Prove convergence rates for Adam optimizer in simple quadratic optimization problems.
method Introduced Adam vector field to analyze Adam optimizer's convergence.
result Established optimal convergence rates for Adam optimizer.
Optimal crypto asset routing with CFMMs, including fixed costs.
problem Optimizing order execution on a network of CFMMs with fixed costs.
method Convex optimization for no fixed costs, mixed-integer convex for fixed costs, heuristics for approximate solutions.
result Approximate solutions to optimal routing and arbitrage certification problems.
BOSH optimizes functions with stochastic evaluations more efficiently and precisely.
problem Optimizing functions with noisy evaluations can lead to suboptimal solutions.
method BOSH uses a hierarchical Gaussian process to generate a growing pool of realizations.
result BOSH provides more efficient and higher-precision optimization than standard BO.
VeLO learns versatile optimizers from deep learning tasks.
problem Training deep learning models with hand-designed optimizers.
method Meta-training a neural network optimizer on a wide variety of optimization tasks.
result The learned optimizer automatically adapts to different optimization tasks without hyperparameter tuning.
New learned optimizers outperform baselines by incorporating known and novel mechanisms.
problem Understanding how learned optimizers outperform traditional ones.
method Careful analysis and visualization of learned optimizers trained on various tasks.
result Learned optimizers incorporate known techniques like momentum and gradient clipping, as well as new forms of learning rate adaptation.
PAGE optimizes nonconvex problems with optimal convergence rates.
problem Nonconvex optimization problems.
method PAGE algorithm for achieving optimal convergence rates.
result PAGE achieves optimal convergence rates for nonconvex optimization.
A new method learns DAGs from data using permutation optimization.
problem Discovering latent DAGs from observational data.
method Optimizes over the Permutahedron to learn topological orderings and edges.
result Our method optimizes exact DAGs, is modular, and performs well on real-world data.
Develops a new method for efficient stochastic bilevel optimization.
problem Stochastic bilevel optimization problems in machine learning applications.
method Single-Timescale stochAstic BiLevEl optimization (STABLE) method.
result Achieves the same order of sample complexity as stochastic gradient descent for single-level optimization.
Enhanced ROOT-SGD optimizes stochastic optimization with diminishing stepsizes.
problem Improving statistical efficiency in stochastic optimization.
method Integrates a diminishing stepsize strategy into ROOT-SGD.
result Achieves optimal convergence rates with improved stability and precision.
Convex optimization models predict outputs from inputs via optimization problems.
problem Predicting outputs from inputs using convex optimization models.
method Proposed a heuristic for learning parameters of convex optimization models from datasets.
result Demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method on three model classes.
A new approach for efficient batch multiobjective optimization using Thompson sampling.
problem Inefficient batch multiobjective optimization due to expensive oracles and hard inner optimization.
method Proposes a Thompson sampling approach (qextttPOTS) that chooses Pareto optimal candidates sequentially. result Empirically superior performance compared to classical evolutionary approaches and MOBO.