Optimizers find approximate global minima in non-convex problems.
problem Understanding why local methods solve non-convex optimization problems.
method Formalizing the hypothesis that many local minima are approximately global minima.
result Most local minima of practical non-convex objectives are approximately global minima.
New algorithm improves convergence for non-convex problems with boundaries.
problem Optimizing non-convex problems with constraints.
method Reflected Gradient Langevin Dynamics with probabilistic representation.
result Promising convergence rates, faster than existing methods.
New algorithms optimize non-smooth, non-convex objectives with improved complexity.
problem Optimizing non-smooth, non-convex stochastic objectives.
method Reduction to online learning, applying optimistic online learning techniques.
result Improved complexity for finding ( δ , ε ) (δ,ε) ( δ , ε ) -stationary points. New method finds near-optimal solutions for non-convex optimization problems.
problem Finding near-optimal solutions for non-convex optimization problems.
method Riemannian stochastic recursive momentum method
result Achieves a near-optimal complexity of i l d e O ( ε − 3 ) ilde{\mathcal{O}}(ε^{-3}) i l d e O ( ε − 3 ) . Paper uses integer programming for non-convex boosting in classification.
problem Improving classification performance using non-convex optimization.
method Non-convex boosting via integer programming.
result Results comparable to or better than state-of-the-art.
First order methods can take extremely long to find global minima of non-convex functions.
problem Finding global minimizers of non-convex functions.
method Designing a family of non-convex functions and using statistical lower bounds for parameter estimation.
result First order methods can take exponential time to converge to a global minimizer.
This work explores the non-convex optimization in compressive learning and the performance of heuristics.
problem The challenge of learning from compressed representations in compressive learning.
method Numerical simulations of the non-convex optimization landscape and heuristic performance.
result Properties of the non-convex optimization landscape and heuristic performance are explored.
New approach for distributed online optimization of non-convex losses with sublinear regret.
problem Regret evaluation and consensus in distributed, multi-agent systems with non-convex losses.
method Composite regret metric and consensus-based online normalized gradient (CONGD) approach for pseudo-convex losses; offline optimization oracle for general non-convex losses.
result First sublinear regret bound for general distributed online non-convex learning.
AGGLIO optimizes non-convex functions with local convexity guarantees.
problem Optimizing non-convex functions with local convexity.
method Stage-wise, graduated optimization technique for locally convex functions.
result Global convergence to the global optimum for non-convex and locally convex objectives.
Here we study non-convex composite optimization: first, a finite-sum of smooth but non-convex functions, and second, a general function that admits a simple proximal mapping. Most research on stochastic methods for composite optimization assumes convexity or strong convexity of each function. In this paper, we extend t…
Improved optimization guarantees for deep learning models with Nesterov acceleration.
problem Optimization in non-convex deep learning landscapes.
method Analysis of Nesterov acceleration in benignly non-convex landscapes.
result Identical guarantees can be obtained in optimization problems with weak geometric assumptions, especially in overparametrized deep learning.
Generalizes smoothness conditions for optimization methods.
problem Optimization under non-uniform smoothness conditions.
method Develops a new analysis technique for bounding gradients.
result Obtains convergence rates for gradient descent and Nesterov's method.
Improved variance reduction for Riemannian non-convex optimization with adaptive batch size.
problem Optimizing non-convex functions on Riemannian manifolds.
method Batch size adaptation in R-SVRG, R-SRG, and R-SPIDER.
result Achieves lower total complexities for various non-convex functions.
Improved convergence analysis for decentralized non-convex optimization.
problem Minimizing a sum of smooth non-convex functions over a network.
method Gradient tracking in decentralized stochastic gradient descent (GT-DSGD).
result GT-DSGD achieves network-independent performances matching centralized SGD under certain conditions.
In this paper, we study stochastic non-convex optimization with non-convex random functions. Recent studies on non-convex optimization revolve around establishing second-order convergence, i.e., converging to a nearly second-order optimal stationary points. However, existing results on stochastic non-convex optimizatio…
An Euler discretization of the Langevin diffusion is known to converge to the global minimizers of certain convex and non-convex optimization problems. We show that this property holds for any suitably smooth diffusion and that different diffusions are suitable for optimizing different classes of convex and non-convex …
Paper tackles non-convex optimization for higher moments in portfolio management.
problem Complexity of higher moments in optimization problems.
method Method of successive convex approximation.
result Solves mean-variance-skewness problem using non-convex optimization.
New insights into using momentum for non-convex optimization.
problem Improving training of non-convex models like deep neural networks.
method Developed a Lyapunov analysis of SGD with momentum using stochastic primal averaging.
result Precise conditions under which SGD+M outperforms SGD and optimal hyper-parameter schedules.
Heavy Ball method speeds up finding global optima in non-convex problems.
problem Finding global optima in non-convex optimization problems.
method Heavy Ball momentum in non-convex optimization.
result Heavy Ball helps iterates enter a benign region faster, containing a global optimal point.
Adaptive momentum method solves non-convex min-max problems.
problem Non-convex min-max optimization problems in training generative adversarial networks.
method Proposes an adaptive momentum algorithm for non-convex min-max optimization.
result Establishes non-asymptotic convergence rates for the proposed algorithm.
This paper improves convergence guarantees for SGD algorithms in non-convex smooth functions.
problem Theoretical convergence properties of SGD algorithms for non-convex smooth functions.
method Analysis of SGD algorithms with arbitrary data ordering for non-convex smooth functions.
result Enhanced convergence guarantees for incremental gradient and single shuffle SGD, improving the optimization term of convergence guarantee.
NOVAS uses adaptive stochastic search for non-convex optimization in deep networks.
problem Non-convex optimization challenges in deep neural networks.
method Adaptive stochastic search for non-convex optimization.
result NOVAS outperforms existing alternatives in a structured prediction task.
Paper develops momentum schemes with variance reduction for non-convex composition optimization.
problem Lack of convergence guarantee and efficient momentum design in existing algorithms.
method Develops various momentum schemes with SPIDER-based variance reduction.
result Achieves near-optimal sample complexity and linear convergence rate.
We consider the fundamental problem in non-convex optimization of efficiently reaching a stationary point. In contrast to the convex case, in the long history of this basic problem, the only known theoretical results on first-order non-convex optimization remain to be full gradient descent that converges in $O(1/\varep…
Unified framework improves robust causal inference, overcoming Gaussian barriers and optimization issues.
problem Improving robust causal inference in non-Gaussian settings.
method Combines gamma-Divergence, GNC, and Gatekeeper mechanism.
result Enhanced robustness and global optimization in causal effect estimation.
AEGD optimizes non-convex functions with dynamic energy updates.
problem Optimizing non-convex functions efficiently and robustly.
method Adaptive Gradient Descent (AEGD) with a dynamically updated energy variable.
result AEGD achieves energy-dependent convergence rates for both convex and non-convex objectives.
A vast majority of machine learning algorithms train their models and perform inference by solving optimization problems. In order to capture the learning and prediction problems accurately, structural constraints such as sparsity or low rank are frequently imposed or else the objective itself is designed to be a non-c…
A fast method for decentralized non-convex optimization over networks.
problem Decentralized non-convex optimization problems over a network of nodes.
method GT-SAGA, a randomized incremental gradient method that evaluates one component gradient per node per iteration.
result GT-SAGA achieves almost sure and mean-squared convergence to a first-order stationary point for general smooth non-convex problems.
We rigorously prove statistical physics predictions for non-convex GLMs in high dimensions.
problem Analyzing high-dimensional optimization problems in non-convex Generalized Linear Models.
method Developed a systematic framework using the Gaussian Min-Max Theorem and AMP to rigorously prove replica-symmetric formulas.
result Validated statistical physics predictions for non-convex GLMs, aligning with physicist's conjectures.
Accelerated gradient (AG) methods are breakthroughs in convex optimization, improving the convergence rate of the gradient descent method for optimization with smooth functions. However, the analysis of AG methods for non-convex optimization is still limited. It remains an open question whether AG methods from convex o…
This work shows neural networks can solve non-convex constraints problems.
problem Training neural networks under non-convex constraints.
method Project stochastic gradient descent with no-regret analysis of online learning.
result Overparameterized neural networks achieve near-optimal and near-feasible solutions.
Note on the computational complexity of Gromov-Wasserstein distance.
problem Computational difficulty of Gromov-Wasserstein distance.
method Analysis of the optimization problem structure and providing explicit examples.
result Gromov-Wasserstein distance optimization problem is non-convex quadratic.
SGD converges to global minimum for certain non-convex functions.
problem Theoretical challenges in optimizing non-convex functions in machine learning.
method Perturbed SGD on a broad class of non-convex functions.
result SGD converges to global minimum for certain non-convex functions.
Preconditioned non-convex gradient descent improves noisy matrix estimation.
problem Estimating low-rank matrices from noisy measurements.
method Preconditioned non-convex gradient descent for noisy measurements.
result Preconditioned method converges to minimax optimal estimate at a linear rate.
NSGLD improves SGLD for non-convex optimization problems.
problem Optimizing non-convex objectives efficiently.
method Introducing non-reversible SGLD by adding an anti-symmetric matrix to the drift term of the Langevin diffusion.
result NSGLD converges faster to the same stationary distribution with non-asymptotic guarantees.
Lower bounds for higher-order methods in non-convex optimization.
problem Proving lower bounds for higher-order methods in smooth non-convex finite-sum optimization.
method Analyzing deterministic and randomized algorithms, proposing a new smoothness assumption.
result Proves optimal lower bounds for simulating pth-order regularized methods on the whole function.
Accelerates convergence in global non-convex optimization with reversible diffusion.
problem Global non-convex optimization challenges.
method Utilizes reversible diffusion processes with adaptive diffusion coefficients.
result Accelerated convergence with reduced discretization error.
Paper proposes a working set algorithm for non-convex sparse regression with provable convergence.
problem Estimating sparse linear models from high-dimensional data using non-convex regularizers.
method FireWorks algorithm based on non-convex reformulation and leveraging residual geometry.
result Convergence to a stationary point of the full problem with provable guarantees.
Study accelerates optimization methods in non-convex problems, but doesn't improve the algorithm's performance.
problem Understanding the behavior of momentum-based acceleration methods in non-convex, high-dimensional landscapes.
method Used dynamical mean field theory to describe the average dynamics of heavy-ball momentum and Nesterov acceleration in a non-convex model.
result Accelerated dynamics but did not improve the algorithm's performance with respect to gradient descent.
Paper checks SSC for matrix factorizations using Gurobi.
problem Checking the SSC for various matrix factorizations.
method Formulated as a non-convex quadratic optimization problem over a bounded set, solved with Gurobi.
result SSC can be checked in reasonable time for realistic scenarios.
This paper analyzes saddle points and minimax points in non-convex smooth games.
problem Understanding local optimal points in non-convex smooth games.
method Comprehensive analysis of local minimax points, including their optimality conditions and stability.
result Local saddle points are uniformly local minimax points under mild continuity assumptions.
Survey of advances in non-convex min-max optimization for applications.
problem Finding optimal solutions in non-convex, non-concave min-max problems.
method Selective review of theoretical and algorithmic advances.
result Exciting recent advances in solving non-convex min-max problems.
New methods solve sparse estimation robustly, even with outliers.
problem Sparse estimation in high-dimensional data with outliers.
method Non-convex optimization formulations for robust sparse mean estimation and PCA.
result Any approximate stationary point yields near-optimal solutions.
Non-convex sparsity-inducing penalties have recently received considerable attentions in sparse learning. Recent theoretical investigations have demonstrated their superiority over the convex counterparts in several sparse learning settings. However, solving the non-convex optimization problems associated with non-conv…
ProxSkip achieves linear speedup in distributed non-convex optimization.
problem Achieving linear speedup in distributed non-convex optimization.
method Unified convergence analysis for stochastic non-convex, convex, and strongly convex problems.
result ProxSkip achieves linear speedup in the number of nodes under stochastic gradients.
The TREX is a recently introduced method for performing sparse high-dimensional regression. Despite its statistical promise as an alternative to the lasso, square-root lasso, and scaled lasso, the TREX is computationally challenging in that it requires solving a non-convex optimization problem. This paper shows a remar…
New bounds found for optimizing non-convex functions with noisy data.
problem Limits of first-order stochastic optimization in non-convex settings.
method Divergence decomposition to construct challenging subclasses.
result Sharp lower bounds on noisy gradient queries for various non-convex classes.
Optimal control in changing systems without strong convexity assumptions.
problem Adversarial changes in convex costs for unknown linear systems.
method Non-convex lower confidence bounds and computationally-efficient regret minimization.
result Achieves T \smash{\sqrt{T}} T -regret rate, optimal compared to best stabilizing controller.