Stochastic approximation algorithms show exponential progress bounds.
problem Analyzing the convergence of stochastic approximation algorithms.
method Developed geometric ergodicity proofs to establish exponential concentration bounds.
result Proved faster convergence rates for specific algorithms.
Paper proposes a reinforcement learning framework for efficient hyper-parameter tuning of stochastic optimization algorithms.
problem Efficient tuning of hyper-parameters for stochastic optimization algorithms.
method Modeling hyper-parameter tuning as a Markov decision process and using policy gradient algorithms.
result The proposed framework significantly reduces the time required for hyper-parameter tuning compared to Bayesian optimization.
New algorithm improves on EM for streaming data, outperforming existing methods.
problem Processing high-volume, streaming data efficiently.
method Incremental stochastic Majorization-Minimization (MM) algorithm.
result The algorithm converges to a stationary point with vanishing gradient.
We develop the method of stochastic modified equations (SME), in which stochastic gradient algorithms are approximated in the weak sense by continuous-time stochastic differential equations. We exploit the continuous formulation together with optimal control theory to derive novel adaptive hyper-parameter adjustment po…
This paper analyzes adaptive gradient algorithms for better performance in ill-conditioned problems.
problem Poor performance of standard stochastic gradient algorithms in ill-conditioned problems.
method Non-asymptotic analysis of adaptive gradient algorithms (Adagrad and Stochastic Newton) for strongly convex objectives.
result Theoretical analysis and adaptation to practical applications like linear regression and regularized GLM.
Paper introduces a new multi-kernel algorithm for better gradient approximation.
problem Improving gradient approximation in high-dimensional problems.
method Develops a multi-kernel passive stochastic gradient algorithm with variance reduction.
result The multi-kernel algorithm performs better in high-dimensional problems.
Many machine learning algorithms minimize a regularized risk, and stochastic optimization is widely used for this task. When working with massive data, it is desirable to perform stochastic optimization in parallel. Unfortunately, many existing stochastic optimization algorithms cannot be parallelized efficiently. In t…
Overview of non-stochastic-gradient SA algorithms in signal processing and ML.
problem Dealing with large data sets and uncertainties in signal processing and machine learning.
method General framework of SA algorithms using Lyapunov functions.
result Unified convergence properties of non-stochastic-gradient algorithms.
Paper solves optimization problems with convex expectation constraints using a new algorithm.
problem Minimizing convex expectation functions with inequality convex expectation constraints.
method Stochastic Augmented Lagrangian-Type Algorithm (Stochastic Linearized Proximal Method of Multipliers).
result Algorithm achieves O(K−1/2) convergence rates for objective reduction and constraint violation. Algorithm samples constrained stochastic differential equations.
problem Sampling stochastic differential equations with complex constraints.
method Pathspace Metropolis-adjusted manifold sampling.
result Demonstrated effectiveness in various constrained conditions.
New algorithm solves stochastic optimization problems with unknown gradients.
problem Solving nonlinear optimization problems with stochastic objectives and deterministic constraints.
method Adaptive SQP with differentiable exact augmented Lagrangian and stochastic line search.
result Global convergence established for both non-adaptive and adaptive SQP methods.
This paper provides a unifying theoretical framework for stochastic optimization algorithms by means of a latent stochastic variational problem. Using techniques from stochastic control, the solution to the variational problem is shown to be equivalent to that of a Forward Backward Stochastic Differential Equation (FBS…
Along with developing of Peaceman-Rachford Splittling Method (PRSM), many batch algorithms based on it have been studied very deeply. But almost no algorithm focused on the performance of stochastic version of PRSM. In this paper, we propose a new stochastic algorithm based on PRSM, prove its convergence rate in ergodi…
Combines multiple bandit algorithms to create a nearly optimal single algorithm.
problem Designing a single bandit algorithm that performs nearly as well as the best individual algorithm in a stochastic environment.
method Develops two general corralling algorithms that achieve favorable regret guarantees.
result The regret of the corralling algorithms is no worse than the best individual algorithm's performance.
A new algorithm reduces communication rounds for distributed convex optimization.
problem Efficiently solving convex optimization problems in distributed systems.
method Proposes a stochastic Newton algorithm for homogeneous distributed stochastic convex optimization.
result Reduces the number and frequency of communication rounds compared to existing methods.
New algorithms for approximating stochastic processes efficiently.
problem Finding accurate finite approximations for stochastic processes.
method Develops new algorithms and fast implementations for approximating stochastic processes.
result Efficient approximations for stochastic processes can be found.
We propose a stochastic gradient Markov chain Monte Carlo (SG-MCMC) algorithm for scalable inference in mixed-membership stochastic blockmodels (MMSB). Our algorithm is based on the stochastic gradient Riemannian Langevin sampler and achieves both faster speed and higher accuracy at every iteration than the current sta…
New SAGA algorithm with decreasing step for stochastic optimization.
problem Analysis of SAGA algorithm and its convergence properties.
method Introducing a new λ-SAGA algorithm with decreasing step, investigating convergence and establishing a central limit theorem.
result Established convergence and central limit theorem for λ-SAGA algorithm.
New algorithm improves convergence of AUC maximization.
problem Optimizing AUC for imbalanced classes with stochastic methods.
method Variance Reduced Stochastic Proximal Algorithm for AUC Maximization (VRSPAM).
result VRSPAM converges faster than previous methods.
We develop the mathematical foundations of the stochastic modified equations (SME) framework for analyzing the dynamics of stochastic gradient algorithms, where the latter is approximated by a class of stochastic differential equations with small noise parameters. We prove that this approximation can be understood math…
Langevin algorithms enhance training of deep neural networks for stochastic control problems.
problem Training acceleration for deep neural networks in stochastic control problems.
method Application of Langevin algorithms to minimize the loss of deep neural networks in stochastic control problems.
result Langevin algorithms improve training on various stochastic control problems.
Paper proposes an algorithm to solve complex minimax problems efficiently.
problem Stochastic nonconvex-concave minimax problems in various fields.
method Accelerated first-order regularized momentum descent ascent algorithm (FORMDA).
result Achieves best-known complexity bound of ildeO(ε−6.5) for single-loop algorithms. Two new algorithms solve privacy-constrained SVI and SSP problems.
problem Privacy-constrained stochastic variational inequality and saddle-point problems.
method Proposed Noisy Stochastic Extragradient (NSEG) and Noisy Inexact Stochastic Proximal Point (NISPP) algorithms.
result Optimal risk bounds for weak gap function with sampling with replacement.
We propose a new algorithm---Stochastic Proximal Langevin Algorithm (SPLA)---for sampling from a log concave distribution. Our method is a generalization of the Langevin algorithm to potentials expressed as the sum of one stochastic smooth term and multiple stochastic nonsmooth terms. In each iteration, our splitting t…
A new hybrid algorithm reduces stochastic gradient evaluations for nonconvex optimization.
problem Solving stochastic composite nonconvex optimization problems efficiently.
method Proposes a new hybrid variance-reduced proximal gradient method with a stochastic gradient estimator.
result Achieves optimal stochastic oracle complexity bound with one less gradient evaluation.
A new hybrid Newton algorithm improves convergence in logistic regression.
problem Solving large-scale binary classification problems efficiently.
method Proposes a hybrid stochastic Newton algorithm with two weighted components in the Hessian matrix estimation.
result Proves almost sure convergence to the true parameter of logistic regression.
In this paper, we propose a unified view of gradient-based algorithms for stochastic convex composite optimization by extending the concept of estimate sequence introduced by Nesterov. More precisely, we interpret a large class of stochastic optimization methods as procedures that iteratively minimize a surrogate of th…
New method for zeroth-order stochastic gradient algorithms provides confidence intervals.
problem Lack of inferential capabilities for zeroth-order stochastic gradient algorithms.
method Established central limit theorem and provided online estimators for asymptotic covariance matrix.
result Asymptotically valid confidence sets for parameter estimation and prediction.
A new ML algorithm solves complex economic control problems.
problem Solving high-dimensional, finite-horizon stochastic control problems in economics.
method Deep neural network representation of optimal policy functions with three key features.
result Efficiently solves various economic control problems including recursive utility and growth models.
Although stochastic approximation learning methods have been widely used in the machine learning literature for over 50 years, formal theoretical analyses of specific machine learning algorithms are less common because stochastic approximation theorems typically possess assumptions which are difficult to communicate an…
We propose accelerated randomized coordinate descent algorithms for stochastic optimization and online learning. Our algorithms have significantly less per-iteration complexity than the known accelerated gradient algorithms. The proposed algorithms for online learning have better regret performance than the known rando…
Paper proves large deviation principle for stochastic approximations.
problem Asymptotic estimates of learning algorithm deviations.
method Weak convergence approach to large deviations.
result Identifies appropriate scaling sequence and new representation for rate function.
Study analyzes a new algorithm for complex optimization problems.
problem Stochastic bilevel optimisation problems in continuous-time models.
method Continuous-time, two-timescale stochastic approximation algorithm.
result Obtained weak convergence rate using central limit theorem.
Machine learning provides algorithms that can learn from data and make inferences or predictions on data. Stochastic acceptors or probabilistic automata are stochastic automata without output that can model components in machine learning scenarios. In this paper, we provide dynamic programming algorithms for the comput…
Develops a novel stochastic algorithm for diagonal estimation of large matrices.
problem Efficient diagonal estimation for large or implicit matrices.
method Adaptive parameter selection in a stochastic algorithm.
result Lower bound on random query vectors needed for estimation.
Derives error bounds for stochastic iterative algorithms using Stein's method.
problem Bounding errors in stochastic iterative algorithms like SGD and SGLD.
method Uses infinite-dimensional Stein's method of exchangeable pairs to derive functional approximation error bounds.
result Establishes non-asymptotic error bounds for algorithm sample paths and variance of iterate averages.
SAGD uses Langevin algorithm for efficient gradient descent.
problem Efficiently approximating gradients in complex models.
method Langevin algorithm for biased but asymptotically accurate gradients.
result Theoretical convergence guarantee for SAGD.
We derive an algorithm that achieves the optimal (within constants) pseudo-regret in both adversarial and stochastic multi-armed bandits without prior knowledge of the regime and time horizon. The algorithm is based on online mirror descent (OMD) with Tsallis entropy regularization with power α=1/2 and reduced-varian…
Paper discusses new stochastic algorithms for sparse signal recovery.
problem Sparse signal recovery in medical imaging and remote sensing.
method Proposes and analyzes stochastic natural thresholding algorithms.
result Demonstrates improved performance of StoNT algorithms.
Stochastic Variance-Reduced Cubic regularization (SVRC) algorithms have received increasing attention due to its improved gradient/Hessian complexities (i.e., number of queries to stochastic gradient/Hessian oracles) to find local minima for nonconvex finite-sum optimization. However, it is unclear whether existing SVR…
Motivated by the task of hyperparameter optimization, we introduce the non-stochastic best-arm identification problem. Within the multi-armed bandit literature, the cumulative regret objective enjoys algorithms and analyses for both the non-stochastic and stochastic settings while to the best of our knowledge, the best…
Stochastic proximal point algorithm with momentum converges faster and is more stable than standard methods.
problem Improving convergence and stability of stochastic optimization methods.
method Developed and analyzed the convergence and stability of the stochastic proximal point algorithm with momentum (SPPAM).
result SPPAM converges faster and is more stable than standard stochastic proximal point algorithm (SPPA) and stochastic gradient descent with momentum (SGDM).
An algorithm is proposed for solving stochastic and finite sum minimization problems. Based on a trust region methodology, the algorithm employs normalized steps, at least as long as the norms of the stochastic gradient estimates are within a specified interval. The complete algorithm---which dynamically chooses whethe…
Paper proves deep learning method for stochastic control converges and outperforms existing algorithms.
problem Formulating and solving stochastic control problems using FBSDE and SMP.
method Deep learning algorithm based on SMP, with convergence proof and error bounds.
result Deep SMP-BSDE algorithm converges and outperforms existing methods in high-dimensional stochastic control problems.
New algorithm reduces complexity for optimizing complex machine learning tasks.
problem Optimizing complex machine learning objectives like reinforcement learning and portfolio management.
method Developed SARAH-Compositional algorithm using Stochastic Recursive Gradient Descent.
result Achieved optimal IFO complexity bounds for stochastic compositional optimization.
Proposes new Monte Carlo methods for calibrating local volatility models with stochastic components.
problem Calibrating local volatility models with stochastic drift and diffusion.
method Developed Monte Carlo algorithms for three models: local volatility with stochastic interest rates, stochastic local volatility with deterministic interest rates, and stochastic local volatility with stochastic interest rates.
result Conditions for the existence of local volatility given European option prices, stochastic interest rate model parameters, and correlations.
In this paper, we study and analyze the mini-batch version of StochAstic Recursive grAdient algoritHm (SARAH), a method employing the stochastic recursive gradient, for solving empirical loss minimization for the case of nonconvex losses. We provide a sublinear convergence rate (to stationary points) for general noncon…
SGBD algorithm improves robustness in Bayesian sampling.
problem Inefficiency of existing MCMC algorithms in large datasets.
method Extends Barker MCMC to stochastic gradient framework, introducing bias-corrected version.
result SGBD is more robust to hyperparameter tuning and gradient noise.