New bounds on complexity for finding near-stationary points in stochastic convex optimization.
problem Finding near-stationary points in stochastic convex optimization.
method Joint analysis of local stochastic oracle and global oracle models; extensions of recursive regularization technique.
result Logarithmic dependence on smoothness in global oracle model for finding near-stationary points.
New oracles improve stochastic optimization with noisy or biased measurements.
problem Optimizing functions with noisy or biased measurements.
method Introduced biased gradient oracles for stochastic optimization, analyzed RSG and SGD algorithms with these oracles.
result Derived non-asymptotic bounds for convergence rates of algorithms with biased gradient oracles.
New lower bounds for bilevel optimization with first-order oracles.
problem Complexity of bilevel optimization with first-order oracles.
method Development of hard instances and proof of lower bounds.
result Nontrivial lower bounds for first-order zero-respecting algorithms.
We suggest a general oracle-based framework that captures different parallel stochastic optimization settings described by a dependency graph, and derive generic lower bounds in terms of this graph. We then use the framework and derive lower bounds for several specific parallel optimization settings, including delayed …
Framework combines generative and predictive models for input design.
problem Maximizing or achieving specified values of properties given stochastic oracles.
method Probabilistic modeling and adaptive sampling algorithm.
result Substantially outperforms other methods in experimental tests.
Improved stochastic Halpern iteration for fixed-point approximation in normed spaces.
problem Approximating fixed-points of nonexpansive and contractive operators in normed finite-dimensional spaces.
method Stochastic Halpern iteration with minibatch, analyzing oracle complexity.
result Improved oracle complexity for nonexpansive operators, with a lower bound of Ω ( ε − 3 ) Ω(\varepsilon^{-3}) Ω ( ε − 3 ) . We study the computational tractability of PAC reinforcement learning with rich observations. We present new provably sample-efficient algorithms for environments with deterministic hidden state dynamics and stochastic rich observations. These methods operate in an oracle model of computation -- accessing policy and va…
The paper analyzes the efficiency of gradient estimation methods in noisy function evaluations.
problem Estimating gradients of smooth functions using noisy function evaluations.
method Information-theoretic lower bounds and finite difference method analysis.
result The finite difference method is not minimax optimal, suggesting room for improvement in gradient estimation.
New algorithms solve stochastic variational inequalities without bounded variance assumption.
problem Solving stochastic variational inequalities without bounded variance assumption.
method Developed algorithms for two classes of problems: monotone and structured nonmonotone VIs.
result Oracle complexity of O(ε^-4) for solving VIs with unbounded domains and possibly unbounded variance.
Improved zeroth-order algorithms tackle nonconvex minimax problems with reduced complexity.
problem Nonconvex minimax optimization problems in machine learning.
method Design and analysis of Zeroth-Order Gradient Descent Ascent ( exttt{ZO-GDA}) and Zeroth-Order Gradient Descent Multi-Step Ascent ( exttt{ZO-GDMSA}) algorithms.
result Oracle complexity improvements for minimax optimization problems.
Paper addresses online alignment of large language models under uncertain preference feedback.
problem Online alignment of large language models with misspecified preference feedback.
method Formulates an oracle-robust objective as a worst-case optimization problem for log-linear policies, and develops projected stochastic composite updates.
result Shows that the robust objective admits an exact closed-form decomposition and achieves O ~ ( ε − 2 ) \widetilde{O}(\varepsilon^{-2}) O ( ε − 2 ) oracle complexity. Improved complexity for machine learning optimization methods.
problem Optimizing over-parametrized models in machine learning.
method Stochastic conditional gradient methods with interpolation-like conditions.
result Improved oracle complexities for finding optimal solutions.
Improved stochastic approximation method reduces residual error.
problem Reducing residual error in stochastic approximation algorithms.
method Fixed-schedule one-quarter barrier and bias-corrected acceleration.
result Achieves T − 1 / 2 + o ( 1 ) T^{-1/2+o(1)} T − 1/2 + o ( 1 ) residual reduction with O ( 1 ) O(1) O ( 1 ) primitive samples. Study how noisy labels affect semi-supervised learning.
problem Effect of noisy labels on semi-supervised learning performance.
method Proposed an algorithm derived from a continuous relaxation of the Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) estimator for a Degree Corrected Stochastic Block Model (DC-SBM).
result Our approach achieves promising performance even with very noisy labeled data.
New algorithms solve non-convex optimization problems efficiently.
problem Non-convex stochastic compositional optimization problems.
method Developed two stochastic Gauss-Newton algorithms.
result Established global oracle complexity for stochastic Gauss-Newton methods.
Relative to the large literature on upper bounds on complexity of convex optimization, lesser attention has been paid to the fundamental hardness of these problems. Given the extensive use of convex optimization in machine learning and statistics, gaining an understanding of these complexity-theoretic issues is importa…
New method removes oracle and reduces memory usage for robust MDPs.
problem Applying robust MDPs in practice due to model estimation and oracle requirements.
method Transformed robust MDPs into an alternative form allowing stochastic gradient methods and model-free approach.
result Sample-efficient algorithm with lower storage requirement and no oracle.
Paper proposes a new method to stabilize noisy gradient algorithms.
problem Stochastic-gradient Langevin algorithms can introduce bias when taming denominators depend on stochastic-gradient realizations.
method Proposes a structure-preserving framework for designing tamed denominators that avoid unnecessary taming and maintain the stabilizing effect of taming.
result The method avoids stationary bias and explains the stationary error split into bias and remaining error.
SpiderBoost improves SPIDER's efficiency and applicability in optimization.
problem Optimization of smooth nonconvex functions and handling nonsmooth regularizers.
method SpiderBoost uses a larger constant-level stepsize and proximal mapping for composite optimization, achieving improved oracle complexity.
result SpiderBoost achieves an oracle complexity of O ( min { n 1 / 2 ε − 2 , ε − 3 } ) \mathcal{O}(\min\{n^{1/2}ε^{-2},ε^{-3}\}) O ( min { n 1/2 ε − 2 , ε − 3 }) in composite nonconvex optimization. New tool for parallel and private stochastic convex optimization reduces query complexity.
problem Parallel and private stochastic convex optimization with reduced query complexity.
method Reweighted Stochastic Query (ReSQue) estimator combined with ball oracle acceleration.
result Achieves state-of-the-art complexities for SCO in parallel and private settings.
New algorithm for clustering with faulty oracle achieves optimal queries and efficiency.
problem Clustering with a faulty oracle, especially for multiple clusters.
method Built on stochastic block model, provides nearly-optimal query complexity.
result Time-efficient algorithm with nearly-optimal query complexity for all constant k and any δ.
New method tackles endogeneity in online learning with improved regret bounds.
problem Endogeneity in real data due to omitted variables, strategic behaviors, etc.
method O2SLS (Online Two-Stage Least Squares) for Instrumental Variable (IV) regression.
result O2SLS achieves identification and oracle regret bounds for stochastic online learning.
We present a generic framework for trading off fidelity and cost in computing stochastic gradients when the costs of acquiring stochastic gradients of different quality are not known a priori. We consider a mini-batch oracle that distributes a limited query budget over a number of stochastic gradients and aggregates th…
Paper introduces SGD for nonparametric additive models with optimal risk.
problem Training nonparametric additive models efficiently and accurately.
method Iterative algorithm based on stochastic gradient descent for truncated basis expansions.
result Estimator achieves minimax optimal risk in well-specified settings.
New algorithm solves complex optimization problems without needing projections.
problem Optimizing nested functions under convex constraints with noisy evaluations.
method Projection-free conditional gradient-type algorithm for smooth stochastic multi-level composition optimization.
result The algorithm achieves ε ε ε -stationary solutions with complexity bounds independent of ε ε ε and T T 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.
In this paper, we initiate a rigorous theoretical study of clustering with noisy queries (or a faulty oracle). Given a set of n n n elements, our goal is to recover the true clustering by asking minimum number of pairwise queries to an oracle. Oracle can answer queries of the form : "do elements u u u and v v v belong to the…
Probabilistic Bisection Algorithm performs root finding based on knowledge acquired from noisy oracle responses. We consider the generalized PBA setting (G-PBA) where the statistical distribution of the oracle is unknown and location-dependent, so that model inference and Bayesian knowledge updating must be performed s…
New methods optimize complex optimization problems with improved efficiency.
problem Optimizing complex problems with a convex lower-level objective.
method Uses stochastic cutting planes and conditional gradient updates.
result Improves complexity for both convex and non-convex upper-level functions.
A new method reduces the complexity of decentralized optimization.
problem Decentralized stochastic non-convex optimization over a network.
method GT-HSGD, a hybrid variance-reduced method.
result Achieves an oracle complexity of O(n^(-1)ε^(-3)) for small ε.
New method optimizes protein design by sampling from realistic inputs.
problem Optimizing properties of interest in design problems, especially with black box predictive models.
method Conditioning by Adaptive Sampling, using model-based adaptive sampling to estimate conditional input distributions.
result Achieves state-of-the-art results on protein fluorescence problem.
Designing deterministic denominators for SGLD stabilizes large drifts.
problem Stabilizing large drifts in SGLD
method Using state-dependent envelopes and empirical quantiles for activation thresholds
result Proxy-quantile denominators are close to oracle-score behavior and improve deterministic taming choices
Study exact community recovery in noisy SBM with limited queries.
problem Community recovery in noisy stochastic block models with limited queries.
method Balanced uniform querying, two-stage adaptive strategy, sublinear queries, subsampled graph.
result Adaptive querying can improve exact recovery limits in noisy SBM.
Improved stochastic optimization outperforms standard methods.
problem Optimizing smooth, strongly convex functions with noisy data.
method Variance reduction strategy called VISOR.
result VISOR achieves optimal sample complexity and oracle complexity.
Study shows accelerated convergence of stochastic momentum methods in Wasserstein distances.
problem Performance sensitivity of momentum methods to noise in gradients.
method Stochastic momentum methods under a first-order stochastic oracle model.
result Linear convergence rates for AG and HB methods in Wasserstein metrics, robust to noise.
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.
Thompson Sampling tackles noisy context in stochastic bandits.
problem Designing an action policy for noisy, corrupted contexts in stochastic bandits.
method Introducing a Thompson Sampling algorithm for Gaussian bandits with Gaussian context noise, adopting an information-theoretic analysis.
result Demonstrates the Bayesian regret of the proposed algorithm concerning the oracle's action policy.
New averaging technique speeds up Newton method convergence.
problem Superlinear convergence of stochastic Newton methods with noisy Hessians.
method Hessian averaging to reduce noise and maintain superlinear convergence.
result Hessian averaging achieves superlinear convergence with a non-asymptotic rate.
Study efficient algorithms for nonconvex optimization with state-dependent Markov data.
problem Stochastic optimization with Markovian data and state-dependent transition kernels.
method Projection-based and projection-free algorithms for constrained nonconvex problems.
result The number of oracle calls to achieve an ε ε ε -stationary point is O ( 1 / ε 2.5 ) \mathcal{O}(1/ε^{2.5}) O ( 1/ ε 2.5 ) . In this work we introduce a conditional accelerated lazy stochastic gradient descent algorithm with optimal number of calls to a stochastic first-order oracle and convergence rate O ( 1 ε 2 ) O\left(\frac{1}{\varepsilon^2}\right) O ( ε 2 1 ) improving over the projection-free, Online Frank-Wolfe based stochastic gradient descent of Hazan an…
VR-GHAL method solves stochastic fixed-point equations with high probability.
problem Solving stochastic fixed-point equations in normed spaces with nonexpansive or contractive operators.
method VR-GHAL, a variance-reduced gradual Halpern method for quadratically smoothable Banach spaces, using clipped stochastic differences.
result The method achieves a high-probability residual bound, reducing the residual nearly geometrically across epochs.
Algorithm solves online binary classification and infinite games using ERM oracle.
problem Online learning and solving infinite games with computationally inefficient oracles.
method Proposes an algorithm relying solely on ERM oracle calls for online binary classification and nonparametric games.
result Achieves finite and sublinearly growing regret in various settings.
New methods solve optimization problems with heavy-tailed noise, improving upon existing complexity bounds.
problem Optimization problems with heavy-tailed noise and weakly average smoothness.
method Normalized stochastic first-order methods with Polyak, multi-extrapolated, and recursive momentum.
result First-order oracle complexity results for finding approximate stochastic stationary points under heavy-tailed noise.
Paper tackles NNS under uncertainty with improved algorithms.
problem Efficient nearest neighbor search with noisy distance estimates.
method Combines cover trees and multi-armed bandits for optimal performance.
result Optimal dependence on dataset size and unknown geometry achieved.
Bayesian-guided method selects optimal design from large candidate pool.
problem Optimizing complex structures with high-fidelity evaluations.
method Bayesian active learning with surrogate modeling.
result Optimal design identified with minimal oracle evaluations.
New methods solve complex optimization problems without strong convexity assumptions.
problem Complex bilevel optimization problems with minimax lower-level structures.
method Penalty-based first-order methods for bilevel minimax optimization.
result Achieves ε ε ε -KKT point with improved oracle complexity. New algorithms for IV regression with streaming data, avoiding matrix inversions.
problem Instrumental variable regression with streaming data.
method Viewing IV regression as a stochastic optimization problem, developing algorithms that avoid matrix inversions and mini-batches.
result Rates of convergence of order O ( log T / T ) \mathcal{O}(\log T/T) O ( log T / T ) and O ( 1 / T 1 − ι ) \mathcal{O}(1/T^{1-ι}) O ( 1/ T 1 − ι ) for linear models. A novel distributed method tracks gradients for convex optimization over networks.
problem Distributed optimization of strongly-convex functions over a network.
method S-AB algorithm using auxiliary variables and row/column stochastic weights.
result Linear convergence to a neighborhood of the global minimizer.