It is well known that Expected Shortfall (also called Average Value-at-Risk) is a convex risk measure, i. e. Expected Shortfall of a convex linear combination of arbitrary risk positions is not greater than a convex linear combination with the same weights of Expected Shortfalls of the same risk positions. In this shor…
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. Submodularity is studied for convex risk measures, including Expected Shortfall.
problem Characterizing submodularity in convex risk measures.
method Analyzing submodularity properties of law-invariant coherent risk measures, including Expected Shortfall and Value-at-Risk.
result AES is submodular only when it reduces to ES, and empirical analysis shows AES violations are less frequent than VaR and ES violations.
New characterization of second-order stochastic dominance with applications in risk management.
problem Characterizing second-order stochastic dominance.
method Properties of Expected Shortfall risk measures.
result New interpretation and proof techniques for second-order stochastic dominance.
This paper deals with multidimensional dynamic risk measures induced by conditional g-expectations. A notion of multidimensional g-expectation is proposed to provide a multidimensional version of nonlinear expectations. By a technical result on explicit expressions for the comparison theorem, uniqueness theorem and…
Unified theory of θ-expectations derived from chaotic dynamics.
problem Non-convex stochastic control problems outside G-expectations.
method Spectral theory of transfer operators for uniformly hyperbolic flows, viscosity solutions to HJB equations.
result Affine Hessian, non-convex gradient structure of θ-expectation. New findings on how certain functionals behave in random variable spaces.
problem Understanding when law-invariant convex functionals simplify to the mean.
method Analyzing a broad class of random variable spaces and mild semicontinuity assumptions.
result The expectation functional is the only law-invariant convex functional that collapses to the mean under certain conditions.
We refine Expected Shortfall by controlling different tail portions, offering tailored risk assessments.
problem Risk assessment in financial positions, especially in tail regions.
method Introducing adjusted Expected Shortfall measures that control different tail portions.
result Adjusted Expected Shortfall measures ensure risk does not exceed specified thresholds for various probability levels.
SGD converges to global minimum for structured non-convex functions.
problem Optimizing non-convex functions using SGD with slow convergence rates.
method Convergence theorems for SGD on structured non-convex functions, including Quasar and PL conditions.
result SGD converges to global minimum for specific non-convex functions under certain conditions.
Optimum in Convex Hulls (OCH) generalizes clinical trial results to broader populations.
problem Clinical trials exclude confounding but limit recruitment; observational data are more inclusive but suffer from confounding.
method OCH uses convex hulls of conditional expectations or densities to approximate the true treatment effect from both observational and trial data.
result OCH estimates the treatment effect with state-of-the-art accuracy in terms of both expectations and densities.
Establishes geometric convergence of iterative optimization algorithms.
problem Analyzes convergence of iterative optimization algorithms under general assumptions.
method General framework for iterative optimization algorithms, proving asymptotic geometric convergence and providing convergence rates.
result Asymptotic geometric convergence of iterative optimization algorithms with exact rate.
The paper explores optimal insurance contracts using various deviation measures.
problem Optimal insurance contracts with mean-deviation measures.
method Study of convex signed Choquet integrals and standard deviation as deviation measures, analyzing premium principles like expected value, Value-at-Risk, and Expected Shortfall.
result Characterization of optimal indemnities and deductibles under different premium principles.
Classical stochastic gradient methods are well suited for minimizing expected-value objective functions. However, they do not apply to the minimization of a nonlinear function involving expected values or a composition of two expected-value functions, i.e., problems of the form $\min_x \mathbf{E}_v [f_v\big(\mathbf{E}_…
A non-Euclidean generalization of conditional expectation is introduced and characterized as the minimizer of expected intrinsic squared-distance from a manifold-valued target. The computational tractable formulation expresses the non-convex optimization problem as transformations of Euclidean conditional expectation. …
Introduces Lambda Expected Shortfall as a risk measure generalizing ES.
problem Lack of a comprehensive risk measure that generalizes ES and Lambda-VaR.
method Introduces Lambda-ES, a new risk measure with explicit formula and properties.
result Lambda-ES is the smallest quasi-convex and law-invariant risk measure dominating Lambda-VaR.
Sharp bounds found for various risk measures using generalized FGM copulas.
problem Finding sharp bounds for risk measures in high dimensions.
method Proved that generalized FGM copulas form a convex polytope, used this structure to find bounds for risk measures.
result Sharp analytical bounds for convex risk measures in the class of generalized FGM copulas.
In this paper, we focus on the problem of stochastic optimization where the objective function can be written as an expectation function over a closed convex set. We also consider multiple expectation constraints which restrict the domain of the problem. We extend the cooperative stochastic approximation algorithm from…
We analyze the local convergence of proximal splitting algorithms to solve optimization problems that are convex besides a rank constraint. For this, we show conditions under which the proximal operator of a function involving the rank constraint is locally identical to the proximal operator of its convex envelope, hen…
New loss functions optimize pricing policies using transaction data, ensuring expected revenue guarantees.
problem Optimizing pricing policies with transaction data where valuation data is not directly observed.
method Introducing convex loss functions for contextual pricing, focusing on log-concave valuation distributions.
result Proved expected revenue bounds for generalized hinge and quantile pricing loss functions.
Enhances resilience evaluation by using dynamic convex risk measures.
problem Capturing the full risk profile of financial positions under adverse conditions.
method Introduces a new resilience evaluation method using dynamic convex risk measures.
result Shows that the resilience evaluation can distinguish between positions with the same expected recovery but different conditional risk profiles.
Optimally shows the distance between perturbed convex functions and their Γ-regularizations.
problem Understanding the difference between perturbed convex functions and their Γ-regularizations.
method Analyzing the compactly supported perturbation and the Γ-regularization of a strictly convex function.
result The optimal estimate of the distance between perturbed convex functions and their Γ-regularizations is shown to be o(ε). Diversification represents the idea of choosing variety over uniformity. Within the theory of choice, desirability of diversification is axiomatized as preference for a convex combination of choices that are equivalently ranked. This corresponds to the notion of risk aversion when one assumes the von-Neumann-Morgenster…
Paper analyzes convergence of stochastic methods under heavy-tailed noise.
problem Analyzing convergence of stochastic methods under heavy-tailed noise.
method Investigates vanilla and clipped stochastic subgradient descent methods.
result Demonstrates convergence properties under sub-Weibull and p-BCM noise assumptions.
In this paper we analyze the randomized block-coordinate descent (RBCD) methods proposed in [8,11] for minimizing the sum of a smooth convex function and a block-separable convex function. In particular, we extend Nesterov's technique developed in [8] for analyzing the RBCD method for minimizing a smooth convex functio…
SGD's uncertainty quantified in non-convex learning problems.
problem Uncertainty quantification in non-convex learning problems.
method Asymptotic normality of SGD iterates and bias characterization.
result SGD iterates are asymptotically normally distributed around the expected value of the invariant distribution.
Stochastic gradient methods can converge in expectation under heavy-tailed noise.
problem Convergence of stochastic gradient methods under heavy-tailed noise.
method Comprehensive study of stochastic optimization under heavy-tailed noise for extsfSGD, extsfSMD, extsfASMD, extsfSGDM in convex and nonconvex optimization. result Established in-expectation convergence results for various stochastic gradient methods.
The paper studies dynamic star-shaped risk measures and their representation.
problem Representing dynamic star-shaped risk measures and their properties.
method Representation theorems for dynamic monetary and star-shaped risk measures.
result Dynamic star-shaped risk measures can be represented as the lower envelope of a family of dynamic convex risk measures.
We develop a general theory of convex duality for certain singular control problems, taking the abstract results by Kramkov and Schachermayer (1999) for optimal expected utility from nonnegative random variables to the level of optimal expected utility from increasing, adapted controls. The main contributions are the f…
Optimizes portfolios with GM returns using convex optimization.
problem Maximizing expected exponential utility with GM asset returns.
method Formulated as a convex optimization problem.
result Optimal solutions found without sampling or scenarios.
Convex clustering can only learn convex clusters, with significant gaps between clusters.
problem Understanding the limitations and capabilities of convex clustering.
method Analyzing convex clustering solutions, proving properties, and characterizing clusters.
result Convex clustering can only learn convex clusters with significant gaps between clusters.
This paper considers the problem of minimizing an expectation function over a closed convex set, coupled with a {\color{black} functional or expectation} constraint on either decision variables or problem parameters. We first present a new stochastic approximation (SA) type algorithm, namely the cooperative SA (CSA), t…
Paper develops probabilistic bounds for a stochastic gradient algorithm in non-convex problems.
problem Stochastic optimization in non-convex finite sum problems.
method Develops a new dimension-free Azuma-Hoeffding type bound for a martingale difference sequence.
result Empirical results show superior probabilistic performance of Prob-SARAH compared to other algorithms.
We revisit the challenge of designing online algorithms for the bandit convex optimization problem (BCO) which are also scalable to high dimensional problems. Hence, we consider algorithms that are \textit{projection-free}, i.e., based on the conditional gradient method whose only access to the feasible decision set, i…
Stochastic approximation (SA) is a classical approach for stochastic convex optimization. Previous studies have demonstrated that the convergence rate of SA can be improved by introducing either smoothness or strong convexity condition. In this paper, we make use of smoothness and strong convexity simultaneously to boo…
We prove three facts about intrinsic geometry of surfaces in a normed (Minkowski) space. When put together, these facts demonstrate a rather intriguing picture. We show that (1) geodesics on saddle surfaces (in a space of any dimension) behave as they are expected to: they have no conjugate points and thus minimize len…
Sublinear functionals of random variables are known as sublinear expectations; they are convex homogeneous functionals on infinite-dimensional linear spaces. We extend this concept for set-valued functionals defined on measurable set-valued functions (which form a nonlinear space), equivalently, on random closed sets. …
New algorithm solves saddle point problems in Banach spaces.
problem Solving saddle point problems in real reflexive Banach spaces.
method Stochastic Bregman Primal-Dual Splitting Algorithm with relative smoothness and strong convexity assumptions.
result Almost sure convergence to saddle points under various conditions.
The expectile can be considered as a generalization of quantile. While expected shortfall is a quantile based risk measure, we study its counterpart -- the expectile based expected shortfall -- where expectile takes the place of quantile. We provide its dual representation in terms of Bochner integral. Among other prop…
Investigates conditions for risk or utility functionals to be sensitive to large losses.
problem Conditions for risk or utility functionals to be sensitive to large losses.
method Analyzes sensitivity to large losses for various risk and utility functionals.
result Value at Risk and Expected Shortfall generally fail to be sensitive to large losses, but expected utility functionals and certain adjusted versions are sensitive.
New methods optimize functions faster with less gradient accuracy needed.
problem Optimizing complex functions with limited gradient accuracy.
method Hessian averaging and adaptive gradient sampling methods.
result Improved convergence rates for various function types.
Optimal learning rate schedules for SGD in changing data distributions.
problem Minimizing regret in online learning with changing data distributions.
method Characterized optimal schedules for linear regression, proposed schedules for general convex and non-convex losses, and defined a notion of regret for non-convex losses.
result Upper and lower bounds for regret with constants for convex losses, and an upper bound on total expected regret for non-convex losses.
Hamiltonian dynamics-based algorithms achieve deterministic and accelerated convergence for convex optimization.
problem Accelerating convex optimization
method Hamiltonian dynamics
result Hamiltonian dynamics-based algorithms achieve deterministic and accelerated convergence for convex optimization.
We consider the applications of the Frank-Wolfe (FW) algorithm for Apprenticeship Learning (AL). In this setting, we are given a Markov Decision Process (MDP) without an explicit reward function. Instead, we observe an expert that acts according to some policy, and the goal is to find a policy whose feature expectation…
We consider a wide range of regularized stochastic minimization problems with two regularization terms, one of which is composed with a linear function. This optimization model abstracts a number of important applications in artificial intelligence and machine learning, such as fused Lasso, fused logistic regression, a…
Gradient perturbation, widely used for differentially private optimization, injects noise at every iterative update to guarantee differential privacy. Previous work first determines the noise level that can satisfy the privacy requirement and then analyzes the utility of noisy gradient updates as in the non-private cas…
In this paper we will provide a representation of the penalty term of general dynamic concave utilities (hence of dynamic convex risk measures) by applying the theory of g-expectations.
Improved analysis for clipped gradient methods in nonsmooth convex optimization under heavy-tailed noise.
problem Optimization under heavy-tailed noise in nonsmooth convex problems.
method Refined analysis of Clipped Stochastic Gradient Descent (Clipped SGD) with new rates and improved utilization of Freedman's inequality.
result New rates O(σldmeff−1/2pln1−1/p(1/δ)T1/p−1) and O(σl2dmeff−1/pln2−2/p(1/δ)T2/p−2) for nonsmooth convex and strongly convex problems, respectively. This work optimizes bid strategies for online auctions using measure-valued optimization.
problem Optimizing bid strategies in first-price auctions to maximize expected surplus.
method Formulates the problem as convex optimization over the joint distribution of shading parameters, adapts the distribution after each auction using a Wasserstein-proximal update.
result The proposed algorithm encourages bids on values with high expected surplus.