arXiv research

OMWU shows last iterate convergence in convex-concave games.

New saddle network architectures preserve convex-concave geometry in optimization problems.

New method finds arbitrage opportunities in fluctuating asset bands.

Riemannian algorithms converge at Euclidean rates for geodesically convex-concave problems.

New algorithm AG-OG optimizes separable convex-concave problems efficiently.

Paper improves algorithms for convex-concave minimax optimization problems.

While classic work in convex-concave min-max optimization relies on average-iterate convergence results, the emergence of nonconvex applications such as training Generative Adversarial Networks has led to renewed interest in last-iterate convergence guarantees. Proving last-iterate convergence is challenging because ma…

Improved algorithms for convex-concave min-max optimization and monotone variational inequalities.

Optimistic method adapted for faster convex-concave min-max problems.

We study the global convergence of generative adversarial imitation learning for linear quadratic regulators, which is posed as minimax optimization. To address the challenges arising from non-convex-concave geometry, we analyze the alternating gradient algorithm and establish its Q-linear rate of convergence to a uniq…

Optimizes bond portfolios to avoid worst-case losses.

We define a class of L-convex-concave subsets of $\Bbb{R}P^n$, where L is a projective subspace of dimension l in $\Bbb{R}P^n$. These are sets whose sections by any (l+1)-dimensional space L' containing L are convex and concavely depend on L'. We introduce an L-duality for these sets, and prove that the L-dual to an L-…

A new algorithm solves minimax problems without needing parameters.

Last iterate of Extragradient algorithm converges slower than averaged iterates in saddle point problems.

PURE-CD algorithm proves complexity bounds for convex-concave problems.

ICCNLS models complex relationships as convex and concave components.

Gradient Descent Ascent converges to von-Neumann solution in hidden zero-sum games.

We solve a complex optimization problem for Wasserstein barycenters using stochastic methods.

Paper introduces $\ell$-DER for regression tasks using morphological operators and convex-concave procedure.

We consider convex-concave saddle point problems with a separable structure and non-strongly convex functions. We propose an efficient stochastic block coordinate descent method using adaptive primal-dual updates, which enables flexible parallel optimization for large-scale problems. Our method shares the efficiency an…

GradientDICE improves offline estimation for reinforcement learning policies.

Optimizes portfolios using CPT utility via convex optimization.

A generalized optimistic method for saddle point problems with improved complexity.

We consider variational inequalities coming from monotone operators, a setting that includes convex minimization and convex-concave saddle-point problems. We assume an access to potentially noisy unbiased values of the monotone operators and assess convergence through a compatible gap function which corresponds to the …

Partial label learning deals with the problem where each training instance is assigned a set of candidate labels, only one of which is correct. This paper provides the first attempt to leverage the idea of self-training for dealing with partially labeled examples. Specifically, we propose a unified formulation with pro…

As has been observed by Morse \cite{Mo}, any generic vector field $v$ on a compact smooth manifold $X$ with boundary gives rise to a stratification of the boundary $\d X$ by compact submanifolds $\{\d_j^\pm X(v)\}_{1 \leq j \leq \dim(X)}$, where $\textup{codim}(\d_j^\pm X(v))= j$. Our main observation is that this stra…

Despite the success of single-agent reinforcement learning, multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) remains challenging due to complex interactions between agents. Motivated by decentralized applications such as sensor networks, swarm robotics, and power grids, we study policy evaluation in MARL, where agents with jo…

Paper optimizes hyperparameters for high-dimensional regression models.

We define a class of $L$-convex-concave subsets of $\mathbb{R}P^3$, where $L$ is a projective line in $\mathbb{R}P^3$. These are sets whose sections by any plane containing $L$ are convex and concavely depend on this plane. We prove a version of Arnold hypothesis for these sets, namely we prove that each such set conta…

We present a distributionally robust formulation of a stochastic optimization problem for non-i.i.d vector autoregressive data. We use the Wasserstein distance to define robustness in the space of distributions and we show, using duality theory, that the problem is equivalent to a finite convex-concave saddle point pro…

Paper solves minimax optimization gap with near-optimal algorithms.

We consider the problem of decomposing a multivariate polynomial as the difference of two convex polynomials. We introduce algebraic techniques which reduce this task to linear, second order cone, and semidefinite programming. This allows us to optimize over subsets of valid difference of convex decompositions (dcds) a…

This work analyzes how overparameterization aids GANs in reaching global saddle points.

Paper establishes lower bounds for finite-sum optimization problems using novel construction methods.

The paper analyzes how optimization algorithms affect the generalization of minimax models.

We consider the convex-concave saddle point problem $\min_{x}\max_{y} f(x)+y^\top A x-g(y)$ where $f$ is smooth and convex and $g$ is smooth and strongly convex. We prove that if the coupling matrix $A$ has full column rank, the vanilla primal-dual gradient method can achieve linear convergence even if $f$ is not stron…

This work finds mixed equilibria in machine learning problems using measures and simultaneous gradient ascent-descent.

The goal of the paper is to give an optimal transport formulation of the full Einstein equations of general relativity, linking the (Ricci) curvature of a space-time with the cosmological constant and the energy-momentum tensor. Such an optimal transport formulation is in terms of convexity/concavity properties of the …

We study the online saddle point problem, an online learning problem where at each iteration a pair of actions need to be chosen without knowledge of the current and future (convex-concave) payoff functions. The objective is to minimize the gap between the cumulative payoffs and the saddle point value of the aggregate …

We study the iteration complexity of the optimistic gradient descent-ascent (OGDA) method and the extra-gradient (EG) method for finding a saddle point of a convex-concave unconstrained min-max problem. To do so, we first show that both OGDA and EG can be interpreted as approximate variants of the proximal point method…

Efficiently maximizes AUC with deep nets, reducing communication rounds.

We extend the Frank-Wolfe (FW) optimization algorithm to solve constrained smooth convex-concave saddle point (SP) problems. Remarkably, the method only requires access to linear minimization oracles. Leveraging recent advances in FW optimization, we provide the first proof of convergence of a FW-type saddle point solv…

New algorithm solves min-max optimization problems in a decentralized manner.

We consider the use of no-regret algorithms to compute equilibria for particular classes of convex-concave games. While standard regret bounds would lead to convergence rates on the order of $O(T^{-1/2})$, recent work \citep{RS13,SALS15} has established $O(1/T)$ rates by taking advantage of a particular class of optimi…

This paper is concerned with a recently developed paradigm for population-based optimization, termed particle filter optimization (PFO). This paradigm is attractive in terms of coherence in theory and easiness in mathematical analysis and interpretation. Current PFO algorithms only work for single-objective optimizatio…

Owing to their connection with generative adversarial networks (GANs), saddle-point problems have recently attracted considerable interest in machine learning and beyond. By necessity, most theoretical guarantees revolve around convex-concave (or even linear) problems; however, making theoretical inroads towards effici…

Paper proposes ZO-SMD for MERO, achieving optimal convergence rates.

Despite remarkable empirical success, the training dynamics of generative adversarial networks (GAN), which involves solving a minimax game using stochastic gradients, is still poorly understood. In this work, we analyze last-iterate convergence of simultaneous gradient descent (simGD) and its variants under the assump…