arXiv research

Paper proposes a new method for training nonconvex models.

Two-Timescale EM Methods improve EM for nonconvex models.

Develops shuffling gradient-based methods for nonconvex-concave minimax optimization.

New framework explains why nonconvex methods work well in low-rank matrix estimation.

Unified framework for constructing nonconvex sparse recovery methods.

High-dimensional data pose challenges in statistical learning and modeling. Sometimes the predictors can be naturally grouped where pursuing the between-group sparsity is desired. Collinearity may occur in real-world high-dimensional applications where the popular $l_1$ technique suffers from both selection inconsisten…

We consider an online learning process to forecast a sequence of outcomes for nonconvex models. A typical measure to evaluate online learning algorithms is regret but such standard definition of regret is intractable for nonconvex models even in offline settings. Hence, gradient based definition of regrets are common f…

New method closes certification gap for adversarially trained models.

With the large rising of complex data, the nonconvex models such as nonconvex loss function and nonconvex regularizer are widely used in machine learning and pattern recognition. In this paper, we propose a class of mini-batch stochastic ADMMs (alternating direction method of multipliers) for solving large-scale noncon…

Improved SGD methods converge faster for nonconvex optimization.

Schedule-free SGD is optimal for nonconvex optimization problems.

New algorithm solves nonconvex-convex minimax problems efficiently.

Survey of tractable nonconvex problems using symmetry.

New nonconvex penalty smooths at origin for deep learning.

This work studies low-rank approximation of a positive semidefinite matrix from partial entries via nonconvex optimization. We characterized how well local-minimum based low-rank factorization approximates a fixed positive semidefinite matrix without any assumptions on the rank-matching, the condition number or eigensp…

In this paper, the estimation problem for sparse reduced rank regression (SRRR) model is considered. The SRRR model is widely used for dimension reduction and variable selection with applications in signal processing, econometrics, etc. The problem is formulated to minimize the least squares loss with a sparsity-induci…

We consider compressed sensing formulated as a minimization problem of nonconvex sparse penalties, Smoothly Clipped Absolute deviation (SCAD) and Minimax Concave Penalty (MCP). The nonconvexity of these penalties is controlled by nonconvexity parameters, and L1 penalty is contained as a limit with respect to these para…

PPGD solves nonconvex nonsmooth optimization problems without KL property.

Paper proposes robust tensor regression method for tensor data analysis.

Unified framework for constrained diffusion models on nonconvex sets with efficient landing mechanism.

Improves logistic regression performance with nonconvex programming.

Stochastic gradient descent (SGD) is a popular and efficient method with wide applications in training deep neural nets and other nonconvex models. While the behavior of SGD is well understood in the convex learning setting, the existing theoretical results for SGD applied to nonconvex objective functions are far from …

We demonstrate that the primal-dual witness proof method may be used to establish variable selection consistency and $\ell_\infty$-bounds for sparse regression problems, even when the loss function and/or regularizer are nonconvex. Using this method, we derive two theorems concerning support recovery and $\ell_\infty$-…

While many solutions for privacy-preserving convex empirical risk minimization (ERM) have been developed, privacy-preserving nonconvex ERM remains a challenge. We study nonconvex ERM, which takes the form of minimizing a finite-sum of nonconvex loss functions over a training set. We propose a new differentially private…

Paper proposes a faster SPIDER-EM variant for large-scale nonconvex optimization.

In the paper, we study the stochastic alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) for the nonconvex optimizations, and propose three classes of the nonconvex stochastic ADMM with variance reduction, based on different reduced variance stochastic gradients. Specifically, the first class called the nonconvex stoch…

New method reduces communication costs in distributed nonconvex optimization.

This paper analyzes OGDA and EG methods for nonconvex minimax problems.

In this paper we study nonconvex penalization using Bernstein functions. Since the Bernstein function is concave and nonsmooth at the origin, it can induce a class of nonconvex functions for high-dimensional sparse estimation problems. We derive a threshold function based on the Bernstein penalty and give its mathemati…

Simple DP algorithms find approximate solutions for nonconvex ERM.

Support vector machines (SVMs) with sparsity-inducing nonconvex penalties have received considerable attentions for the characteristics of automatic classification and variable selection. However, it is quite challenging to solve the nonconvex penalized SVMs due to their nondifferentiability, nonsmoothness and nonconve…

Unified parametric assumption improves convergence guarantees for nonconvex optimization.

The paper addresses nonconvex penalized LAD estimation in partial linear models using DNNs.

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…

We analyze stochastic algorithms for optimizing nonconvex, nonsmooth finite-sum problems, where the nonconvex part is smooth and the nonsmooth part is convex. Surprisingly, unlike the smooth case, our knowledge of this fundamental problem is very limited. For example, it is not known whether the proximal stochastic gra…

The use of convex regularizers allows for easy optimization, though they often produce biased estimation and inferior prediction performance. Recently, nonconvex regularizers have attracted a lot of attention and outperformed convex ones. However, the resultant optimization problem is much harder. In this paper, for a …

This work addresses the issue of large covariance matrix estimation in high-dimensional statistical analysis. Recently, improved iterative algorithms with positive-definite guarantee have been developed. However, these algorithms cannot be directly extended to use a nonconvex penalty for sparsity inducing. Generally, a…

PrecGD restores linear convergence in over-parameterized nonconvex matrix factorization.

In this paper we study nonconvex penalization using Bernstein functions whose first-order derivatives are completely monotone. The Bernstein function can induce a class of nonconvex penalty functions for high-dimensional sparse estimation problems. We derive a thresholding function based on the Bernstein penalty and di…

New algorithm tackles nonconvex machine learning problems with adaptive normalization and independent sampling.

We provide theoretical analysis of the statistical and computational properties of penalized $M$-estimators that can be formulated as the solution to a possibly nonconvex optimization problem. Many important estimators fall in this category, including least squares regression with nonconvex regularization, generalized …

As surrogate functions of $L_0$-norm, many nonconvex penalty functions have been proposed to enhance the sparse vector recovery. It is easy to extend these nonconvex penalty functions on singular values of a matrix to enhance low-rank matrix recovery. However, different from convex optimization, solving the nonconvex l…

Unified analysis of SGD variants for nonconvex federated optimization.

Many practical problems involve the recovery of a binary matrix from partial information, which makes the binary matrix completion (BMC) technique received increasing attention in machine learning. In particular, we consider a special case of BMC problem, in which only a subset of positive elements can be observed. In …

PAGE optimizes nonconvex problems with optimal convergence rates.

Paper proposes an algorithm to solve complex minimax problems efficiently.

Two algorithms solve nonconvex minimax problems with linear constraints, achieving complexity guarantees.

Optimization geometry affects deep learning performance.