arXiv research

Paper tackles non-convex optimization for higher moments in portfolio management.

In this paper, we propose a successive convex approximation framework for sparse optimization where the nonsmooth regularization function in the objective function is nonconvex and it can be written as the difference of two convex functions. The proposed framework is based on a nontrivial combination of the majorizatio…

Paper proposes an efficient algorithm to handle high-order portfolio moments.

Paper solves high-order portfolio optimization with cardinality constraint.

In this two-part work, we propose an algorithmic framework for solving non-convex problems whose objective function is the sum of a number of smooth component functions plus a convex (possibly non-smooth) or/and smooth (possibly non-convex) regularization function. The proposed algorithm incorporates ideas from several…

This paper proposes a new family of algorithms for training neural networks (NNs). These are based on recent developments in the field of non-convex optimization, going under the general name of successive convex approximation (SCA) techniques. The basic idea is to iteratively replace the original (non-convex, highly d…

This paper proposes low-complexity algorithms for finding approximate second-order stationary points (SOSPs) of problems with smooth non-convex objective and linear constraints. While finding (approximate) SOSPs is computationally intractable, we first show that generic instances of the problem can be solved efficientl…

The min-max problem, also known as the saddle point problem, is a class of optimization problems which minimizes and maximizes two subsets of variables simultaneously. This class of problems can be used to formulate a wide range of signal processing and communication (SPCOM) problems. Despite its popularity, most exist…

We consider a class of nonconvex nonsmooth optimization problems whose objective is the sum of a smooth function and a finite number of nonnegative proper closed possibly nonsmooth functions (whose proximal mappings are easy to compute), some of which are further composed with linear maps. This kind of problems arises …

We propose a communication- and computation-efficient distributed optimization algorithm using second-order information for solving ERM problems with a nonsmooth regularization term. Current second-order and quasi-Newton methods for this problem either do not work well in the distributed setting or work only for specif…

This paper studies noisy low-rank matrix completion: given partial and noisy entries of a large low-rank matrix, the goal is to estimate the underlying matrix faithfully and efficiently. Arguably one of the most popular paradigms to tackle this problem is convex relaxation, which achieves remarkable efficacy in practic…

We consider the stochastic approximation problem where a convex function has to be minimized, given only the knowledge of unbiased estimates of its gradients at certain points, a framework which includes machine learning methods based on the minimization of the empirical risk. We focus on problems without strong convex…

New method learns frequency-dependent partial correlations.

In this paper, we propose a convergent parallel best-response algorithm with the exact line search for the nondifferentiable nonconvex sparsity-regularized rank minimization problem. On the one hand, it exhibits a faster convergence than subgradient algorithms and block coordinate descent algorithms. On the other hand,…

Path regularization reveals convex optimization in deep ReLU networks.

Convex optimization refines neural network training, improving model performance and reducing hyperparameter sensitivity.

With model uncertainty characterized by a convex, possibly non-dominated set of probability measures, the agent minimizes the cost of hedging a path dependent contingent claim with given expected success ratio, in a discrete-time, semi-static market of stocks and options. Based on duality results which link quantile he…

New model generates data without mode collapse or mixture.

In this paper, we study the sum rate maximization for successive zero-forcing dirty-paper coding (SZFDPC) with per-antenna power constraint (PAPC). Although SZFDPC is a low-complexity alternative to the optimal dirty paper coding (DPC), efficient algorithms to compute its sum rate are still open problems especially und…

Recently, based on the idea of randomizing space theory, random convex analysis has been being developed in order to deal with the corresponding problems in random environments such as analysis of conditional convex risk measures and the related variational problems and optimization problems. Random convex analysis is …

Federated learning is a communication-efficient training process that alternates between local training at the edge devices and averaging the updated local model at the central server. Nevertheless, it is impractical to achieve a perfect acquisition of the local models in wireless communication due to noise, which also…

We develop and analyze stochastic optimization algorithms for problems in which the expected loss is strongly convex, and the optimum is (approximately) sparse. Previous approaches are able to exploit only one of these two structures, yielding an $\order(\pdim/T)$ convergence rate for strongly convex objectives in $\pd…

Majorization-minimization algorithms consist of successively minimizing a sequence of upper bounds of the objective function. These upper bounds are tight at the current estimate, and each iteration monotonically drives the objective function downhill. Such a simple principle is widely applicable and has been very popu…

Paper reveals hidden convexities in deep learning models using sparse signal processing.

In this paper, the optimal mean-reverting portfolio (MRP) design problem is considered, which plays an important role for the statistical arbitrage (a.k.a. pairs trading) strategy in financial markets. The target of the optimal MRP design is to construct a portfolio from the underlying assets that can exhibit a satisfa…

Let $U\subseteq\mathbb{R}^{n}$ be open and convex. We show that every (not necessarily Lipschitz or strongly) convex function $f:U\to\mathbb{R}$ can be approximated by real analytic convex functions, uniformly on all of $U$. In doing so we provide a technique which transfers results on uniform approximation on bounded …

New geometric proof of convex function differentiability and approximation.

This paper develops a low-nonnegative-rank approximation method to identify the state aggregation structure of a finite-state Markov chain under an assumption that the state space can be mapped into a handful of meta-states. The number of meta-states is characterized by the nonnegative rank of the Markov transition mat…

This thesis tackles non-convex Bayesian learning via scalable dynamic importance sampling algorithms.

Let $U\subseteq\mathbb{R}^d$ be open and convex. We prove that every (not necessarily Lipschitz or strongly) convex function $f:U\to\mathbb{R}$ can be approximated by real analytic convex functions, uniformly on all of $U$. We also show that $C^0$-fine approximation of convex functions by smooth (or real analytic) conv…

In this paper we consider the dictionary learning problem for sparse representation. We first show that this problem is NP-hard by polynomial time reduction of the densest cut problem. Then, using successive convex approximation strategies, we propose efficient dictionary learning schemes to solve several practical for…

We show that $C^0$-fine approximation of convex functions by smooth (or real analytic) convex functions on $\R^d$ is possible in general if and only if $d=1$. Nevertheless, for $d\geq 2$ we give a characterization of the class of convex functions on $\R^d$ which can be approximated by real analytic (or just smoother) c…

ResNets minimize circuit size for fitting data in HTMC regime.

This technical note considers the problems of blind sparse learning and inference of electrogram (EGM) signals under atrial fibrillation (AF) conditions. First of all we introduce a mathematical model for the observed signals that takes into account the multiple foci typically appearing inside the heart during AF. Then…

We propose a communication- and computation-efficient distributed optimization algorithm using second-order information for solving empirical risk minimization (ERM) problems with a nonsmooth regularization term. Our algorithm is applicable to both the primal and the dual ERM problem. Current second-order and quasi-New…

Strongly convex bodies can be approximated by smooth ones.

Paper proves flexibility of specific relations using convex integration.

Muon fails to converge on convex Lipschitz functions.

Efficiently finds sparse solutions to max-plus equations for convex regression.

CorePPR combines PageRank and CoreRank for scalable GNNs.

Uniform diffusion approximation for SGD in non-convex settings.

Symmetric nonnegative matrix factorization has found abundant applications in various domains by providing a symmetric low-rank decomposition of nonnegative matrices. In this paper we propose a Frank-Wolfe (FW) solver to optimize the symmetric nonnegative matrix factorization problem under a simplicial constraint, whic…

Asynchronous stochastic gradient descent (ASGD) is a popular parallel optimization algorithm in machine learning. Most theoretical analysis on ASGD take a discrete view and prove upper bounds for their convergence rates. However, the discrete view has its intrinsic limitations: there is no characterization of the optim…

The problem of low-rank approximation with convex constraints, which appears in data analysis, system identification, model order reduction, low-order controller design and low-complexity modelling is considered. Given a matrix, the objective is to find a low-rank approximation that meets rank and convex constraints, w…

New neural network approximates convex option prices.

Neural network approximates weakly efficient frontier of convex vector optimization problems.

Develops a method to approximate convexity adjustments for interest rate products.

The paper gives a systematic study of the approximate versions of three greedy-type algorithms that are widely used in convex optimization. By approximate version we mean the one where some of evaluations are made with an error. Importance of such versions of greedy-type algorithms in convex optimization and in approxi…