Relaxed Proximal Point Algorithm: Tight Complexity Bounds and Acceleration without Momentum

In this paper, we focus on the relaxed proximal point algorithm (RPPA) for solving convex (possibly nonsmooth) optimization problems. We conduct a comprehensive study on three types of relaxation schedules: (i) constant schedule with relaxation parameter \(\alpha_k\equiv \alpha \in (0, \sqrt{2}]\), (ii) the dynamic schedule put forward by Teboulle and Vaisbourd [TV23], and (iii) the … Read more

Tuning-Free Bilevel Optimization: New Algorithms and Convergence Analysis

Bilevel optimization has recently attracted considerable attention due to its abundant applications in machine learning problems. However, existing methods rely on prior knowledge of problem parameters to determine stepsizes, resulting in significant effort in tuning stepsizes when these parameters are unknown. In this paper, we propose two novel tuning-free algorithms, D-TFBO and S-TFBO. D-TFBO employs … Read more

Lipschitz-free Projected Subgradient Method with Time-varying Step-size

We introduce a novel time-varying step-size for the classical projected subgradient method, offering optimal ergodic convergence. Importantly, this approach does not depend on the Lipschitz assumption of the objective function, thereby broadening the convergence result of projected subgradient method to non-Lipschitz case. ArticleDownload View PDF

Optimism in the Face of Ambiguity Principle for Multi-Armed Bandits

Follow-The-Regularized-Leader (FTRL) algorithms often enjoy optimal regret for adversarial as well as stochastic bandit problems and allow for a streamlined analysis. However, FTRL algorithms require the solution of an optimization problem in every iteration and are thus computationally challenging. In contrast, Follow-The-Perturbed-Leader (FTPL) algorithms achieve computational efficiency by perturbing the estimates of the rewards of … Read more

Efficient parameter-free restarted accelerated gradient methods for convex and strongly convex optimization

This paper develops a new parameter-free restarted method, namely RPF-SFISTA, and a new parameter-free aggressive regularization method, namely A-REG, for solving strongly convex and convex composite optimization problems, respectively. RPF-SFISTA has the major advantage that it requires no knowledge of both the strong convexity parameter of the entire composite objective and the Lipschitz constant of … Read more

Accessible Theoretical Complexity of the Restarted Primal-Dual Hybrid Gradient Method for Linear Programs with Unique Optima

The restarted primal-dual hybrid gradient method (rPDHG) has recently emerged as an important tool for solving large-scale linear programs (LPs). For LPs with unique optima, we present an iteration bound of \(\widetilde{O}\left(\kappa\Phi\cdot\ln\left(\frac{\|w^*\|}{\varepsilon}\right)\right)\), where \(\varepsilon\) is the target tolerance, \(\kappa\) is the standard matrix condition number, \(\|w^*\|\) is the norm of the optimal solution, and \(\Phi\) … Read more

Dual Spectral Projected Gradient Method for Generalized Log-det Semidefinite Programming

Log-det semidefinite programming (SDP) problems are optimization problems that often arise from Gaussian graphic models. A log-det SDP problem with an l1-norm term has been examined in many methods, and the dual spectral projected gradient (DSPG) method by Nakagaki et al.~in 2020 is designed to efficiently solve the dual problem of the log-det SDP by … Read more

Universal subgradient and proximal bundle methods for convex and strongly convex hybrid composite optimization

This paper develops two parameter-free methods for solving convex and strongly convex hybrid composite optimization problems, namely, a composite subgradient type method and a proximal bundle type method. Both functional and stationary complexity bounds for the two methods are established in terms of the unknown strong convexity parameter. To the best of our knowledge, the … Read more

Generalized Ellipsoids

We introduce a family of symmetric convex bodies called generalized ellipsoids of degree \(d\) (GE-\(d\)s), with ellipsoids corresponding to the case of \(d=0\). Generalized ellipsoids (GEs) retain many geometric, algebraic, and algorithmic properties of ellipsoids. We show that the conditions that the parameters of a GE must satisfy can be checked in strongly polynomial time, … Read more

On the strength of Burer’s lifted convex relaxation to quadratic programming with ball constraints

We study quadratic programs with m ball constraints, and the strength of a lifted convex relaxation for it recently proposed by Burer (2024). Burer shows this relaxation is exact when m=2. For general m, Burer (2024) provides numerical evidence that this lifted relaxation is tighter than the Kronecker product based Reformulation Linearization Technique (RLT) inequalities … Read more