An Accelerated Linearized Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers

We present a novel framework, namely AADMM, for acceleration of linearized alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). The basic idea of AADMM is to incorporate a multi-step acceleration scheme into linearized ADMM. We demonstrate that for solving a class of convex composite optimization with linear constraints, the rate of convergence of AADMM is better than … Read more

Optimal subgradient algorithms with application to large-scale linear inverse problems

This study addresses some algorithms for solving structured unconstrained convex optimization problems using first-order information where the underlying function includes high-dimensional data. The primary aim is to develop an implementable algorithmic framework for solving problems with multi-term composite objective functions involving linear mappings using the optimal subgradient algorithm, OSGA, proposed by {\sc Neumaier} in \cite{NeuO}. … Read more

String-Averaging Expectation-Maximization for Maximum Likelihood Estimation in Emission Tomography

We study the maximum likelihood model in emission tomography and propose a new family of algorithms for its solution, called String-Averaging Expectation-Maximization (SAEM). In the String-Averaging algorithmic regime, the index set of all underlying equations is split into subsets, called “strings,” and the algorithm separately proceeds along each string, possibly in parallel. Then, the end-points … Read more

OSGA: A fast subgradient algorithm with optimal complexity

This paper presents an algorithm for approximately minimizing a convex function in simple, not necessarily bounded convex domains, assuming only that function values and subgradients are available. No global information about the objective function is needed apart from a strong convexity parameter (which can be put to zero if only convexity is known). The worst … Read more

Feasibility-Seeking and Superiorization Algorithms Applied to Inverse Treatment Planning in Radiation Therapy

We apply the recently proposed superiorization methodology (SM) to the inverse planning problem in radiation therapy. The inverse planning problem is represented here as a constrained minimization problem of the total variation (TV) of the intensity vector over a large system of linear two-sided inequalities. The SM can be viewed conceptually as lying between feasibility-seeking … Read more

Variational Analysis of Circular Cone Programs

This paper conducts variational analysis of circular programs, which form a new class of optimization problems in nonsymmetric conic programming important for optimization theory and its applications. First we derive explicit formulas in terms of the initial problem data to calculate various generalized derivatives/coderivatives of the projection operator associated with the circular cone. Then we … Read more

Alternating projections and coupling slope

We consider the method of alternating projections for finding a point in the intersection of two possibly nonconvex closed sets. We present a local linear convergence result that makes no regularity assumptions on either set (unlike previous results), while at the same time weakening standard transversal intersection assumptions. The proof grows out of a study … Read more

A Block Successive Upper Bound Minimization Method of Multipliers for Linearly Constrained Convex Optimization

Consider the problem of minimizing the sum of a smooth convex function and a separable nonsmooth convex function subject to linear coupling constraints. Problems of this form arise in many contemporary applications including signal processing, wireless networking and smart grid provisioning. Motivated by the huge size of these applications, we propose a new class of … Read more

Extreme point inequalities and geometry of the rank sparsity ball

We investigate geometric features of the unit ball corresponding to the sum of the nuclear norm of a matrix and the l_1 norm of its entries — a common penalty function encouraging joint low rank and high sparsity. As a byproduct of this effort, we develop a calculus (or algebra) of faces for general convex … Read more

Spectral Operators of Matrices

The class of matrix optimization problems (MOPs) has been recognized in recent years to be a powerful tool by researchers far beyond the optimization community to model many important applications involving structured low rank matrices. This trend can be credited to some extent to the exciting developments in the emerging field of compressed sensing. The … Read more