Parallelizing Subgradient Methods for the Lagrangian Dual in Stochastic Mixed-Integer Programming

The dual decomposition of stochastic mixed-integer programs can be solved by the projected subgradient algorithm. We show how to make this algorithm more amenable to parallelization in a master-worker model by describing two approaches, which can be combined in a natural way. The first approach partitions the scenarios into batches, and makes separate use of … Read more

Acceleration of Primal-Dual Methods by Preconditioning and Simple Subproblem Procedures

Primal-Dual Hybrid Gradient (PDHG) and Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) are two widely-used first-order optimization methods. They reduce a difficult problem to simple subproblems, so they are easy to implement and have many applications. As first-order methods, however, they are sensitive to problem conditions and can struggle to reach the desired accuracy. To improve … Read more

A Doubly Accelerated Inexact Proximal Point Method for Nonconvex Composite Optimization Problems

This paper describes and establishes the iteration-complexity of a doubly accelerated inexact proximal point (D-AIPP) method for solving the nonconvex composite minimization problem whose objective function is of the form f+h where f is a (possibly nonconvex) differentiable function whose gradient is Lipschitz continuous and h is a closed convex function with bounded domain. D-AIPP … Read more

A New Sequential Optimality Condition for Constrained Nonsmooth Optimization

We introduce a sequential optimality condition for locally Lipschitz constrained nonsmooth optimization, verifiable just using derivative information, and which holds even in the absence of any constraint qualification. The proposed sequential optimality condition is not only novel for nonsmooth problems, but brings new insights for the smooth case as well. We present a practical algorithm … Read more

A gradient type algorithm with backward inertial steps for a nonconvex minimization

We investigate an algorithm of gradient type with a backward inertial step in connection with the minimization of a nonconvex differentiable function. We show that the generated sequences converge to a critical point of the objective function, if a regularization of the objective function satis es the Kurdyka-Lojasiewicz property. Further, we provide convergence rates for the … Read more

A new splitting method for monotone inclusions of three operators

In this article, we consider monotone inclusions in real Hilbert spaces and suggest a new splitting method. The associated monotone inclusions consist of the sum of one bounded linear monotone operator and one inverse strongly monotone operator and one maximal monotone operator. The new method, at each iteration, first implements one forward-backward step as usual … Read more

Gradient methods exploiting spectral properties

We propose a new stepsize for the gradient method. It is shown that this new stepsize will converge to the reciprocal of the largest eigenvalue of the Hessian, when Dai-Yang’s asymptotic optimal gradient method (Computational Optimization and Applications, 2006, 33(1): 73-88) is applied for minimizing quadratic objective functions. Based on this spectral property, we develop … Read more

A Unified Framework for Sparse Relaxed Regularized Regression: SR3

Regularized regression problems are ubiquitous in statistical modeling, signal processing, and machine learning. Sparse regression in particular has been instrumental in scientific model discovery, including compressed sensing applications, vari- able selection, and high-dimensional analysis. We propose a broad framework for sparse relaxed regularized regression, called SR3. The key idea is to solve a relaxation of … Read more

Inexact alternating projections on nonconvex sets

Given two arbitrary closed sets in Euclidean space, a simple transversality condition guarantees that the method of alternating projections converges locally, at linear rate, to a point in the intersection. Exact projection onto nonconvex sets is typically intractable, but we show that computationally-cheap inexact projections may suffice instead. In particular, if one set is defined … Read more