An optimal orbit design for LISA

The ESA/NASA joint LISA (laser interferometer space antenna) mission is designed to detect gravitational waves to perform gravitational astronomy. A key mission requirement is the maintenance of a three-spacecraft constellation in a near-equilateral triangular configuration with a prescribed inter-spacecraft separation. Existing approaches have addressed this problem using simplified dynamical models to enhance tractability; however, the … Read more

New inexact adaptive proximal gradient algorithms for nonconvex composite optimization problems

In this paper, we propose new inexact adaptive proximal gradient algorithms for solving nonconvex composite optimization problems, where the objective is the sum of a differentiable nonconvex function and a convex non-differentiable function. A new relative error criterion to compute the proximal operator inexactly has been proposed together with new adaptive strate- gies for selecting … Read more

An Adaptive Augmented Lagrangian Method for Deterministic and Stochastic Nonconvex Optimization

We present an inexact Augmented Lagrangian algorithm for solving nonlinear, non-convex optimization problems. Unlike most recently proposed Augmented Lagrangian methods with worst-case complexity guarantees, we utilize adaptive penalty parameter updates and full dual stepsizes. We show that the method matches the best known worst-case complexity results for Augmented Lagrangian methods (up to logarithmic factors) when … Read more

Sparsity-Preserving Integration of Convex Curvature Information into Linear Relaxations for Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization

We systematically investigate the potentials of improving the lower bound obtained with a linear relaxation of the Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization problem by integrating curvature information from an accompanying quadratic convex underestimator via gradient inequalities. On the one hand, we exemplify to which extent this hybrid approach may provide a lower bound that is strictly … Read more

Combining Reinforcement Learning with Arc-search Interior-Point Method for Path Planning

Path planning in environments containing obstacles has numerous practical applications. The problem is challenging because it is inherently nonlinear and nonconvex. Consequently, a variety of techniques have been developed to address this problem, among which machine learning and optimal control (or optimization) have emerged as two prominent approaches. In general, machine learning methods do not … Read more

An arc-search interior-point algorithm for nonlinear constrained optimization

This paper proposes a new arc-search interior-point algorithm for the nonlinear constrained optimization problem. The proposed algorithm uses the second-order derivatives to construct a search arc that approaches the optimizer. Because the arc stays in the interior set longer than any straight line, it is expected that the scheme will generate a better new iterate … Read more

On the Absence of Identifiable Manifolds in Finite-Max Composite Optimization

In nonsmooth optimization, identifiable sets describe the local region eventually reached by sequences converging to a prescribed critical point. When such a set is a \(C^2\) manifold on which the objective restricts to a \(C^2\) function, it is called an identifiable manifold. Their appeal lies in what they enable: many first-order methods identify these manifolds … Read more

Tight Nonasymptotic Local Convergence of Sinkhorn-Knopp

We revisit the Sinkhorn-Knopp (SK) algorithm for the matrix scaling problem. Despite extensive literature on the global convergence of SK and its variants, its local linear convergence behavior remains less understood. We address this gap by providing the first nonasymptotic local analysis of SK that matches the rate obtained from existing asymptotic Jacobian-based arguments. We … Read more

A Local-Linearly Convergent Algorithm for Nonconvex Equality-Constrained Optimization

For solving nonconvex equality-constrained optimization problems, a recent Gradient-Eigenstep Algorithm by Goyens et al.~is an iteration-efficient approach, based on minimizing Fletcher’s augmented Lagrangian function, for finding an approximate second-order stationary point from an arbitrary starting point. In this paper, the analysis of this algorithm is extended, offering a two-fold contribution. First, it is shown that … Read more

Randomized block proximal method with locally Lipschitz continuous gradient

Block-coordinate algorithms are recognized to furnish efficient iterative schemes for addressing large-scale problems, especially when the computation of full derivatives entails substantial memory requirements and computational efforts. In this paper, we propose a randomized block proximal gradient algorithm for minimizing the sum of a smooth function and a separable proper lower semicontinuous function, both possibly … Read more