A unifying framework for the analysis of projection-free first-order methods under a sufficient slope condition

The analysis of projection-free first order methods is often complicated by the presence of different kinds of “good” and “bad” steps. In this article, we propose a unifying framework for projection-free methods, aiming to simplify the converge analysis by getting rid of such a distinction between steps. The main tool employed in our framework is … Read more

Accuracy and fairness trade-offs in machine learning: A stochastic multi-objective approach

In the application of machine learning to real life decision-making systems, e.g., credit scoring and criminal justice, the prediction outcomes might discriminate against people with sensitive attributes, leading to unfairness. The commonly used strategy in fair machine learning is to include fairness as a constraint or a penalization term in the minimization of the prediction … Read more

Accelerated Inexact Composite Gradient Methods for Nonconvex Spectral Optimization Problems

This paper presents two inexact composite gradient methods, one inner accelerated and another doubly accelerated, for solving a class of nonconvex spectral composite optimization problems. More specifically, the objective function for these problems is of the form f_1 + f_2 + h where f_1 and f_2 are differentiable nonconvex matrix functions with Lipschitz continuous gradients, … Read more

New convergence results for the inexact variable metric forward-backward method

Forward–backward methods are valid tools to solve a variety of optimization problems where the objective function is the sum of a smooth, possibly nonconvex term plus a convex, possibly nonsmooth function. The corresponding iteration is built on two main ingredients: the computation of the gradient of the smooth part and the evaluation of the proximity … Read more

A Line-Search Descent Algorithm for Strict Saddle Functions with Complexity Guarantees

We describe a line-search algorithm which achieves the best-known worst-case complexity results for problems with a certain “strict saddle” property that has been observed to hold in low-rank matrix optimization problems. Our algorithm is adaptive, in the sense that it makes use of backtracking line searches and does not require prior knowledge of the parameters … Read more

Gradient Sampling Methods with Inexact Subproblem Solves and Gradient Aggregation

Gradient sampling (GS) has proved to be an effective methodology for the minimization of objective functions that may be nonconvex and/or nonsmooth. The most computationally expensive component of a contemporary GS method is the need to solve a convex quadratic subproblem in each iteration. In this paper, a strategy is proposed that allows the use … Read more

Convergence of Inexact Forward–Backward Algorithms Using the Forward–Backward Envelope

This paper deals with a general framework for inexact forward–backward algorithms aimed at minimizing the sum of an analytic function and a lower semicontinuous, subanalytic, convex term. Such framework relies on an implementable inexactness condition for the computation of the proximal operator, and a linesearch procedure which is possibly performed whenever a variable metric is … Read more

A Finitely Convergent Disjunctive Cutting Plane Algorithm for Bilinear Programming

In this paper we present and analyze a finitely-convergent disjunctive cutting plane algorithm to obtain an \(\epsilon\)-optimal solution or detect infeasibility of a general nonconvex continuous bilinear program. While the cutting planes are obtained in a manner similar to Saxena, Bonami, and Lee [Math. Prog. 130: 359–413, 2011] and Fampa and Lee [J. Global Optim. … Read more

Sequential Convexification of a Bilinear Set

We present a sequential convexification procedure to derive, in the limit, a set arbitrary close to the convex hull of $\epsilon$-feasible solutions to a general nonconvex continuous bilinear set. Recognizing that bilinear terms can be represented with a finite number nonlinear nonconvex constraints in the lifted matrix space, our procedure performs a sequential convexification with … Read more

The extreme rays of the \times6$ copositive cone

We provide a complete classification of the extreme rays of the $6 \times 6$ copositive cone ${\cal COP}^6$. We proceed via a coarse intermediate classification of the possible minimal zero support set of an exceptional extremal matrix $A \in {\cal COP}^6$. To each such minimal zero support set we construct a stratified semi-algebraic manifold in … Read more