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In this work we consider Monteiro – Svaiter accelerated hybrid proximal extragradient (A-HPE) framework and accelerated Newton proximal extragradient (A-NPE) framework. The last framework contains an optimal method for rather smooth convex optimization problems with second-order oracle. We generalize A-NPE framework for higher order derivative oracle (schemes). We replace Newton’s type step in A-NPE that was used for auxiliary problem by Newton’s regularized (tensor) type step (Yu. Nesterov, 2018). Moreover we generalize large step A-HPE/A-NPE framework by replacing Monteiro – Svaiter’s large step condition so that this framework could work for high-order schemes. The main contribution of the paper is as follows: we propose optimal highorder methods for convex optimization problems. As far as we know for that moment there exist only zero, first and second order optimal methods that work according to the lower bounds. For higher order schemes there exists a gap between the lower bounds (Arjevani, Shamir, Shiff, 2017) and existing high-order (tensor) methods (Nesterov – Polyak, 2006; Yu.Nesterov, 2008; M. Baes, 2009; Yu.Nesterov, 2018). Asymptotically the ratio of the rates of convergences for the best existing methods and lower bounds is about 1.5. In this work we eliminate this gap and show that lower bounds are tight. We also consider rather smooth strongly convex optimization problems and show how to generalize the proposed methods to this case. The basic idea is to use restart technique until iteration sequence reach the region of quadratic convergence of Newton method and then use Newton method. One can show that the considered method converges with optimal rates up to a logarithmic factor. Note, that proposed in this work technique can be generalized in the case when we can’t solve auxiliary problem exactly, moreover we can’t even calculate the derivatives of the functional exactly. Moreover, the proposed technique can be generalized to the composite optimization problems and in particular to the constraint convex optimization problems. We also formulate a list of open questions that arise around the main result of this paper (optimal universal method of high order e.t.c.).

In this paper, we consider two variants of the concept of sharp minimum for mathematical programming problems with quasiconvex objective function and inequality constraints. It investigated the problem of describing a variant of a simple subgradient method with switching along productive and non-productive steps, for which, on a class of problems with Lipschitz functions, it would be possible to guarantee convergence with the rate of geometric progression to the set of exact solutions or its vicinity. It is important that to implement the proposed method there is no need to know the sharp minimum parameter, which is usually difficult to estimate in practice. To overcome this problem, the authors propose to use a step adjustment procedure similar to that previously proposed by B. T. Polyak. However, in this case, in comparison with the class of problems without constraints, it arises the problem of knowing the exact minimal value of the objective function. The paper describes the conditions for the inexactness of this information, which make it possible to preserve convergence with the rate of geometric progression in the vicinity of the set of minimum points of the problem. Two analogs of the concept of a sharp minimum for problems with inequality constraints are considered. In the first one, the problem of approximation to the exact solution arises only to a pre-selected level of accuracy, for this, it is considered the case when the minimal value of the objective function is unknown; instead, it is given some approximation of this value. We describe conditions on the inexact minimal value of the objective function, under which convergence to the vicinity of the desired set of points with a rate of geometric progression is still preserved. The second considered variant of the sharp minimum does not depend on the desired accuracy of the problem. For this, we propose a slightly different way of checking whether the step is productive, which allows us to guarantee the convergence of the method to the exact solution with the rate of geometric progression in the case of exact information. Convergence estimates are proved under conditions of weak convexity of the constraints and some restrictions on the choice of the initial point, and a corollary is formulated for the convex case when the need for an additional assumption on the choice of the initial point disappears. For both approaches, it has been proven that the distance from the current point to the set of solutions decreases with increasing number of iterations. This, in particular, makes it possible to limit the requirements for the properties of the used functions (Lipschitz-continuous, sharp minimum) only for a bounded set. Some computational experiments are performed, including for the truss topology design problem.

The work is devoted to the study of subgradient methods with different variations of the Polyak stepsize for minimization functions from the class of weakly convex and relatively weakly convex functions that have the corresponding analogue of a sharp minimum. It turns out that, under certain assumptions about the starting point, such an approach can make it possible to justify the convergence of the subgradient method with the speed of a geometric progression. For the subgradient method with the Polyak stepsize, a refined estimate for the rate of convergence is proved for minimization problems for weakly convex functions with a sharp minimum. The feature of this estimate is an additional consideration of the decrease of the distance from the current point of the method to the set of solutions with the increase in the number of iterations. The results of numerical experiments for the phase reconstruction problem (which is weakly convex and has a sharp minimum) are presented, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed approach to estimating the rate of convergence compared to the known one. Next, we propose a variation of the subgradient method with switching over productive and non-productive steps for weakly convex problems with inequality constraints and obtain the corresponding analog of the result on convergence with the rate of geometric progression. For the subgradient method with the corresponding variation of the Polyak stepsize on the class of relatively Lipschitz and relatively weakly convex functions with a relative analogue of a sharp minimum, it was obtained conditions that guarantee the convergence of such a subgradient method at the rate of a geometric progression. Finally, a theoretical result is obtained that describes the influence of the error of the information about the (sub)gradient available by the subgradient method and the objective function on the estimation of the quality of the obtained approximate solution. It is proved that for a sufficiently small error $\delta > 0$, one can guarantee that the accuracy of the solution is comparable to $\delta$.

Non-smooth optimization often arises in many applied problems. The issues of developing efficient computational procedures for such problems in high-dimensional spaces are very topical. First-order methods (subgradient methods) are well applicable here, but in fairly general situations they lead to low speed guarantees for large-scale problems. One of the approaches to this type of problem can be to identify a subclass of non-smooth problems that allow relatively optimistic results on the rate of convergence. For example, one of the options for additional assumptions can be the condition of a sharp minimum, proposed in the late 1960s by B. T. Polyak. In the case of the availability of information about the minimal value of the function for Lipschitz-continuous problems with a sharp minimum, it turned out to be possible to propose a subgradient method with a Polyak step-size, which guarantees a linear rate of convergence in the argument. This approach made it possible to cover a number of important applied problems (for example, the problem of projecting onto a convex compact set). However, both the condition of the availability of the minimal value of the function and the condition of a sharp minimum itself look rather restrictive. In this regard, in this paper, we propose a generalized condition for a sharp minimum, somewhat similar to the inexact oracle proposed recently by Devolder – Glineur – Nesterov. The proposed approach makes it possible to extend the class of applicability of subgradient methods with the Polyak step-size, to the situation of inexact information about the value of the minimum, as well as the unknown Lipschitz constant of the objective function. Moreover, the use of local analogs of the global characteristics of the objective function makes it possible to apply the results of this type to wider classes of problems. We show the possibility of applying the proposed approach to strongly convex nonsmooth problems, also, we make an experimental comparison with the known optimal subgradient method for such a class of problems. Moreover, there were obtained some results connected to the applicability of the proposed technique to some types of problems with convexity relaxations: the recently proposed notion of weak $\beta$-quasi-convexity and ordinary quasiconvexity. Also in the paper, we study a generalization of the described technique to the situation with the assumption that the $\delta$-subgradient of the objective function is available instead of the usual subgradient. For one of the considered methods, conditions are found under which, in practice, it is possible to escape the projection of the considered iterative sequence onto the feasible set of the problem.

The problem of developing efficient numerical methods for non-convex (including non-smooth) problems is relevant due to their widespread use of such problems in applications. This paper is devoted to subgradient methods for minimizing Lipschitz $\mu$-weakly convex functions, which are not necessarily smooth. It is well known that subgradient methods have low convergence rates in high-dimensional spaces even for convex functions. However, if we consider a subclass of functions that satisfies sharp minimum condition and also use the Polyak step, we can guarantee a linear convergence rate of the subgradient method. In some cases, the values of the function or it’s subgradient may be available to the numerical method with some error. The accuracy of the solution provided by the numerical method depends on the magnitude of this error. In this paper, we investigate the behavior of the subgradient method with a Polyak step when inaccurate information about the objective function value or subgradient is used in iterations. We prove that with a specific choice of starting point, the subgradient method with some analogue of the Polyak step-size converges at a geometric progression rate on a class of $\mu$-weakly convex functions with a sharp minimum, provided that there is additive inaccuracy in the subgradient values. In the case when both the value of the function and the value of its subgradient at the current point are known with error, convergence to some neighborhood of the set of exact solutions is shown and the quality estimates of the output solution by the subgradient method with the corresponding analogue of the Polyak step are obtained. The article also proposes a subgradient method with a clipped step, and an assessment of the quality of the solution obtained by this method for the class of $\mu$-weakly convex functions with a sharp minimum is presented. Numerical experiments were conducted for the problem of low-rank matrix recovery. They showed that the efficiency of the studied algorithms may not depend on the accuracy of localization of the initial approximation within the required region, and the inaccuracy in the values of the function and subgradient may affect the number of iterations required to achieve an acceptable quality of the solution, but has almost no effect on the quality of the solution itself.

We propose a family of Gauss –Newton methods for solving optimization problems and systems of nonlinear equations based on the ideas of using the upper estimate of the norm of the residual of the system of nonlinear equations and quadratic regularization. The paper presents a development of the «Three Squares Method» scheme with the addition of a momentum term to the update rule of the sought parameters in the problem to be solved. The resulting scheme has several remarkable properties. First, the paper algorithmically describes a whole parametric family of methods that minimize functionals of a special kind: compositions of the residual of a nonlinear equation and an unimodal functional. Such a functional, entirely consistent with the «gray box» paradigm in the problem description, combines a large number of solvable problems related to applications in machine learning, with the regression problems. Secondly, the obtained family of methods is described as a generalization of several forms of the Levenberg –Marquardt algorithm, allowing implementation in non-Euclidean spaces as well. The algorithm describing the parametric family of Gauss –Newton methods uses an iterative procedure that performs an inexact parametrized proximal mapping and shift using a momentum term. The paper contains a detailed analysis of the efficiency of the proposed family of Gauss – Newton methods; the derived estimates take into account the number of external iterations of the algorithm for solving the main problem, the accuracy and computational complexity of the local model representation and oracle computation. Sublinear and linear convergence conditions based on the Polak – Lojasiewicz inequality are derived for the family of methods. In both observed convergence regimes, the Lipschitz property of the residual of the nonlinear system of equations is locally assumed. In addition to the theoretical analysis of the scheme, the paper studies the issues of its practical implementation. In particular, in the experiments conducted for the suboptimal step, the schemes of effective calculation of the approximation of the best step are given, which makes it possible to improve the convergence of the method in practice in comparison with the original «Three Square Method». The proposed scheme combines several existing and frequently used in practice modifications of the Gauss –Newton method, in addition, the paper proposes a monotone momentum modification of the family of developed methods, which does not slow down the search for a solution in the worst case and demonstrates in practice an improvement in the convergence of the method.