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On some stochastic mirror descent methods for constrained online optimization problems
Computer Research and Modeling, 2019, v. 11, no. 2, pp. 205-217Views (last year): 42.The problem of online convex optimization naturally occurs in cases when there is an update of statistical information. The mirror descent method is well known for non-smooth optimization problems. Mirror descent is an extension of the subgradient method for solving non-smooth convex optimization problems in the case of a non-Euclidean distance. This paper is devoted to a stochastic variant of recently proposed Mirror Descent methods for convex online optimization problems with convex Lipschitz (generally, non-smooth) functional constraints. This means that we can still use the value of the functional constraint, but instead of (sub)gradient of the objective functional and the functional constraint, we use their stochastic (sub)gradients. More precisely, assume that on a closed subset of $n$-dimensional vector space, $N$ convex Lipschitz non-smooth functionals are given. The problem is to minimize the arithmetic mean of these functionals with a convex Lipschitz constraint. Two methods are proposed, for solving this problem, using stochastic (sub)gradients: adaptive method (does not require knowledge of Lipschitz constant neither for the objective functional, nor for the functional of constraint) and non-adaptivemethod (requires knowledge of Lipschitz constant for the objective functional and the functional of constraint). Note that it is allowed to calculate the stochastic (sub)gradient of each functional only once. In the case of non-negative regret, we find that the number of non-productive steps is $O$($N$), which indicates the optimality of the proposed methods. We consider an arbitrary proximal structure, which is essential for decisionmaking problems. The results of numerical experiments are presented, allowing to compare the work of adaptive and non-adaptive methods for some examples. It is shown that the adaptive method can significantly improve the number of the found solutions.
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On the relations of stochastic convex optimization problems with empirical risk minimization problems on $p$-norm balls
Computer Research and Modeling, 2022, v. 14, no. 2, pp. 309-319In this paper, we consider convex stochastic optimization problems arising in machine learning applications (e. g., risk minimization) and mathematical statistics (e. g., maximum likelihood estimation). There are two main approaches to solve such kinds of problems, namely the Stochastic Approximation approach (online approach) and the Sample Average Approximation approach, also known as the Monte Carlo approach, (offline approach). In the offline approach, the problem is replaced by its empirical counterpart (the empirical risk minimization problem). The natural question is how to define the problem sample size, i. e., how many realizations should be sampled so that the quite accurate solution of the empirical problem be the solution of the original problem with the desired precision. This issue is one of the main issues in modern machine learning and optimization. In the last decade, a lot of significant advances were made in these areas to solve convex stochastic optimization problems on the Euclidean balls (or the whole space). In this work, we are based on these advances and study the case of arbitrary balls in the $p$-norms. We also explore the question of how the parameter $p$ affects the estimates of the required number of terms as a function of empirical risk.
In this paper, both convex and saddle point optimization problems are considered. For strongly convex problems, the existing results on the same sample sizes in both approaches (online and offline) were generalized to arbitrary norms. Moreover, it was shown that the strong convexity condition can be weakened: the obtained results are valid for functions satisfying the quadratic growth condition. In the case when this condition is not met, it is proposed to use the regularization of the original problem in an arbitrary norm. In contradistinction to convex problems, saddle point problems are much less studied. For saddle point problems, the sample size was obtained under the condition of $\gamma$-growth of the objective function. When $\gamma = 1$, this condition is the condition of sharp minimum in convex problems. In this article, it was shown that the sample size in the case of a sharp minimum is almost independent of the desired accuracy of the solution of the original problem.
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Comparsion of stochastic approximation and sample average approximation for saddle point problem with bilinear coupling term
Computer Research and Modeling, 2023, v. 15, no. 2, pp. 381-391Stochastic optimization is a current area of research due to significant advances in machine learning and their applications to everyday problems. In this paper, we consider two fundamentally different methods for solving the problem of stochastic optimization — online and offline algorithms. The corresponding algorithms have their qualitative advantages over each other. So, for offline algorithms, it is required to solve an auxiliary problem with high accuracy. However, this can be done in a distributed manner, and this opens up fundamental possibilities such as, for example, the construction of a dual problem. Despite this, both online and offline algorithms pursue a common goal — solving the stochastic optimization problem with a given accuracy. This is reflected in the comparison of the computational complexity of the described algorithms, which is demonstrated in this paper.
The comparison of the described methods is carried out for two types of stochastic problems — convex optimization and saddles. For problems of stochastic convex optimization, the existing solutions make it possible to compare online and offline algorithms in some detail. In particular, for strongly convex problems, the computational complexity of the algorithms is the same, and the condition of strong convexity can be weakened to the condition of $\gamma$-growth of the objective function. From this point of view, saddle point problems are much less studied. Nevertheless, existing solutions allow us to outline the main directions of research. Thus, significant progress has been made for bilinear saddle point problems using online algorithms. Offline algorithms are represented by just one study. In this paper, this example demonstrates the similarity of both algorithms with convex optimization. The issue of the accuracy of solving the auxiliary problem for saddles was also worked out. On the other hand, the saddle point problem of stochastic optimization generalizes the convex one, that is, it is its logical continuation. This is manifested in the fact that existing results from convex optimization can be transferred to saddles. In this paper, such a transfer is carried out for the results of the online algorithm in the convex case, when the objective function satisfies the $\gamma$-growth condition.
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