All issues

The article considers minimization of the expectation of convex function. Problems of this type often arise in machine learning and a variety of other applications. In practice, stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and similar procedures are usually used to solve such problems. We propose to use the ellipsoid method with mini-batching, which converges linearly and can be more efficient than SGD for a class of problems. This is verified by our experiments, which are publicly available. The algorithm does not require neither smoothness nor strong convexity of the objective to achieve linear convergence. Thus, its complexity does not depend on the conditional number of the problem. We prove that the method arrives at an approximate solution with given probability when using mini-batches of size proportional to the desired accuracy to the power −2. This enables efficient parallel execution of the algorithm, whereas possibilities for batch parallelization of SGD are rather limited. Despite fast convergence, ellipsoid method can result in a greater total number of calls to oracle than SGD, which works decently with small batches. Complexity is quadratic in dimension of the problem, hence the method is suitable for relatively small dimensionalities.

Stochastically forced discrete dynamical systems are considered. Using first approximation systems, we study dynamics of deviations of stochastic solutions from deterministic equilibria. Necessary and sufficient conditions of the existence of stable stationary solutions of equations for mean-square deviations are derived. Stationary values of these mean-square deviations are used for the estimations of the dispersion of random states nearby stable equilibria and analysis of noise-induced transitions. Constructive application of the suggested technique to the analysis of various stochastic regimes in Ricker population model with Allee effect is demonstrated.

We now review the main points of mean-field approximation (MFA) in its application to multicomponent stochastic reaction-diffusion systems.

We present the chemical reaction model under study — brusselator. We write the kinetic equations of reaction supplementing them with terms that describe the diffusion of the intermediate components and the fluctuations of the concentrations of the initial products. We simulate the fluctuations as random Gaussian homogeneous and spatially isotropic fields with zero means and spatial correlation functions with a non-trivial structure. The model parameter values correspond to a spatially-inhomogeneous ordered state in the deterministic case.

In the MFA we derive single-site two-dimensional nonlinear self-consistent Fokker–Planck equation in the Stratonovich's interpretation for spatially extended stochastic brusselator, which describes the dynamics of probability distribution density of component concentration values of the system under consideration. We find the noise intensity values appropriate to two types of Fokker–Planck equation solutions: solution with transient bimodality and solution with the multiple alternation of unimodal and bimodal types of probability density. We study numerically the probability density dynamics and time behavior of variances, expectations, and most probable values of component concentrations at various noise intensity values and the bifurcation parameter in the specified region of the problem parameters.

Beginning from some value of external noise intensity inside the ordered phase disorder originates existing for a finite time, and the higher the noise level, the longer this disorder “embryo” lives. The farther away from the bifurcation point, the lower the noise that generates it and the narrower the range of noise intensity values at which the system evolves to the ordered, but already a new statistically steady state. At some second noise intensity value the intermittency of the ordered and disordered phases occurs. The increasing noise intensity leads to the fact that the order and disorder alternate increasingly.

Thus, the scenario of the noise induced order–disorder transition in the system under study consists in the intermittency of the ordered and disordered phases.

We study the influence of fishery on a structured fish population under random changes of habitat conditions. The population parameters correspond to dominant pelagic fish species of Far-Eastern seas of the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean (pollack, herring, sardine). Similar species inhabit various parts of the Word Ocean. The species body size distribution was chosen as a main population feature. This characteristic is easy to measure and adequately defines main specimen qualities such as age, maturity and other morphological and physiological peculiarities. Environmental fluctuations have a great influence on the individuals in early stages of development and have little influence on the vital activity of mature individuals. The fishery revenue was chosen as an optimality criterion. The main control characteristic is fishing effort. We have chosen quadratic dependence of fishing revenue on the fishing effort according to accepted economic ideas stating that the expenses grow with the production volume. The model study shows that the population structure ensures the increased population stability. The growth and drop out of the individuals’ due to natural mortality smoothens the oscillations of population density arising from the strong influence of the fluctuations of environment on young individuals. The smoothing part is played by diffusion component of the growth processes. The fishery in its turn smooths the fluctuations (including random fluctuations) of the environment and has a substantial impact upon the abundance of fry and the subsequent population dynamics. The optimal time-dependent fishing effort strategy was compared to stationary fishing effort strategy. It is shown that in the case of quickly changing habitat conditions and stochastic dynamics of population replenishment there exists a stationary fishing effort having approximately the same efficiency as an optimal time-dependent fishing effort. This means that a constant or weakly varying fishing effort can be very efficient strategy in terms of revenue.

In 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.

Mathematical models of gas dynamics and its computational industry, in our opinion, are far from perfect. We will look at this problem from the point of view of a clear probabilistic micro-model of a gas from hard spheres, relying on both the theory of random processes and the classical kinetic theory in terms of densities of distribution functions in phase space, namely, we will first construct a system of nonlinear stochastic differential equations (SDE), and then a generalized random and nonrandom integro-differential Boltzmann equation taking into account correlations and fluctuations. The key feature of the initial model is the random nature of the intensity of the jump measure and its dependence on the process itself.

Briefly recall the transition to increasingly coarse meso-macro approximations in accordance with a decrease in the dimensionalization parameter, the Knudsen number. We obtain stochastic and non-random equations, first in phase space (meso-model in terms of the Wiener — measure SDE and the Kolmogorov – Fokker – Planck equations), and then — in coordinate space (macro-equations that differ from the Navier – Stokes system of equations and quasi-gas dynamics systems). The main difference of this derivation is a more accurate averaging by velocity due to the analytical solution of stochastic differential equations with respect to the Wiener measure, in the form of which an intermediate meso-model in phase space is presented. This approach differs significantly from the traditional one, which uses not the random process itself, but its distribution function. The emphasis is placed on the transparency of assumptions during the transition from one level of detail to another, and not on numerical experiments, which contain additional approximation errors.

The theoretical power of the microscopic representation of macroscopic phenomena is also important as an ideological support for particle methods alternative to difference and finite element methods.

Stochastic 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.

Instrument of numerical-analytical modeling of characteristics of propagation of electromagnetic waves in chaotic space plasma with taking into account effects of gravitation is developed for interpretation of data of measurements of astrophysical precision instruments of new education. The task of propagation of waves in curved (Riemann’s) space is solved in Euclid’s space by introducing of the effective index of refraction of vacuum. The gravitational potential can be calculated for various model of distribution of mass of astrophysical objects and at solution of Poisson’s equation. As a result the effective index of refraction of vacuum can be evaluated. Approximate model of the effective index of refraction is suggested with condition that various objects additively contribute in total gravitational field. Calculation of the characteristics of electromagnetic waves in the gravitational field of astrophysical objects is performed by the approximation of geometrical optics with condition that spatial scales of index of refraction a lot more wavelength. Light differential equations in Euler’s form are formed the basis of numerical-analytical instrument of modeling of trajectory characteristic of waves. Chaotic inhomogeneities of space plasma are introduced by model of spatial correlation function of index of refraction. Calculations of refraction scattering of waves are performed by the approximation of geometrical optics. Integral equations for statistic moments of lateral deviations of beams in picture plane of observer are obtained. Integrals for moments are reduced to system of ordinary differential equations the firsts order with using analytical transformations for cooperative numerical calculation of arrange and meansquare deviations of light. Results of numerical-analytical modeling of trajectory picture of propagation of electromagnetic waves in interstellar space with taking into account impact of gravitational fields of space objects and refractive scattering of waves on inhomogeneities of index of refraction of surrounding plasma are shown. Based on the results of modeling quantitative estimation of conditions of stochastic blurring of the effect of gravitational lensing of electromagnetic waves at various frequency ranges is performed. It’s shown that operating frequencies of meter range of wavelengths represent conditional low-frequency limit for observational of the effect of gravitational lensing in stochastic space plasma. The offered instrument of numerical-analytical modeling can be used for analyze of structure of electromagnetic radiation of quasar propagating through group of galactic.

In the present article we explore the process of changing the level of approval of a political leader under the influence of the processes taking place in online platforms (social networks, forums, etc.). The driver of these changes is the interaction of users, through which they can exchange opinions with each other and formulate their position in relation to the political leader. In addition to interpersonal interaction, we will consider such factors as the information impact, expressed in the creation of an information flow with a given power and polarity (positive or negative, in the context of influencing the image of a political leader), as well as the presence of a group of agents (opinion leaders), supporting the leader, or, conversely, negatively affecting its representation in the media space.

The mathematical basis of the presented research is the Kirman model, which has its roots in biology and initially found its application in economics. Within the framework of this model it is considered that each user is in one of the two possible states, and a Markov jump process describing transitions between these states is given. For the problem under consideration, these states are 0 or 1, depending on whether a particular agent is a supporter of a political leader or not. For further research, we find its diffusional approximation, known as the Jacoby process. With the help of spectral decomposition for the infinitesimal operator of this process we have an opportunity to find an analytical representation for the transition probability density.

Analyzing the probabilities obtained in this way, we can assess the influence of individual factors of the model: the power and direction of the information flow, available to online users and relevant to the tasks of rating formation, as well as the number of supporters or opponents of the politician. Next, using the found eigenfunctions and eigenvalues, we derive expressions for the evaluation of conditional mathematical expectations of a politician’s rating, which can serve as a basis for building forecasts that are important for the formation of a strategy of representing a political leader in the online environment.

This article discusses the influence of the shadow, informal and household sectors on the dynamics of a stochastic model with heterogeneous (heterogeneous) agents. The study uses the integration of the general equilibrium approach to explain the behavior of demand, supply and prices in an economy with several interacting markets, and a multi-agent approach. The analyzed model describes an economy with aggregated uncertainty and with an infinite number of heterogeneous agents (households). The source of heterogeneity is the idiosyncratic income shocks of agents in the legal and shadow sectors of the economy. In the analysis, an algorithm is used to approximate the dynamics of the distribution function of the capital stocks of individual agents — the dynamics of its first and second moments. The synthesis of the agent approach and the general equilibrium approach is carried out using computer implementation of the recursive feedback between microagents and macroenvironment. The behavior of the impulse response functions of the main variables of the model confirms the positive influence of the shadow economy (below a certain limit) on minimizing the rate of decline in economic indicators during recessions, especially for developing economies. The scientific novelty of the study is the combination of a multi-agent approach and a general equilibrium approach for modeling macroeconomic processes at the regional and national levels. Further research prospects may be associated with the use of more detailed general equilibrium models, which allow, in particular, to describe the behavior of heterogeneous groups of agents in the entrepreneurial sector of the economy.