On Constraints in First-Order Optimization: A View from Non-Smooth Dynamical Systems

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Muehlebach, Michael, Jordan, Michael I.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2021
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author Muehlebach, Michael
Jordan, Michael I.
author_facet Muehlebach, Michael
Jordan, Michael I.
contents We introduce a class of first-order methods for smooth constrained optimization that are based on an analogy to non-smooth dynamical systems. Two distinctive features of our approach are that (i) projections or optimizations over the entire feasible set are avoided, in stark contrast to projected gradient methods or the Frank-Wolfe method, and (ii) iterates are allowed to become infeasible, which differs from active set or feasible direction methods, where the descent motion stops as soon as a new constraint is encountered. The resulting algorithmic procedure is simple to implement even when constraints are nonlinear, and is suitable for large-scale constrained optimization problems in which the feasible set fails to have a simple structure. The key underlying idea is that constraints are expressed in terms of velocities instead of positions, which has the algorithmic consequence that optimizations over feasible sets at each iteration are replaced with optimizations over local, sparse convex approximations. In particular, this means that at each iteration only constraints that are violated are taken into account. The result is a simplified suite of algorithms and an expanded range of possible applications in machine learning.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2107_08225
institution arXiv
publishDate 2021
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On Constraints in First-Order Optimization: A View from Non-Smooth Dynamical Systems
Muehlebach, Michael
Jordan, Michael I.
Optimization and Control
Machine Learning
Systems and Control
We introduce a class of first-order methods for smooth constrained optimization that are based on an analogy to non-smooth dynamical systems. Two distinctive features of our approach are that (i) projections or optimizations over the entire feasible set are avoided, in stark contrast to projected gradient methods or the Frank-Wolfe method, and (ii) iterates are allowed to become infeasible, which differs from active set or feasible direction methods, where the descent motion stops as soon as a new constraint is encountered. The resulting algorithmic procedure is simple to implement even when constraints are nonlinear, and is suitable for large-scale constrained optimization problems in which the feasible set fails to have a simple structure. The key underlying idea is that constraints are expressed in terms of velocities instead of positions, which has the algorithmic consequence that optimizations over feasible sets at each iteration are replaced with optimizations over local, sparse convex approximations. In particular, this means that at each iteration only constraints that are violated are taken into account. The result is a simplified suite of algorithms and an expanded range of possible applications in machine learning.
title On Constraints in First-Order Optimization: A View from Non-Smooth Dynamical Systems
topic Optimization and Control
Machine Learning
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.08225