Acceleration by Random Stepsizes: Hedging, Equalization, and the Arcsine Stepsize Schedule

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Altschuler, Jason M., Parrilo, Pablo A.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Altschuler, Jason M.
Parrilo, Pablo A.
author_facet Altschuler, Jason M.
Parrilo, Pablo A.
contents We show that for separable convex optimization, random stepsizes fully accelerate Gradient Descent. Specifically, using inverse stepsizes i.i.d. from the Arcsine distribution improves the convergence rate from $O(k)$ to $O(\sqrt{k})$, where $k$ is the condition number. No momentum or other algorithmic modifications are required. Our starting point is a remarkable "equalization property" of the Arcsine distribution: it yields an identical convergence rate for all quadratic functions. A key technical insight is that martingale arguments extend this phenomenon to all separable convex functions. We interpret this equalization as an extreme form of hedging: by using this random distribution over stepsizes, Gradient Descent converges at exactly the same rate for all functions in the function class.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_05790
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Acceleration by Random Stepsizes: Hedging, Equalization, and the Arcsine Stepsize Schedule
Altschuler, Jason M.
Parrilo, Pablo A.
Optimization and Control
Data Structures and Algorithms
We show that for separable convex optimization, random stepsizes fully accelerate Gradient Descent. Specifically, using inverse stepsizes i.i.d. from the Arcsine distribution improves the convergence rate from $O(k)$ to $O(\sqrt{k})$, where $k$ is the condition number. No momentum or other algorithmic modifications are required. Our starting point is a remarkable "equalization property" of the Arcsine distribution: it yields an identical convergence rate for all quadratic functions. A key technical insight is that martingale arguments extend this phenomenon to all separable convex functions. We interpret this equalization as an extreme form of hedging: by using this random distribution over stepsizes, Gradient Descent converges at exactly the same rate for all functions in the function class.
title Acceleration by Random Stepsizes: Hedging, Equalization, and the Arcsine Stepsize Schedule
topic Optimization and Control
Data Structures and Algorithms
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.05790