Geometry of Sparsity-Inducing Norms

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Main Authors: Chancelier, Jean-Philippe, de Lara, Michel, Deza, Antoine, Pournin, Lionel
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chancelier, Jean-Philippe
de Lara, Michel
Deza, Antoine
Pournin, Lionel
author_facet Chancelier, Jean-Philippe
de Lara, Michel
Deza, Antoine
Pournin, Lionel
contents Sparse optimization seeks an optimal solution with few nonzero entries. To achieve this, it is common to add to the criterion a penalty term proportional to the $\ell_1$-norm, which is recognized as the archetype of sparsity-inducing norms. In this approach, the number of nonzero entries is not controlled a priori. By contrast, in this paper, our motivation is to find an optimal solution with at most~$k$ nonzero coordinates (or for short, $k$-sparse vectors), where $k$ is a given sparsity threshold (or ``sparsity budget''). For this purpose, we study the class of generalized $k$-support dual~norms that arise from any given so-called source norm. When added as a penalty term, we provide conditions under which such generalized $k$-support dual~norms promote $k$-sparse solutions. The result follows from an analysis of the exposed faces of closed convex sets generated by $k$-sparse vectors, and of how primal support identification can be deduced from dual information. Finally, we study some of the geometric properties of the unit balls for the $k$-support dual~norms and their dual norms when the source norm belongs to the family of $\ell_p$-norms. In particular, we show a striking structural property: every proper face of the unit balls for the $k$-support dual~norms is a hypersimplex, i.e., the convex hull of $0/1$-valued points with the same $\ell_0$-norm.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_08651
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Geometry of Sparsity-Inducing Norms
Chancelier, Jean-Philippe
de Lara, Michel
Deza, Antoine
Pournin, Lionel
Optimization and Control
Sparse optimization seeks an optimal solution with few nonzero entries. To achieve this, it is common to add to the criterion a penalty term proportional to the $\ell_1$-norm, which is recognized as the archetype of sparsity-inducing norms. In this approach, the number of nonzero entries is not controlled a priori. By contrast, in this paper, our motivation is to find an optimal solution with at most~$k$ nonzero coordinates (or for short, $k$-sparse vectors), where $k$ is a given sparsity threshold (or ``sparsity budget''). For this purpose, we study the class of generalized $k$-support dual~norms that arise from any given so-called source norm. When added as a penalty term, we provide conditions under which such generalized $k$-support dual~norms promote $k$-sparse solutions. The result follows from an analysis of the exposed faces of closed convex sets generated by $k$-sparse vectors, and of how primal support identification can be deduced from dual information. Finally, we study some of the geometric properties of the unit balls for the $k$-support dual~norms and their dual norms when the source norm belongs to the family of $\ell_p$-norms. In particular, we show a striking structural property: every proper face of the unit balls for the $k$-support dual~norms is a hypersimplex, i.e., the convex hull of $0/1$-valued points with the same $\ell_0$-norm.
title Geometry of Sparsity-Inducing Norms
topic Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.08651