Non-Expansive Mappings in Two-Time-Scale Stochastic Approximation: Finite-Time Analysis

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Chandak, Siddharth
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chandak, Siddharth
author_facet Chandak, Siddharth
contents Two-time-scale stochastic approximation algorithms are iterative methods used in applications such as optimization, reinforcement learning, and control. Finite-time analysis of these algorithms has primarily focused on fixed point iterations where both time-scales have contractive mappings. In this work, we broaden the scope of such analyses by considering settings where the slower time-scale has a non-expansive mapping. For such algorithms, the slower time-scale can be viewed as a stochastic inexact Krasnoselskii-Mann iteration. We also study a variant where the faster time-scale has a projection step which leads to non-expansiveness in the slower time-scale. We show that the last-iterate mean square residual error for such algorithms decays at a rate $O(1/k^{1/4-ε})$, where $ε>0$ is arbitrarily small. We further establish almost sure convergence of iterates to the set of fixed points. We demonstrate the applicability of our framework by applying our results to minimax optimization, linear stochastic approximation, and Lagrangian optimization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_10806
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Non-Expansive Mappings in Two-Time-Scale Stochastic Approximation: Finite-Time Analysis
Chandak, Siddharth
Optimization and Control
Machine Learning
Systems and Control
47H09, 62L20, 47H10, 68W40, 93E35, 90C47
Two-time-scale stochastic approximation algorithms are iterative methods used in applications such as optimization, reinforcement learning, and control. Finite-time analysis of these algorithms has primarily focused on fixed point iterations where both time-scales have contractive mappings. In this work, we broaden the scope of such analyses by considering settings where the slower time-scale has a non-expansive mapping. For such algorithms, the slower time-scale can be viewed as a stochastic inexact Krasnoselskii-Mann iteration. We also study a variant where the faster time-scale has a projection step which leads to non-expansiveness in the slower time-scale. We show that the last-iterate mean square residual error for such algorithms decays at a rate $O(1/k^{1/4-ε})$, where $ε>0$ is arbitrarily small. We further establish almost sure convergence of iterates to the set of fixed points. We demonstrate the applicability of our framework by applying our results to minimax optimization, linear stochastic approximation, and Lagrangian optimization.
title Non-Expansive Mappings in Two-Time-Scale Stochastic Approximation: Finite-Time Analysis
topic Optimization and Control
Machine Learning
Systems and Control
47H09, 62L20, 47H10, 68W40, 93E35, 90C47
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.10806