Nested Stochastic Algorithm for Generalized Sinkhorn distance-Regularized Distributionally Robust Optimization

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Yang, Yufeng, Zhou, Yi, Lu, Zhaosong
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Yang, Yufeng
Zhou, Yi
Lu, Zhaosong
author_facet Yang, Yufeng
Zhou, Yi
Lu, Zhaosong
contents Distributionally robust optimization (DRO) is a powerful technique to train robust models against data distribution shift. This paper aims to solve regularized nonconvex DRO problems, where the uncertainty set is modeled by a so-called generalized Sinkhorn distance and the loss function is nonconvex and possibly unbounded. Such a distance allows to model uncertainty of distributions with different probability supports and divergence functions. For this class of regularized DRO problems, we derive a novel dual formulation taking the form of nested stochastic optimization, where the dual variable depends on the data sample. To solve the dual problem, we provide theoretical evidence to design a nested stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithm, which leverages stochastic approximation to estimate the nested stochastic gradients. We study the convergence rate of nested SGD and establish polynomial iteration and sample complexities that are independent of the data size and parameter dimension, indicating its potential for solving large-scale DRO problems. We conduct numerical experiments to demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed algorithm.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_22923
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Nested Stochastic Algorithm for Generalized Sinkhorn distance-Regularized Distributionally Robust Optimization
Yang, Yufeng
Zhou, Yi
Lu, Zhaosong
Optimization and Control
Machine Learning
Distributionally robust optimization (DRO) is a powerful technique to train robust models against data distribution shift. This paper aims to solve regularized nonconvex DRO problems, where the uncertainty set is modeled by a so-called generalized Sinkhorn distance and the loss function is nonconvex and possibly unbounded. Such a distance allows to model uncertainty of distributions with different probability supports and divergence functions. For this class of regularized DRO problems, we derive a novel dual formulation taking the form of nested stochastic optimization, where the dual variable depends on the data sample. To solve the dual problem, we provide theoretical evidence to design a nested stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithm, which leverages stochastic approximation to estimate the nested stochastic gradients. We study the convergence rate of nested SGD and establish polynomial iteration and sample complexities that are independent of the data size and parameter dimension, indicating its potential for solving large-scale DRO problems. We conduct numerical experiments to demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed algorithm.
title Nested Stochastic Algorithm for Generalized Sinkhorn distance-Regularized Distributionally Robust Optimization
topic Optimization and Control
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.22923