Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fersztand, David, Sun, Xu Andy
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.20351
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909596712435712
author Fersztand, David
Sun, Xu Andy
author_facet Fersztand, David
Sun, Xu Andy
contents The proximal bundle method (PBM) is a fundamental and computationally effective algorithm for solving nonsmooth optimization problems. In this paper, we present the first variant of the PBM for smooth objectives, achieving an accelerated convergence rate of $O(ε^{-1/2}\log(1/ε))$, where $ε$ is the desired accuracy. Our approach addresses an open question regarding the convergence guarantee of proximal bundle type methods, which was previously posed in two recent papers. We interpret the PBM as a proximal point algorithm and base our proposed algorithm on an accelerated inexact proximal point scheme. Our variant introduces a novel null step test and oracle while maintaining the core structure of the original algorithm. The newly proposed oracle substitutes the traditional cutting planes with a smooth lower approximation of the true function. We show that this smooth interpolating lower model can be computed as a convex quadratic program. We also examine a second setting where Nesterov acceleration can be effectively applied, specifically when the objective is the sum of a smooth function and a piecewise linear one.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_20351
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the Acceleration of Proximal Bundle Methods
Fersztand, David
Sun, Xu Andy
Optimization and Control
The proximal bundle method (PBM) is a fundamental and computationally effective algorithm for solving nonsmooth optimization problems. In this paper, we present the first variant of the PBM for smooth objectives, achieving an accelerated convergence rate of $O(ε^{-1/2}\log(1/ε))$, where $ε$ is the desired accuracy. Our approach addresses an open question regarding the convergence guarantee of proximal bundle type methods, which was previously posed in two recent papers. We interpret the PBM as a proximal point algorithm and base our proposed algorithm on an accelerated inexact proximal point scheme. Our variant introduces a novel null step test and oracle while maintaining the core structure of the original algorithm. The newly proposed oracle substitutes the traditional cutting planes with a smooth lower approximation of the true function. We show that this smooth interpolating lower model can be computed as a convex quadratic program. We also examine a second setting where Nesterov acceleration can be effectively applied, specifically when the objective is the sum of a smooth function and a piecewise linear one.
title On the Acceleration of Proximal Bundle Methods
topic Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.20351