Generalized Stochastic Gradient Descent with Momentum Methods for Smooth Optimization

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Hauptverfasser: Wang, Zimeng, Yurtsever, Alp
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Wang, Zimeng
Yurtsever, Alp
author_facet Wang, Zimeng
Yurtsever, Alp
contents Stochastic gradient descent with momentum (SGDM) methods have become fundamental optimization tools in machine learning, combining the computational efficiency of stochastic gradients with the acceleration benefits of momentum. Despite their widespread use in practice, the theoretical understanding of SGDM remains incomplete, with most existing analyses focusing on specific momentum schemes or requiring restrictive assumptions. In this paper, we introduce a generalized SGDM framework that unifies a broad class of momentum-based methods, including SGD with Polyak's momentum, SGD with Nesterov's momentum, and many others. We provide comprehensive convergence analyses for both convex and nonconvex optimization problems under mild smoothness and bounded variance assumptions. For convex problems, we establish general ergodic convergence results with constant parameters and derive improved iterate convergence rates with time-varying parameters. For nonconvex problems, we prove sublinear convergence to stationary points and establish linear convergence to a neighborhood of the optimum under the Polyak--Łojasiewicz condition. Notably, our analysis allows flexible parameter choices and thus provides convergence guarantees for many existing momentum methods as special cases.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_23444
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Generalized Stochastic Gradient Descent with Momentum Methods for Smooth Optimization
Wang, Zimeng
Yurtsever, Alp
Optimization and Control
Stochastic gradient descent with momentum (SGDM) methods have become fundamental optimization tools in machine learning, combining the computational efficiency of stochastic gradients with the acceleration benefits of momentum. Despite their widespread use in practice, the theoretical understanding of SGDM remains incomplete, with most existing analyses focusing on specific momentum schemes or requiring restrictive assumptions. In this paper, we introduce a generalized SGDM framework that unifies a broad class of momentum-based methods, including SGD with Polyak's momentum, SGD with Nesterov's momentum, and many others. We provide comprehensive convergence analyses for both convex and nonconvex optimization problems under mild smoothness and bounded variance assumptions. For convex problems, we establish general ergodic convergence results with constant parameters and derive improved iterate convergence rates with time-varying parameters. For nonconvex problems, we prove sublinear convergence to stationary points and establish linear convergence to a neighborhood of the optimum under the Polyak--Łojasiewicz condition. Notably, our analysis allows flexible parameter choices and thus provides convergence guarantees for many existing momentum methods as special cases.
title Generalized Stochastic Gradient Descent with Momentum Methods for Smooth Optimization
topic Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23444