Efficient Convexification of Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks with Polynomial Functional Forms Via a Continuous Graham Scan Approach

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li, Tianwei, Ovalle, Daniel, Poczos, Barnabas, Laird, Carl, Grossmann, Ignacio, Pena, Javier
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866915916361498624
author Li, Tianwei
Ovalle, Daniel
Poczos, Barnabas
Laird, Carl
Grossmann, Ignacio
Pena, Javier
author_facet Li, Tianwei
Ovalle, Daniel
Poczos, Barnabas
Laird, Carl
Grossmann, Ignacio
Pena, Javier
contents Deterministic global optimization of nonlinear models is important in many scientific and engineering applications. This framework typically involves repeatedly solving convex relaxations of the nonconvex problem, meaning that the strength of the relaxations and the cost of computing them directly determine overall efficiency and solution quality. In this work, we develop a tailored continuous convexification framework for Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks in which the univariate components are polynomial functions. By exploiting the additive separable structure of this architecture, the relaxation problem reduces to computing tight convex envelopes of univariate polynomials. We propose a continuous variant of the classical Graham Scan that constructs these envelopes exactly by identifying the bitangents of the polynomial convex hull without discretization or factorable reformulations. We establish the correctness of the algorithm and characterize its computational complexity, and show how these envelopes can be combined to construct strong convex relaxations for polynomial KANs. Computational results demonstrate that the proposed relaxations are both strong and robust, often producing bounds that are comparable, or even orders of magnitude tighter than relaxations of state-of-the-art global optimization solvers while remaining computationally efficient.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_03871
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Efficient Convexification of Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks with Polynomial Functional Forms Via a Continuous Graham Scan Approach
Li, Tianwei
Ovalle, Daniel
Poczos, Barnabas
Laird, Carl
Grossmann, Ignacio
Pena, Javier
Optimization and Control
Deterministic global optimization of nonlinear models is important in many scientific and engineering applications. This framework typically involves repeatedly solving convex relaxations of the nonconvex problem, meaning that the strength of the relaxations and the cost of computing them directly determine overall efficiency and solution quality. In this work, we develop a tailored continuous convexification framework for Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks in which the univariate components are polynomial functions. By exploiting the additive separable structure of this architecture, the relaxation problem reduces to computing tight convex envelopes of univariate polynomials. We propose a continuous variant of the classical Graham Scan that constructs these envelopes exactly by identifying the bitangents of the polynomial convex hull without discretization or factorable reformulations. We establish the correctness of the algorithm and characterize its computational complexity, and show how these envelopes can be combined to construct strong convex relaxations for polynomial KANs. Computational results demonstrate that the proposed relaxations are both strong and robust, often producing bounds that are comparable, or even orders of magnitude tighter than relaxations of state-of-the-art global optimization solvers while remaining computationally efficient.
title Efficient Convexification of Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks with Polynomial Functional Forms Via a Continuous Graham Scan Approach
topic Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.03871