arXiv Machine Learning

Exact Theory and Optimal Stepsizes for Stochastic Gradient Descent in Smooth Convex Minimization

arXiv:2610. 42048v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: This work considers the design of stepsize schedules for stochastic gradient descent in smooth convex optimization.

arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 2

Towards Weaker Variance Assumptions for Stochastic Optimization

arXiv:2504. 09951v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: We revisit a classical assumption for analyzing stochastic gradient algorithms where the squared norm of the stochastic subgradient (or the variance for smooth problems) is allowed to grow as fast as the squared norm of the optimization variable.

By Ahmet Alacaoglu, Yura Malitsky, Stephen J. Wright
arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 12

A lower bound for stepsize-based acceleration of gradient descent

arXiv:2608. 10418v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Recent work has shown that, for smooth convex optimization, plain gradient descent can be accelerated from its textbook convergence rate of $O(T^{-1})$ (where $T$ denotes the number of iterations) to $O\big(T^{-\log_2(1+\sqrt{2})}\big)$ using carefully designed stepsize schedules alone, without resorting to momentum or other algorithmic modifications.

By Jianhao Ma, Yuxin Chen
arXiv Machine Learning
5d ago

Last-Iterate Convergence of Stochastic Gradient Methods for Unbounded Problems

The paper investigates last‑iterate convergence for proximal and projected stochastic gradient methods in settings without bounded domain or bounded variance assumptions, using black‑box variational inference as an example. It establishes a near‑optimal anytime rate of ×(1/√T) for the last iterate under two relaxed assumptions, and shows that when the horizon T is known, the logarithmic factor can be removed to achieve the optimal ×(1/√T) rate, matching results that previously required bounded variance or domain constraints.

By Kevin Kurian Thomas Vaidyan, Ahmet Alacaoglu, Michael P. Friedlander