arXiv Statistics ML

Parametric Rates for Nonparametric Conditional-Moment Bilevel Optimization

arXiv:2605. 21341v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: We study functional bilevel optimization with conditional moments, where plug-in hypergradients can inherit first-order errors from nonparametrically learned conditional expectations.

arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 29

To Solve Bilevel Optimization with Nonconvex Lower Levels, We Need Second-Order Stationarity

arXiv:2609. 30501v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Although bilevel optimization (BLO) has emerged as a powerful framework for addressing many complex and nested machine learning problems in recent years, most existing studies are confined to the lower-level strongly convex (LLSC) or lower-level generally convex (LLGC) settings (i.

By Zhiyao Zhang, Menglu Yu, Alvaro Velasquez, Nathaniel D. Bastian, Jia Liu
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 11

Bilateral Trade Under Heavy-Tailed Valuations: Minimax Regret without a Variance Bound

The paper studies contextual bilateral trade with full feedback, showing that action-independent observations eliminate the usual polynomial adaptation penalty seen in heavy-tailed bandits. It presents fully parameter-free algorithms that achieve oracle minimax regret rates without knowing the moment order or scale, and derives new regret bounds for both parametric and nonparametric settings. The key technical insight is a paired squared‑loss statistic whose noise cancels, enabling model selection and yielding regret rates that interpolate between classical nonparametric and linear extremes.

By Hangyi Zhao
arXiv Machine Learning
Oct 3

Optimal Stochastic Bilevel Optimization with First-Order Oracles

The paper investigates nonconvex–strongly-convex bilevel optimization using a stochastic first-order oracle. It introduces MRT‑FD, a single-loop first‑order algorithm that tracks the upper-level variable, the lower-level solution, and an auxiliary response from implicit differentiation, updating all variables in each iteration and approximating second‑order derivative actions via order‑p finite differences. For any fixed finite smoothness order p ≥ 1, MRT‑FD achieves an ε‑stationary point with O(ε^{‑4‑2/p}) stochastic gradient queries, and the authors prove a matching Ω(ε^{‑4‑2/p}) lower bound, thereby closing the complexity gap in this setting.

By Linxuan Pan, Junchi Yang