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
arXiv:2511. 19656v3 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Although upper bound guarantees for bilevel optimization have been widely studied, progress on lower bounds has been limited due to the complexity of the bilevel structure.
By Kaiyi Ji
In this work, we study the oracle complexity of finding an $ε$-stationary point for nonconvex-strongly-convex (NC-SC) bilevel optimization using only first-order oracles. Existing methods achieving th...
arXiv:2405. 00914v4 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: We present in this paper novel accelerated fully first-order methods in \emph{Bilevel Optimization} (BLO).
By Chris Junchi Li
The paper introduces single-loop stochastic projected damped extragradient (SPDE) and its variance-reduced variant (VR-SPDE) for stochastic nonconvex–(strongly) concave minimax problems. It provides SFO complexity bounds for achieving game stationarity and optimization stationarity, improving upon previous multi-loop methods while maintaining a single-loop structure. The results claim the best-known SFO complexities for these stationarity criteria among single-loop stochastic first‑order methods.
By Huiling Zhang, Minhao Zhang, Zi Xu
arXiv:2406. 13041v3 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Lower-bound analyses for nonconvex strongly-concave minimax optimization problems have shown that stochastic first-order algorithms require at least $\mathcal{O}(\varepsilon^{-4})$ sample complexity to find an $\varepsilon$-stationary point.
By Haoyuan Cai, Sulaiman A. Alghunaim, Ali H. Sayed