A multi-stage convex relaxation approach to noisy structured low-rank matrix recovery

This paper concerns with a noisy structured low-rank matrix recovery problem which can be modeled as a structured rank minimization problem. We reformulate this problem as a mathematical program with a generalized complementarity constraint (MPGCC), and show that its penalty version, yielded by moving the generalized complementarity constraint to the objective, has the same global optimal solution set as the MPGCC does whenever the penalty parameter is over a threshold. Then, by solving the exact penalty problem in an alternating way, we obtain a multi-stage convex relaxation approach. We provide theoretical guarantees for our approach under a mild restricted eigenvalue condition, by quantifying the reduction of the error and approximate rank bounds of the first stage convex relaxation (which is exactly the nuclear norm relaxation) in the subsequent stages and establishing the geometric convergence of the error sequence in a statistical sense. Numerical experiments are conducted for some structured low-rank matrix recovery examples to confirm our theoretical findings.Comment: 29 pages, 2 figure

Robust Tensor Completion Using Transformed Tensor SVD

In this paper, we study robust tensor completion by using transformed tensor singular value decomposition (SVD), which employs unitary transform matrices instead of discrete Fourier transform matrix that is used in the traditional tensor SVD. The main motivation is that a lower tubal rank tensor can be obtained by using other unitary transform matrices than that by using discrete Fourier transform matrix. This would be more effective for robust tensor completion. Experimental results for hyperspectral, video and face datasets have shown that the recovery performance for the robust tensor completion problem by using transformed tensor SVD is better in PSNR than that by using Fourier transform and other robust tensor completion methods

Multi-Tubal Rank of Third Order Tensor and Related Low Rank Tensor Completion Problem

Recently, a tensor factorization based method for a low tubal rank tensor completion problem of a third order tensor was proposed, which performed better than some existing methods. Tubal rank is only defined on one mode of third order tensor without low rank structure in the other two modes. That is, low rank structures on the other two modes are missing. Motivated by this, we first introduce multi-tubal rank, and then establish a relationship between multi-tubal rank and Tucker rank. Based on the multi-tubal rank, we propose a novel low rank tensor completion model. For this model, a tensor factorization based method is applied and the corresponding convergence anlysis is established. In addition, spatio-temporal characteristics are intrinsic features in video and internet traffic tensor data. To get better performance, we make full use of such features and improve the established tensor completion model. Then we apply tensor factorization based method for the improved model. Finally, numerical results are reported on the completion of image, video and internet traffic data to show the efficiency of our proposed methods. From the reported numerical results, we can assert that our methods outperform the existing methods

On the Equivalence of Inexact Proximal ALM and ADMM for a Class of Convex Composite Programming

In this paper, we show that for a class of linearly constrained convex composite optimization problems, an (inexact) symmetric Gauss-Seidel based majorized multi-block proximal alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is equivalent to an {\em inexact} proximal augmented Lagrangian method (ALM). This equivalence not only provides new perspectives for understanding some ADMM-type algorithms but also supplies meaningful guidelines on implementing them to achieve better computational efficiency. Even for the two-block case, a by-product of this equivalence is the convergence of the whole sequence generated by the classic ADMM with a step-length that exceeds the conventional upper bound of $(1+\sqrt{5})/2$, if one part of the objective is linear. This is exactly the problem setting in which the very first convergence analysis of ADMM was conducted by Gabay and Mercier in 1976, but, even under notably stronger assumptions, only the convergence of the primal sequence was known. A collection of illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate the breadth of applications for which our results can be used. Numerical experiments on solving a large number of linear and convex quadratic semidefinite programming problems are conducted to illustrate how the theoretical results established here can lead to improvements on the corresponding practical implementations