Sample Complexity of Sample Average Approximation for Conditional Stochastic Optimization

In this paper, we study a class of stochastic optimization problems, referred to as the \emph{Conditional Stochastic Optimization} (CSO), in the form of \min_{x \in \mathcal{X}} \EE_{\xi}f_\xi\Big({\EE_{\eta|\xi}[g_\eta(x,\xi)]}\Big), which finds a wide spectrum of applications including portfolio selection, reinforcement learning, robust learning, causal inference and so on. Assuming availability of samples from the distribution \PP(\xi) and samples from the conditional distribution \PP(\eta|\xi), we establish the sample complexity of the sample average approximation (SAA) for CSO, under a variety of structural assumptions, such as Lipschitz continuity, smoothness, and error bound conditions. We show that the total sample complexity improves from \cO(d/\eps^4) to \cO(d/\eps^3) when assuming smoothness of the outer function, and further to \cO(1/\eps^2) when the empirical function satisfies the quadratic growth condition. We also establish the sample complexity of a modified SAA, when $\xi$ and $\eta$ are independent. Several numerical experiments further support our theoretical findings. Keywords: stochastic optimization, sample average approximation, large deviations theoryComment: Typo corrected. Reference added. Revision comments handle

Numerical Approximation of Stationary Distribution for SPDEs

In this paper, we show that the exponential integrator scheme both in spatial discretization and time discretization for a class of stochastic partial differential equations has a unique stationary distribution whenever the stepsize is sufficiently small, and reveal that the weak limit of the law for the exponential integrator scheme is in fact the counterpart for the stochastic partial differential equation considered.Comment: P2

Stability of stochastic impulsive differential equations: integrating the cyber and the physical of stochastic systems

According to Newton's second law of motion, we humans describe a dynamical system with a differential equation, which is naturally discretized into a difference equation whenever a computer is used. The differential equation is the physical model in human brains and the difference equation the cyber model in computers for the dynamical system. The physical model refers to the dynamical system itself (particularly, a human-designed system) in the physical world and the cyber model symbolises it in the cyber counterpart. This paper formulates a hybrid model with impulsive differential equations for the dynamical system, which integrates its physical model in real world/human brains and its cyber counterpart in computers. The presented results establish a theoretic foundation for the scientific study of control and communication in the animal/human and the machine (Norbert Wiener) in the era of rise of the machines as well as a systems science for cyber-physical systems (CPS)

Strong convergence rates for backward Euler–Maruyama method for non-linear dissipative-type stochastic differential equations with super-linear diffusion coefficients

In this work, we generalize the current theory of strong convergence rates for the backward Euler–Maruyama scheme for highly non-linear stochastic differential equations, which appear in both mathematical finance and bio-mathematics. More precisely, we show that under a dissipative condition on the drift coefficient and superlinear growth condition on the diffusion coefficient the BEM scheme converges with strong order of a half. This type of convergence gives theoretical foundations for efficient variance reduction techniques for Monte Carlo simulations. We support our theoretical results with relevant examples, such as stochastic population models and stochastic volatility models