Adaptive Quasi-Newton and Anderson Acceleration Framework with Explicit Global (Accelerated) Convergence Rates

Despite the impressive numerical performance of quasi-Newton and Anderson/nonlinear acceleration methods, their global convergence rates have remained elusive for over 50 years. This paper addresses this long-standing question by introducing a framework that derives novel and adaptive quasi-Newton or nonlinear/Anderson acceleration schemes. Under mild assumptions, the proposed iterative methods exhibit explicit, non-asymptotic convergence rates that blend those of gradient descent and Cubic Regularized Newton's method. Notably, these rates are achieved adaptively, as the method autonomously determines the optimal step size using a simple backtracking strategy. The proposed approach also includes an accelerated version that improves the convergence rate on convex functions. Numerical experiments demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed framework, even compared to a fine-tuned BFGS algorithm with line search

Regularized Nonlinear Acceleration

We describe a convergence acceleration technique for unconstrained optimization problems. Our scheme computes estimates of the optimum from a nonlinear average of the iterates produced by any optimization method. The weights in this average are computed via a simple linear system, whose solution can be updated online. This acceleration scheme runs in parallel to the base algorithm, providing improved estimates of the solution on the fly, while the original optimization method is running. Numerical experiments are detailed on classical classification problems

Average-case Acceleration Through Spectral Density Estimation

We develop a framework for the average-case analysis of random quadratic problems and derive algorithms that are optimal under this analysis. This yields a new class of methods that achieve acceleration given a model of the Hessian's eigenvalue distribution. We develop explicit algorithms for the uniform, Marchenko-Pastur, and exponential distributions. These methods are momentum-based algorithms, whose hyper-parameters can be estimated without knowledge of the Hessian's smallest singular value, in contrast with classical accelerated methods like Nesterov acceleration and Polyak momentum. Through empirical benchmarks on quadratic and logistic regression problems, we identify regimes in which the the proposed methods improve over classical (worst-case) accelerated methods.Comment: Since last version, we simplified proof of Theorem 3.

Regularized Nonlinear Acceleration

International audienceWe describe a convergence acceleration technique for generic optimization problems. Our schemecomputes estimates of the optimum from a nonlinear average of the iterates produced by any optimizationmethod. The weights in this average are computed via a simple linear system, whose solution can be updatedonline. This acceleration scheme runs in parallel to the base algorithm, providing improved estimates of thesolution on the fly, while the original optimization method is running. Numerical experiments are detailed onclassical classification problems

Acceleration Methods

This monograph covers some recent advances in a range of acceleration techniques frequently used in convex optimization. We first use quadratic optimization problems to introduce two key families of methods, namely momentum and nested optimization schemes. They coincide in the quadratic case to form the Chebyshev method. We discuss momentum methods in detail, starting with the seminal work of Nesterov and structure convergence proofs using a few master templates, such as that for optimized gradient methods, which provide the key benefit of showing how momentum methods optimize convergence guarantees. We further cover proximal acceleration, at the heart of the Catalyst and Accelerated Hybrid Proximal Extragradient frameworks, using similar algorithmic patterns. Common acceleration techniques rely directly on the knowledge of some of the regularity parameters in the problem at hand. We conclude by discussing restart schemes, a set of simple techniques for reaching nearly optimal convergence rates while adapting to unobserved regularity parameters.Comment: Published in Foundation and Trends in Optimization (see https://www.nowpublishers.com/article/Details/OPT-036