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Register a new userDerivative-Free Superiorization: Principle and Algorithm
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The superiorization methodology is intended to work with input data of constrained minimization problems, that is, a target function and a set of constraints. However, it is based on an antipodal way of thinking to what leads to constrained minimization methods. Instead of adapting unconstrained minimization algorithms to handling constraints, it adapts feasibility-seeking algorithms to reduce (not necessarily minimize) target function values. This is done by inserting target-function-reducing perturbations into a feasibility-seeking algorithm while retaining its feasibility-seeking ability and without paying a high computational price. A superiorized algorithm that employs component-wise target function reduction steps is presented. This enables derivative-free superiorization (DFS), meaning that superiorization can be applied to target functions that have no calculable partial derivatives or subgradients. The numerical behavior of our derivative-free superiorization algorithm is illustrated on a data set generated by simulating a problem of image reconstruction from projections. We present a tool (we call it a proximity-target curve) for deciding which of two iterative methods is better for solving a particular problem. The plots of proximity-target curves of our experiments demonstrate the advantage of the proposed derivative-free superiorization algorithm.
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Superiorization reduces, not necessarily minimizes, the value of a target function while seeking constraints-compatibility. This is done by taking a solely feasibility-seeking algorithm, analyzing its perturbations resilience, and proactively perturbing its iterates accordingly to steer them toward a feasible point with reduced value of the target function. When the perturbation steps are computationally efficient, this enables generation of a superior result with essentially the same computational cost as that of the original feasibility-seeking algorithm. In this work, we refine previous formulations of the superiorization method to create a more general framework, enabling target function reduction steps that do not require partial derivatives of the target function. In perturbations that use partial derivatives the step-sizes in the perturbation phase of the superiorization method are chosen independently from the choice of the nonascent directions. This is no longer true when component-wise perturbations are employed. In that case, the step-sizes must be linked to the choice of the nonascent direction in every step. Besides presenting and validating these notions, we give a computational demonstration of superiorization with component-wise perturbations for a problem of computerized tomography image reconstruction.
The superiorization methodology is intended to work with input data of constrained minimization problems, i.e., a target function and a constraints set. However, it is based on an antipodal way of thinking to the thinking that leads constrained minimization methods. Instead of adapting unconstrained minimization algorithms to handling constraints, it adapts feasibility-seeking algorithms to reduce (not necessarily minimize) target function values. This is done while retaining the feasibility-seeking nature of the algorithm and without paying a high computational price. A guarantee that the local target function reduction steps properly accumulate to a global target function value reduction is still missing in spite of an ever-growing body of publications that supply evidence of the success of the superiorization method in various problems. We propose an analysis based on the principle of concentration of measure that attempts to alleviate the guarantee question of the superiorization method.
We propose a new class of rigorous methods for derivative-free optimization with the aim of delivering efficient and robust numerical performance for functions of all types, from smooth to non-smooth, and under different noise regimes. To this end, we have developed Full-Low Evaluation methods, organized around two main types of iterations. The first iteration type is expensive in function evaluations, but exhibits good performance in the smooth and non-noisy cases. For the theory, we consider a line search based on an approximate gradient, backtracking until a sufficient decrease condition is satisfied. In practice, the gradient was approximated via finite differences, and the direction was calculated by a quasi-Newton step (BFGS). The second iteration type is cheap in function evaluations, yet more robust in the presence of noise or non-smoothness. For the theory, we consider direct search, and in practice we use probabilistic direct search with one random direction and its negative. A switch condition from Full-Eval to Low-Eval iterations was developed based on the values of the line-search and direct-search stepsizes. If enough Full-Eval steps are taken, we derive a complexity result of gradient-descent type. Under failure of Full-Eval, the Low-Eval iterations become the drivers of convergence yielding non-smooth convergence. Full-Low Evaluation methods are shown to be efficient and robust in practice across problems with different levels of smoothness and noise.
We propose an extended primal-dual algorithm framework for solving a general nonconvex optimization model. This work is motivated by image reconstruction problems in a class of nonlinear imaging, where the forward operator can be formulated as a nonlinear convex function with respect to the reconstructed image. Using the proposed framework, we put forward six specific iterative schemes, and present their detailed mathematical explanation. We also establish the relationship to existing algorithms. Moreover, under proper assumptions, we analyze the convergence of the schemes for the general model when the optimal dual variable regarding the nonlinear operator is non-vanishing. As a representative, the image reconstruction for spectral computed tomography is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm framework. By special properties of the concrete problem, we further prove the convergence of these customized schemes when the optimal dual variable regarding the nonlinear operator is vanishing. Finally, the numerical experiments show that the proposed algorithm has good performance on image reconstruction for various data with non-standard scanning configuration.
In this paper, we analyze several methods for approximating gradients of noisy functions using only function values. These methods include finite differences, linear interpolation, Gaussian smoothing and smoothing on a sphere. The methods differ in the number of functions sampled, the choice of the sample points, and the way in which the gradient approximations are derived. For each method, we derive bounds on the number of samples and the sampling radius which guarantee favorable convergence properties for a line search or fixed step size descent method. To this end, we use the results in [Berahas et al., 2019] and show how each method can satisfy the sufficient conditions, possibly only with some sufficiently large probability at each iteration, as happens to be the case with Gaussian smoothing and smoothing on a sphere. Finally, we present numerical results evaluating the quality of the gradient approximations as well as their performance in conjunction with a line search derivative-free optimization algorithm.
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