Online Zeroth-order Optimisation on Hadamard Manifolds


Abstract in English

We study numerical optimisation algorithms that use zeroth-order information to minimise time-varying geodesically-convex cost functions on Riemannian manifolds. In the Euclidean setting, zeroth-order algorithms have received a lot of attention in both the time-varying and time-invariant case. However, the extension to Riemannian manifolds is much less developed. We focus on Hadamard manifolds, which are a special class of Riemannian manifolds with global nonpositive curvature that offer convenient grounds for the generalisation of convexity notions. Specifically, we derive bounds on the expected instantaneous tracking error, and we provide algorithm parameter values that minimise the algorithms performance. Our results illustrate how the manifold geometry in terms of the sectional curvature affects these bounds. Additionally, we provide dynamic regret bounds for this online optimisation setting. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first bounds on tracking error and dynamic regret for online zeroth-order Riemannian optimisation. Lastly, via numerical simulations, we demonstrate the applicability of our algorithm on an online Karcher mean problem.

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