Fast optimization via inertial dynamics with closed-loop damping

TL;DR

This paper studies inertial continuous dynamics with closed-loop damping in Hilbert spaces, analyzing their asymptotic behavior, convergence properties, and rates, including extensions with Hessian-driven damping and joint velocity-gradient systems.

Contribution

It introduces new analysis of inertial dynamics with nonlinear, closed-loop damping, providing convergence results and rates, and extends to Hessian-driven damping and combined velocity-gradient systems.

Findings

Existence and uniqueness of global solutions.

Convergence of trajectories under various conditions.

Exponential convergence when $f$ is strongly convex.

Abstract

In a Hilbert space $H$, in order to develop fast optimization methods, we analyze the asymptotic behavior, as time $t$ tends to infinity, of inertial continuous dynamics where the damping acts as a closed-loop control. The function $f: H \to R$ to be minimized (not necessarily convex) enters the dynamic through it gradient, which is assumed to be Lipschitz continuous on the bounded subsets of $H$. This gives autonomous dynamical systems with nonlinear damping and nonlinear driving force. We first consider the case where the damping term $\partial \phi (\dot{x}(t))$ acts as a closed-loop control of the velocity. The damping potential $\phi : H \to [0,+\infty)$ is a convex continuous function which achieves its minimum at the origin. We show the existence and uniqueness of a global solution to the associated Cauchy problem. Then, we analyze the asymptotic convergence properties of the generated trajectories generated. We use techniques from optimization, control theory, and PDE's: Lyapunov analysis based on the decreasing property of an energy-like function, quasi-gradient and Kurdyka-Lojasiewicz theory, monotone operator theory for wave-like equations. Convergence rates are obtained based on the geometric properties of the data $f$ and $\phi$. When $f$ is strongly convex, we give general conditions which provide exponential convergence rates. Then, we extend the results to the case where an additional Hessian-driven damping enters the dynamic, which reduces the oscillations. Finally, we consider an inertial system involving jointly the velocity $\dot{x}(t)$ and the gradient $\nabla f(x(t))$. In addition to its original results, this work surveys the numerous works devoted in recent years to the interaction between continuous damped inertial dynamics and numerical algorithms for optimization, with the emphasis on autonomous systems, closed-loop adaptive procedures, and convergence rates.