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Minimisation of Quasar-Convex Functions Using Random Zeroth-Order Oracles

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arxiv 2505.02281 v3 pith:3JY4EUYW submitted 2025-05-04 math.OC cs.AIcs.LGcs.NAmath.NA

Minimisation of Quasar-Convex Functions Using Random Zeroth-Order Oracles

classification math.OC cs.AIcs.LGcs.NAmath.NA
keywords functionsquasar-convexunconstrainedalgorithmcomplexityconstrainedconvergenceglobal
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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This paper explores the performance of a random Gaussian smoothing zeroth-order (ZO) scheme for minimising quasar-convex (QC) and strongly quasar-convex (SQC) functions in both unconstrained and constrained settings. For the unconstrained problem, we establish the ZO algorithm's convergence to a global minimum along with its complexity when applied to both QC and SQC functions. For the constrained problem, we introduce the new notion of proximal-quasar-convexity and prove analogous results to the unconstrained case. Specifically, we derive complexity bounds and prove convergence of the algorithm to a neighbourhood of a global minimum whose size can be controlled under a variance reduction scheme. Beyond the theoretical guarantees, we demonstrate the practical implications of our results on several machine learning problems where quasar-convexity naturally arises, including linear dynamical system identification and generalised linear models.

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Cited by 4 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. Accelerated Stochastic Zeroth-Order Quasar-Convex Optimization

    math.OC 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0

    A continuized zeroth-order Nesterov method achieves O(d/√ε) function-evaluation complexity for smooth quasar-convex minimization, with improved dimension dependence under a 1-norm mirror step when the solution is sparse.

  2. From Cursed to Competitive: Closing the ZO-FO Gap via Input-to-State Stability

    math.OC 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 6.0

    Zeroth-order methods achieve the same expected convergence rate as first-order methods without extra dimension dependence by treating them as input-to-state stable systems with controllable perturbations.

  3. Robust Learning Meets Quasar-Convex Optimization: Inexact High-Order Proximal-Point Methods

    math.OC 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    Robust learning problems are formulated as quasar-convex optimization, and HiPPA is proposed as an inexact high-order proximal method with global and superlinear convergence guarantees.

  4. Mirror Descent Methods for Quasar Convex Optimization Problems With Non-Smooth Inequality Constraints

    math.OC 2026-05 reject novelty 4.0

    Extends mirror descent with productive/non-productive steps to quasar-convex objectives with nonsmooth constraints, but the convergence claims are only partially proven.