Past exam of the continuous optimisation course of the University of Oxford 2025 2 a ii Solution 2026-10-25
At , choose , , , and the current radius . A bounded symmetric matrix approximation to the Hessian matrix can also be used. Stop if the gradient is sufficiently small; otherwise approximately solve the trust-region subproblem to obtain with and at least a fixed Fraction of Cauchy decrease. Its predicted decrease is then positive, so calculate the trust-region acceptance ratioFix , , and a maximum radius . One valid update is:
- If , reject the trial: and .
- Otherwise accept . If additionally and the step reaches the boundary, enlarge the radius to ; otherwise keep it unchanged.
The trust region controls the reliability of the model; the ratio decides whether that reliability was borne out by the actual objective function.
Past exam of the continuous optimisation course of the University of Oxford 2025 2 a i Solution 2026-10-25
The Cauchy point minimizes the model along the negative gradient ray inside the trust region. With , writeIf , this last quadratic function decreases throughout the interval. If , its unconstrained minimum occurs at . ThusThe additive constant has no effect on the Cauchy point. To obtain the Cauchy decrease bound, first suppose . Since ,The spectral norm inequality gives . HenceIf , the decrease is at least , which also implies the displayed bound. When , interpret . Thus the universal choice is .
At , gradient descent and full BFGS are practical candidates; a dense Newton method can also be feasible, but its extra work and indefinite curvature need attention. The number of examples , data sparsity and conditioning still matter.
For dense , a gradient evaluation costs arithmetic, with working storage beyond the data and accumulation buffers. Gradient descent is inexpensive per iteration and, with an appropriate line search, follows a descent direction, but poor conditioning can make it slow.
Forming the Hessian matrix explicitly costs arithmetic, and a dense Newton method solve costs . A -square double-precision matrix uses about MB, so storage alone is manageable, but repeated factorization may be expensive. Because the Hessian matrix can be indefinite or singular, an unmodified Newton step need not decrease the loss; a modified Hessian, damping or a trust region is appropriate.
Full BFGS uses gradients and an curvature approximation, avoiding explicit second derivatives. Its rank-two updates and direction calculation cost per step and require roughly the same matrix storage. A positive-definite initial approximation with safeguarded curvature updates and a suitable line search preserves descent directions. For this scale it is often a good compromise, without guaranteeing a global minimum.[ref]
Quasi-Newton Methods by NEOS Guide. Secant condition, positive-definite updating, and quadratic per-step operation/storage costs
Trust region 2026-10-24
A trust region restricts a local approximation to a neighborhood where it is expected to model the objective function accurately. A quadratic model is , where and is a symmetric matrix approximating the Hessian matrix. Minimizing this quadratic function over a Euclidean ball of radius is the trust-region subproblem. The trust-region acceptance ratio then checks the model against the actual objective function.
Trust-region acceptance ratio 2026-10-25
For positive predicted decrease, the trust-region acceptance ratio compares the actual decrease with the model decrease. A ratio near one supports the local model; a negative ratio means the trial increased the objective function. A typical algorithm rejects and shrinks the trust region when , accepts it when , and enlarges the radius after a very successful boundary step with , where .