Lecture

Optimization on Manifolds: Context and Applications

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In course

MATH-512: Optimization on manifolds

We develop, analyze and implement numerical algorithms to solve optimization problems of the form min f(x) where x is a point on a smooth manifold. To this end, we first study differential and Riemannian geometry (with a focus dictated by computational con ...

Description

This lecture introduces optimization on manifolds, focusing on the context and applications. It covers classical unconstrained optimization in linear spaces, then transitions to optimization on smooth manifolds with Riemannian structures. The instructor discusses the gradient projection method along geodesics, its practicality since the 1990s, and its mainstream adoption. The lecture also mentions the popularization of optimization algorithms on matrix manifolds in the 2010s. Key references include works by Luenberger, Edelman, Arias, and Smith, highlighting the evolution of optimization techniques over the years.

In MOOC

Introduction to optimization on smooth manifolds: first order methods

Optimization on manifolds is the result of smooth geometry and optimization merging into one elegant modern framework. We start the course at "What is a manifold?", and give the students a firm understanding of submanifolds embedded in real space. This covers numerous applications in engineering and the sciences. All definitions and theorems are motivated to build time-tested optimization algorithms. The math is precise, to promote understanding and enable computation. We build our way up to Riemannian g

Instructor

Nicolas Boumal

Teaching & PhD PhD Students Andreea-Alexandra Musat Past EPFL PhD Students Christopher Criscitiello, Quentin Rebjock Courses Continuous optimization MATH-329 This course introduces students to continuous, nonlinear optimization. We study the theory of optimization with continuous variables (with full proofs), and we analyze and implement important algorithms to solve constrained and unconstrained problems. Linear Algebra MATH-111(e) The purpose of the course is to introduce

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Mathematics

Geometry: Differential geometry

Related concepts (31)

Manifold

In mathematics, a manifold is a topological space that locally resembles Euclidean space near each point. More precisely, an -dimensional manifold, or -manifold for short, is a topological space with the property that each point has a neighborhood that is homeomorphic to an open subset of -dimensional Euclidean space. One-dimensional manifolds include lines and circles, but not lemniscates. Two-dimensional manifolds are also called surfaces. Examples include the plane, the sphere, and the torus, and also the Klein bottle and real projective plane.

Pseudo-Riemannian manifold

In differential geometry, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, also called a semi-Riemannian manifold, is a differentiable manifold with a metric tensor that is everywhere nondegenerate. This is a generalization of a Riemannian manifold in which the requirement of positive-definiteness is relaxed. Every tangent space of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold is a pseudo-Euclidean vector space. A special case used in general relativity is a four-dimensional Lorentzian manifold for modeling spacetime, where tangent vectors can be classified as timelike, null, and spacelike.

Complex manifold

In differential geometry and complex geometry, a complex manifold is a manifold with an atlas of charts to the open unit disc in , such that the transition maps are holomorphic. The term complex manifold is variously used to mean a complex manifold in the sense above (which can be specified as an integrable complex manifold), and an almost complex manifold. Since holomorphic functions are much more rigid than smooth functions, the theories of smooth and complex manifolds have very different flavors: compact complex manifolds are much closer to algebraic varieties than to differentiable manifolds.

Symplectic manifold

In differential geometry, a subject of mathematics, a symplectic manifold is a smooth manifold, , equipped with a closed nondegenerate differential 2-form , called the symplectic form. The study of symplectic manifolds is called symplectic geometry or symplectic topology. Symplectic manifolds arise naturally in abstract formulations of classical mechanics and analytical mechanics as the cotangent bundles of manifolds.

Curvature of Riemannian manifolds

In mathematics, specifically differential geometry, the infinitesimal geometry of Riemannian manifolds with dimension greater than 2 is too complicated to be described by a single number at a given point. Riemann introduced an abstract and rigorous way to define curvature for these manifolds, now known as the Riemann curvature tensor. Similar notions have found applications everywhere in differential geometry of surfaces and other objects. The curvature of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold can be expressed in the same way with only slight modifications.

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