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Dao Nguyen

Publications and source records attributed to Dao Nguyen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2025

Optimal Control of Nonconvex Sweeping Processes with Variable Time via Finite-Difference Approximations

The paper is devoted to the study of a new class of optimal control problems for nonsmooth dynamical systems governed by nonconvex discontinuous differential inclusions of the sweeping type with involving variable time into optimization. We develop a novel version of the method of discrete approximations of its own qualitative and numerical importance with establishing its well-posedness and strong convergence to optimal solutions of the controlled sweeping process. Using advanced tools of variational analysis and generalized differentiation leads us to deriving new necessary conditions for optimal solutions to discrete approximation problems, which serve as suboptimality conditions for the original continuous-time controlled sweeping process. The obtained results are applied to a class of motion models of practical interest, where the established necessary conditions are used to investigate the agents' interactions and to develop an algorithm for calculating optimal solutions.

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arXiv2024

Well-posedness and Stability of Discrete Approximations for Controlled Sweeping Processes with Time Delay

This paper addresses, for the first time in the literature, optimal control problems for dynamic systems governed by a novel class of sweeping processes with time delay. We establish well-posedness of such processes, in the sense of the existence and uniqueness of feasible trajectories corresponding to feasible controls under fairly unrestrictive assumptions. Then we construct a well-posed family of discrete approximations and find efficient conditions under the discretized time-delayed sweeping process exhibits stability with respect to strong convergence of feasible and optimal solutions. This creates a bridge between optimization of continuous-time and discrete-time sweeping control systems and justifies the effective use of discrete approximations in deriving optimality conditions and numerical techniques to solve the original time-delayed sweeping control problems via discrete approximations.

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arXiv2024

Optimal control of perturbed sweeping processes with applications to general robotics models

This paper primarily focuses on the practical applications of optimal control theory for perturbed sweeping processes within the realm of robotics dynamics. By describing these models as controlled sweeping processes with pointwise control and state constraints and by employing necessary optimality conditions for such systems, we formulate optimal control problems suitable to these models and develop numerical algorithms for their solving. Subsequently, we use the Python Dynamic Optimization library GEKKO to simulate solutions to the posed robotics problems in the case of any fixed number of robots under different initial conditions.

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arXiv2023

Optimal control of sweeping processes in unmanned surface vehicle and nanoparticle modeling

This paper addresses novel applications to practical modeling of the newly developed theory of necessary optimality conditions in controlled sweeping/Moreau processes with free time and pointwise control and state constraints. Problems of this type appear, in particular, in dynamical models dealing with unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and nanoparticles. We formulate optimal control problems for a general class of such dynamical systems and show that the developed necessary optimality conditions for constrained free-time controlled sweeping processes lead us to designing efficient procedures to solve practical models of this class. Moreover, the paper contains numerical calculations of optimal solutions to marine USVs and nanoparticle models in specific situations. Overall, this study contributes to the advancement of optimal control theory for constrained sweeping processes and its practical applications in the fields of marine USVs and nanoparticle modeling.

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arXiv2023

Discrete Approximations and Optimality Conditions for Controlled Free-Time Sweeping Processes

The paper is devoted to the study of a new class of optimal control problems governed by discontinuous constrained differential inclusions of the sweeping type with involving the duration of the dynamic process into optimization. We develop a novel version of the method of discrete approximations of its own qualitative and numerical values with establishing its well-posedness and strong convergence to optimal solutions of the controlled sweeping process. Using advanced tools of first-order and second-order variational analysis and generalized differentiation allows us to derive new necessary conditions for optimal solutions of the discrete-time problems and then, by passing to the limit in the discretization procedure, for designated local minimizers in the original problem of sweeping optimal control. The obtained results are illustrated by a numerical example.

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arXiv2023

Non-convex sampling for a mixture of locally smooth potentials

The purpose of this paper is to examine the sampling problem through Euler discretization, where the potential function is assumed to be a mixture of locally smooth distributions and weakly dissipative. We introduce $α_{G}$-mixture locally smooth and $α_{H}$-mixture locally Hessian smooth, which are novel and typically satisfied with a mixture of distributions. Under our conditions, we prove the convergence in Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence with the number of iterations to reach $ε$-neighborhood of a target distribution in only polynomial dependence on the dimension. The convergence rate is improved when the potential is $1$-smooth and $α_{H}$-mixture locally Hessian smooth. Our result for the non-strongly convex outside the ball of radius $R$ is obtained by convexifying the non-convex domains. In addition, we provide some nice theoretical properties of $p$-generalized Gaussian smoothing and prove the convergence in the $L_β$-Wasserstein distance for stochastic gradients in a general setting.

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arXiv2022

Optimal Control of a Quasi-Variational Sweeping Process

The paper addresses the study of a class of evolutionary quasi-variational inequalities of the parabolic type arising in the formation and growth models of granular and cohensionless materials. Such models and their mathematical descriptions are highly challenging and require powerful tools of their analysis and implementation. We formulate a space-time continuous optimal control problem for a basic model of this type, develop several regularization and approximation procedures, and establish the existence of optimal solutions for the time-continuous and space-discrete problem. Viewing a version of this problem as a controlled quasi-variational sweeping process leads us to deriving necessary optimality conditions for the fully discrete problem by using the advanced machinery of variational analysis and generalized differentiation.

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arXiv2022

Unadjusted Langevin algorithm for sampling a mixture of weakly smooth potentials

Discretization of continuous-time diffusion processes is a widely recognized method for sampling. However, it seems to be a considerable restriction when the potentials are often required to be smooth (gradient Lipschitz). This paper studies the problem of sampling through Euler discretization, where the potential function is assumed to be a mixture of weakly smooth distributions and satisfies weakly dissipative. We establish the convergence in Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence with the number of iterations to reach $ε$-neighborhood of a target distribution in only polynomial dependence on the dimension. We relax the degenerated convex at infinity conditions of \citet{erdogdu2020convergence} and prove convergence guarantees under Poincaré inequality or non-strongly convex outside the ball. In addition, we also provide convergence in $L_β$-Wasserstein metric for the smoothing potential.

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arXiv2021

Unadjusted Langevin algorithm for non-convex weakly smooth potentials

Discretization of continuous-time diffusion processes is a widely recognized method for sampling. However, the canonical Euler Maruyama discretization of the Langevin diffusion process, referred as Unadjusted Langevin Algorithm (ULA), studied mostly in the context of smooth (gradient Lipschitz) and strongly log-concave densities, is a considerable hindrance for its deployment in many sciences, including statistics and machine learning. In this paper, we establish several theoretical contributions to the literature on such sampling methods for non-convex distributions. Particularly, we introduce a new mixture weakly smooth condition, under which we prove that ULA will converge with additional log-Sobolev inequality. We also show that ULA for smoothing potential will converge in $L_{2}$-Wasserstein distance. Moreover, using convexification of nonconvex domain \citep{ma2019sampling} in combination with regularization, we establish the convergence in Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence with the number of iterations to reach $ε$-neighborhood of a target distribution in only polynomial dependence on the dimension. We relax the conditions of \citep{vempala2019rapid} and prove convergence guarantees under isoperimetry, and non-strongly convex at infinity.

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arXiv2021

Crowd motion paradigm modeled by a bilevel sweeping control problem

This article concerns an optimal crowd motion control problem in which the crowd features a structure given by its organization into N groups (participants) each one spatially confined in a set. The overall optimal control problem consists in driving the ensemble of sets as close as possible to a given point (the 'exit') while the population in each set minimizes its control effort subject to its sweeping dynamics with a controlled state dependent velocity drift. In order to capture the conflict between the goal of the overall population and those of the various groups, the problem is cast as a bilevel optimization framework. A key challenge of this problem consists in bringing together two quite different paradigms: bilevel programming and sweeping dynamics with a controlled drift. Necessary conditions of optimality in the form of a Maximum Principle of Pontryagin in the Gamkrelidze framework are derived. These conditions are then used to solve a simple illustrative example with two participants, emphasizing the interaction between them.

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arXiv2021

Applications of Controlled Sweeping Processes to Nonlinear Crowd Motion Models with Obstacles

This paper mainly focuses on solving the dynamic optimization of the planar controlled crowd motion models with obstacles which is an application of a class of optimal control problems governed by a general perturbed nonconvex sweeping process. This can be considered as a significant extension of the previous work regarding the controlled crowd motion models, where the obstacles have not been considered. The necessary optimality conditions for the problem under consideration are established and illustrated by a nontrivial example of practical importance.

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arXiv2021

Optimization of Fully Controlled Sweeping Processes

The paper is devoted to deriving necessary optimality conditions in a general optimal control problem for dynamical systems governed by controlled sweeping processes with hard-constrained control actions entering both polyhedral moving sets and additive perturbations. By using the first-order and mainly second-order tools of variational analysis and generalized differentiation, we develop a well-posed method of discrete approximations, obtain optimality conditions for solutions to discrete-time control systems, and then establish by passing to the limit verifiable necessary optimality conditions for local minimizers of the original controlled sweeping process that are expressed entirely in terms of its given data. The efficiency of the obtained necessary optimality conditions for the sweeping dynamics is illustrated by solving three nontrivial examples of their own interest.

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arXiv2020

Black-box sampling for weakly smooth Langevin Monte Carlo using p-generalized Gaussian smoothing

Discretization of continuous-time diffusion processes is a widely recognized method for sampling. However, the canonical Euler-Maruyama discretization of the Langevin diffusion process, also named as Langevin Monte Carlo (LMC), studied mostly in the context of smooth (gradient-Lipschitz) and strongly log-concave densities, a significant constraint for its deployment in many sciences, including computational statistics and statistical learning. In this paper, we establish several theoretical contributions to the literature on such sampling methods. Particularly, we generalize the Gaussian smoothing, approximate the gradient using p-generalized Gaussian smoothing and take advantage of it in the context of black-box sampling. We first present a non-strongly concave and weakly smooth black-box LMC algorithm, ideal for practical applicability of sampling challenges in a general setting.

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arXiv2020

Discrete Approximations and Optimal Control of Nonsmooth Perturbed Sweeping Processes

The main goal of this paper is developing the method of discrete approximations to derive necessary optimality conditions for a class of constrained sweeping processes with nonsmooth perturbations. Optimal control problems for sweeping processes have been recently recognized among the most interesting and challenging problems in modern control theory for discontinuous differential inclusions with irregular dynamics and implicit state constrained, while deriving necessary optimality conditions for their local minimizers have been significantly based on the smoothness of controlled dynamic perturbations. To overcome these difficulties, we use the method of discrete approximations and employ advanced tools of second-order variational analysis. This approach allows us to obtain new necessary optimality conditions for nonsmooth and nonconvex discrete-time problems of the sweeping type. Then we employ the obtained conditions and the strong convergence of discrete approximations to establish novel results for original nonsmooth sweeping control problems that include extended Euler-Lagrange and maximization conditions for local minimizers. Finally, we present applications of the obtained results to solving a controlled mobile robot model with a nonsmooth sweeping dynamics that is of some practical interest.

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arXiv2020

Sequential Monte Carlo Methods in the nimble R Package

nimble is an R package for constructing algorithms and conducting inference on hierarchical models. The nimble package provides a unique combination of flexible model specification and the ability to program model-generic algorithms. Specifically, the package allows users to code models in the BUGS language, and it allows users to write algorithms that can be applied to any appropriate model. In this paper, we introduce nimble's capabilities for state-space model analysis using sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) techniques. We first provide an overview of state-space models and commonly-used SMC algorithms. We then describe how to build a state-space model and conduct inference using existing SMC algorithms within nimble. SMC algorithms within nimble currently include the bootstrap filter, auxiliary particle filter, ensemble Kalman filter, IF2 method of iterated filtering, and a particle MCMC sampler. These algorithms can be run in R or compiled into C++ for more efficient execution. Examples of applying SMC algorithms to linear autoregressive models and a stochastic volatility model are provided. Finally, we give an overview of how model-generic algorithms are coded within nimble by providing code for a simple SMC algorithm. This illustrates how users can easily extend nimble's SMC methods in high-level code.

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arXiv2020

Optimization and Discrete Approximation of Sweeping Processes with Controlled Moving Sets and Perturbations

This paper addresses a new class of optimal control problems for perturbed sweeping processes with measurable controls in additive perturbations of the dynamics and smooth controls in polyhedral moving sets. We develop a constructive discrete approximation procedure that allows us to strongly approximate any feasible trajectory of the controlled sweeping process by feasible discrete trajectories and also establish a $W^{1,2}$-strong convergence of optimal trajectories for discretized control problems to a given local minimizer of the original continuous-time sweeping control problem of the Bolza type. Employing advanced tools of first-order and second-order variational analysis and generalized differentiation, we derive necessary optimality conditions for discrete optimal solutions under fairly general assumptions formulated entirely in terms of the given data. The obtained results give us efficient suboptimality ("almost optimality") conditions for the original sweeping control problem that are illustrated by a nontrivial numerical example.

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arXiv2019

Automatic adaptation of MCMC algorithms

Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods are ubiquitous tools for simulation-based inference in many fields but designing and identifying good MCMC samplers is still an open question. This paper introduces a novel MCMC algorithm, namely, Auto Adapt MCMC. For sampling variables or blocks of variables, we use two levels of adaptation where the inner adaptation optimizes the MCMC performance within each sampler, while the outer adaptation explores the valid space of kernels to find the optimal samplers. We provide a theoretical foundation for our approach. To show the generality and usefulness of the approach, we describe a framework using only standard MCMC samplers as candidate samplers and some adaptation schemes for both inner and outer iterations. In several benchmark problems, we show that our proposed approach substantially outperforms other approaches, including an automatic blocking algorithm, in terms of MCMC efficiency and computational time.

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