Evie Nielen | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Stochastic convergence of a class of greedy-type algorithms for Configuration Optimization Problems

Greedy Sampling Methods (GSMs) are widely used to construct approximate solutions of Configuration Optimization Problems (COPs), where a loss functional is minimized over finite configurations of points in a compact domain. While effective in practice, deterministic convergence analyses of greedy-type algorithms are often restrictive and difficult to verify. We propose a stochastic framework in which greedy-type methods are formulated as continuous-time Markov processes on the space of configurations. This viewpoint enables convergence analysis in expectation and in probability under mild structural assumptions on the error functional and the transition kernel. For global error functionals, we derive explicit convergence rates, including logarithmic, polynomial, and exponential decay, depending on an abstract improvement condition. As a pedagogical example, we study stochastic greedy sampling for one-dimensional piecewise linear interpolation and prove exponential convergence of the $L^1$-interpolation error for $C^2$-functions. Motivated by this analysis, we introduce the Randomized Polytope Division Method (R-PDM), a randomized variant of the classical Polytope Division Method, and demonstrate its effectiveness and variance reduction in numerical experiments

math.OC↗

arXiv2024

Polytope Division Method: A Scalable Sampling Method for Problems with High-dimensional Parameters

Configuration Optimization Problems (COPs), which involve minimizing a loss function over a set of discrete points $\boldsymbolγ \subset P$, are common in areas like Model Order Reduction, Active Learning, and Optimal Experimental Design. While exact solutions are often infeasible, heuristic methods such as the Greedy Sampling Method (GSM) provide practical alternatives, particularly for low-dimensional cases. GSM recursively updates $\boldsymbolγ$ by solving a continuous optimization problem, which is typically approximated by a search over a discrete sample set $S \subset P$. However, as the dimensionality grows, the sample size suffers from the curse of dimensionality. To address this, we introduce the Polytope Division Method (PDM), a scalable greedy-type approach that adaptively partitions the parameter space and targets regions of high loss. PDM achieves linear scaling with problem dimensionality and offers an efficient solution approach for high-dimensional COPs, overcoming the limitations of traditional methods.

math.NA↗