arXiv:2602.02445cs.LGmath.ST2026-02

为非线性随机逼近提供有限样本误差界和分布收敛速率。

Finite-Sample Wasserstein Error Bounds and Concentration Inequalities for Nonlinear Stochastic Approximation

  • 通过耦合方法对比离散过程与奥恩斯坦-乌伦贝克过程。
  • 最后迭代的分布收敛速率达 γ_n^{1/6},Polyak-Ruppert平均达 n^{-1/6}。
  • 适用于马尔可夫噪声与鞅差,适合优化算法分析者。

本文推导了在Wasserstein-p距离下非线性随机逼近算法的非渐近误差界。为获得最后迭代的显式有限样本保证,我们发展了一种耦合论证,将离散时间过程与极限奥恩斯坦-乌伦贝克过程进行比较。该分析适用于一般噪声条件,包括鞅差与遍历马尔可夫链函数。作为补充,我们通过对Polyak-Ruppert平均的直接分析,在相同设定下研究其收敛速率。假设驱动噪声满足非渐近中心极限定理,我们证明归一化最后迭代在p-Wasserstein距离下以γ_n^{1/6}的速率收敛到高斯分布,其中γ_n为步长;类似地,Polyak-Ruppert平均在Wasserstein距离下的收敛速率为n^{-1/6}。这些分布保证蕴含高概率浓度不等式,优于由矩界和马尔可夫不等式导出的结果。我们通过两个应用展示该方法的效用:(1) 线性随机逼近中,明确量化了迭代从重尾到高斯行为的转变,弥合了近期有限样本分析与渐近理论之间的差距;(2) 随机梯度下降中,建立了收敛到中心极限定理的速率。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

This paper derives non-asymptotic error bounds for nonlinear stochastic approximation algorithms in the Wasserstein-$p$ distance. To obtain explicit finite-sample guarantees for the last iterate, we develop a coupling argument that compares the discrete-time process to a limiting Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Our analysis applies to algorithms driven by general noise conditions, including martingale differences and functions of ergodic Markov chains. Complementing this result, we handle the convergence rate of the Polyak-Ruppert average through a direct analysis that applies under the same general setting. Assuming the driving noise satisfies a non-asymptotic central limit theorem, we show that the normalized last iterates converge to a Gaussian distribution in the $p$-Wasserstein distance at a rate of order $γ_n^{1/6}$, where $γ_n$ is the step size. Similarly, the Polyak-Ruppert average is shown to converge in the Wasserstein distance at a rate of order $n^{-1/6}$. These distributional guarantees imply high-probability concentration inequalities that improve upon those derived from moment bounds and Markov's inequality. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by considering two applications: (1) linear stochastic approximation, where we explicitly quantify the transition from heavy-tailed to Gaussian behavior of the iterates, thereby bridging the gap between recent finite-sample analyses and asymptotic theory and (2) stochastic gradient descent, where we establish rate of convergence to the central limit theorem.

随机逼近分布收敛误差界优化理论

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