A Modified Inexact SARAH Algorithm with Stabilized Barzilai-Borwein Step-Size in Machine learning

The Inexact SARAH (iSARAH) algorithm as a variant of SARAH algorithm, which does not require computation of the exact gradient, can be applied to solving general expectation minimization problems rather than only finite sum problems. The performance of iSARAH algorithm is frequently affected by the step size selection, and how to choose an appropriate step size is still a worthwhile problem for study. In this paper, we propose to use the stabilized Barzilai-Borwein (SBB) method to automatically compute step size for iSARAH algorithm, which leads to a new algorithm called iSARAH-SBB. By introducing this adaptive step size in the design of the new algorithm, iSARAH-SBB can take better advantages of both iSARAH and SBB methods. We analyse the convergence rate and complexity of the modified algorithm under the usual assumptions. Numerical experimental results on standard data sets demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our proposed algorithm.