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Convergence of Non-smooth Descent Methods Using the Kurdyka–Łojasiewicz Inequality

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Abstract

We investigate the convergence of subgradient-oriented descent methods in non-smooth non-convex optimization. We prove convergence in the sense of subsequences for functions with a strict standard model, and we show that convergence to a single critical point may be guaranteed if the Kurdyka–Łojasiewicz inequality is satisfied. We show, by way of an example, that the Kurdyka–Łojasiewicz inequality alone is not sufficient to prove the convergence to critical points.

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Acknowledgements

The author was supported by the EADS Foundation grant Technicom.

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Correspondence to Dominikus Noll.

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Communicated by Hedy Attouch.

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Noll, D. Convergence of Non-smooth Descent Methods Using the Kurdyka–Łojasiewicz Inequality. J Optim Theory Appl 160, 553–572 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10957-013-0391-8

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