Momentum in Optimization
Momentum is a key technique in optimization that helps you accelerate gradient descent by incorporating information from previous steps. The mathematical update rule for gradient descent with momentum introduces a velocity term, which accumulates a moving average of past gradients. The standard momentum update can be written as:
vt+1θt+1=βvt−α∇f(θt)=θt+vt+1Here, θt represents the current parameter vector at iteration t, ∇f(θt) is the gradient of the loss function with respect to θt, α is the learning rate, vt is the velocity (initialized as zero), and β is the momentum coefficient, typically set between 0.5 and 0.99. The hyperparameter β determines how much past gradients influence the current update: higher β means more memory of previous directions, while lower β focuses more on the current gradient. This formulation allows the optimizer to build up speed in consistent directions and dampen oscillations, especially in ravines or along steep, narrow valleys in the loss surface.
You can think of momentum as giving the optimizer "inertia," much like a ball rolling down a hill. Instead of only reacting to the current slope, the optimizer remembers the direction it has been moving and continues in that direction unless the gradients strongly suggest otherwise. This smoothing effect helps the optimizer move faster through shallow regions and reduces erratic zig-zagging across steep slopes, leading to more stable and efficient convergence.
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243import numpy as np import matplotlib.pyplot as plt # Define a simple quadratic loss surface def loss(x, y): return 0.5 * (4 * x**2 + y**2) def grad(x, y): return np.array([4 * x, 2 * y]) # Gradient descent with and without momentum def optimize(momentum=False, beta=0.9, lr=0.1, steps=30): x, y = 2.0, 2.0 v = np.zeros(2) trajectory = [(x, y)] for _ in range(steps): g = grad(x, y) if momentum: v = beta * v - lr * g x, y = x + v[0], y + v[1] else: x, y = x - lr * g[0], y - lr * g[1] trajectory.append((x, y)) return np.array(trajectory) traj_gd = optimize(momentum=False) traj_mom = optimize(momentum=True, beta=0.9) # Plotting x_vals = np.linspace(-2.5, 2.5, 100) y_vals = np.linspace(-2.5, 2.5, 100) X, Y = np.meshgrid(x_vals, y_vals) Z = loss(X, Y) plt.figure(figsize=(8, 6)) plt.contour(X, Y, Z, levels=30, cmap='Blues', alpha=0.7) plt.plot(traj_gd[:,0], traj_gd[:,1], 'o-', label='Gradient Descent', color='red') plt.plot(traj_mom[:,0], traj_mom[:,1], 'o-', label='Momentum', color='green') plt.legend() plt.title('Optimization Trajectories With and Without Momentum') plt.xlabel('x') plt.ylabel('y') plt.show()
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Can you explain how momentum helps reduce oscillations in optimization?
What happens if I change the value of the momentum coefficient β?
Can you compare momentum with other optimization techniques like Adam or RMSprop?
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Momentum is a key technique in optimization that helps you accelerate gradient descent by incorporating information from previous steps. The mathematical update rule for gradient descent with momentum introduces a velocity term, which accumulates a moving average of past gradients. The standard momentum update can be written as:
vt+1θt+1=βvt−α∇f(θt)=θt+vt+1Here, θt represents the current parameter vector at iteration t, ∇f(θt) is the gradient of the loss function with respect to θt, α is the learning rate, vt is the velocity (initialized as zero), and β is the momentum coefficient, typically set between 0.5 and 0.99. The hyperparameter β determines how much past gradients influence the current update: higher β means more memory of previous directions, while lower β focuses more on the current gradient. This formulation allows the optimizer to build up speed in consistent directions and dampen oscillations, especially in ravines or along steep, narrow valleys in the loss surface.
You can think of momentum as giving the optimizer "inertia," much like a ball rolling down a hill. Instead of only reacting to the current slope, the optimizer remembers the direction it has been moving and continues in that direction unless the gradients strongly suggest otherwise. This smoothing effect helps the optimizer move faster through shallow regions and reduces erratic zig-zagging across steep slopes, leading to more stable and efficient convergence.
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243import numpy as np import matplotlib.pyplot as plt # Define a simple quadratic loss surface def loss(x, y): return 0.5 * (4 * x**2 + y**2) def grad(x, y): return np.array([4 * x, 2 * y]) # Gradient descent with and without momentum def optimize(momentum=False, beta=0.9, lr=0.1, steps=30): x, y = 2.0, 2.0 v = np.zeros(2) trajectory = [(x, y)] for _ in range(steps): g = grad(x, y) if momentum: v = beta * v - lr * g x, y = x + v[0], y + v[1] else: x, y = x - lr * g[0], y - lr * g[1] trajectory.append((x, y)) return np.array(trajectory) traj_gd = optimize(momentum=False) traj_mom = optimize(momentum=True, beta=0.9) # Plotting x_vals = np.linspace(-2.5, 2.5, 100) y_vals = np.linspace(-2.5, 2.5, 100) X, Y = np.meshgrid(x_vals, y_vals) Z = loss(X, Y) plt.figure(figsize=(8, 6)) plt.contour(X, Y, Z, levels=30, cmap='Blues', alpha=0.7) plt.plot(traj_gd[:,0], traj_gd[:,1], 'o-', label='Gradient Descent', color='red') plt.plot(traj_mom[:,0], traj_mom[:,1], 'o-', label='Momentum', color='green') plt.legend() plt.title('Optimization Trajectories With and Without Momentum') plt.xlabel('x') plt.ylabel('y') plt.show()
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