Fast Algorithms for Computational Optimal Transport and Wasserstein Barycenter

Wenshuo Guo, Nhat Ho, Michael Jordan
Proceedings of the Twenty Third International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics, PMLR 108:2088-2097, 2020.

Abstract

We provide theoretical complexity analysis for new algorithms to compute the optimal transport (OT) distance between two discrete probability distributions, and demonstrate their favorable practical performance compared to state-of-art primal-dual algorithms. First, we introduce the \emph{accelerated primal-dual randomized coordinate descent} (APDRCD) algorithm for computing the OT distance. We show that its complexity is $\bigOtil(\frac{n^{5/2}}{\varepsilon})$, where $n$ stands for the number of atoms of these probability measures and $\varepsilon > 0$ is the desired accuracy. This complexity bound matches the best known complexities of primal-dual algorithms for the OT problems, including the adaptive primal-dual accelerated gradient descent (APDAGD) and the adaptive primal-dual accelerated mirror descent (APDAMD) algorithms. Then, we demonstrate the improved practical efficiency of the APDRCD algorithm through extensive comparative experimental studies. We also propose a greedy version of APDRCD, which we refer to as \emph{accelerated primal-dual greedy coordinate descent} (APDGCD), to further enhance practical performance. Finally, we generalize the APDRCD and APDGCD algorithms to distributed algorithms for computing the Wasserstein barycenter for multiple probability distributions.

Cite this Paper

BibTeX
@InProceedings{pmlr-v108-guo20a, title = {Fast Algorithms for Computational Optimal Transport and Wasserstein Barycenter}, author = {Guo, Wenshuo and Ho, Nhat and Jordan, Michael}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Twenty Third International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics}, pages = {2088--2097}, year = {2020}, editor = {Chiappa, Silvia and Calandra, Roberto}, volume = {108}, series = {Proceedings of Machine Learning Research}, month = {26--28 Aug}, publisher = {PMLR}, pdf = {http://proceedings.mlr.press/v108/guo20a/guo20a.pdf}, url = {https://proceedings.mlr.press/v108/guo20a.html}, abstract = {We provide theoretical complexity analysis for new algorithms to compute the optimal transport (OT) distance between two discrete probability distributions, and demonstrate their favorable practical performance compared to state-of-art primal-dual algorithms. First, we introduce the \emph{accelerated primal-dual randomized coordinate descent} (APDRCD) algorithm for computing the OT distance. We show that its complexity is $\bigOtil(\frac{n^{5/2}}{\varepsilon})$, where $n$ stands for the number of atoms of these probability measures and $\varepsilon > 0$ is the desired accuracy. This complexity bound matches the best known complexities of primal-dual algorithms for the OT problems, including the adaptive primal-dual accelerated gradient descent (APDAGD) and the adaptive primal-dual accelerated mirror descent (APDAMD) algorithms. Then, we demonstrate the improved practical efficiency of the APDRCD algorithm through extensive comparative experimental studies. We also propose a greedy version of APDRCD, which we refer to as \emph{accelerated primal-dual greedy coordinate descent} (APDGCD), to further enhance practical performance. Finally, we generalize the APDRCD and APDGCD algorithms to distributed algorithms for computing the Wasserstein barycenter for multiple probability distributions.} }
Endnote
%0 Conference Paper %T Fast Algorithms for Computational Optimal Transport and Wasserstein Barycenter %A Wenshuo Guo %A Nhat Ho %A Michael Jordan %B Proceedings of the Twenty Third International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics %C Proceedings of Machine Learning Research %D 2020 %E Silvia Chiappa %E Roberto Calandra %F pmlr-v108-guo20a %I PMLR %P 2088--2097 %U https://proceedings.mlr.press/v108/guo20a.html %V 108 %X We provide theoretical complexity analysis for new algorithms to compute the optimal transport (OT) distance between two discrete probability distributions, and demonstrate their favorable practical performance compared to state-of-art primal-dual algorithms. First, we introduce the \emph{accelerated primal-dual randomized coordinate descent} (APDRCD) algorithm for computing the OT distance. We show that its complexity is $\bigOtil(\frac{n^{5/2}}{\varepsilon})$, where $n$ stands for the number of atoms of these probability measures and $\varepsilon > 0$ is the desired accuracy. This complexity bound matches the best known complexities of primal-dual algorithms for the OT problems, including the adaptive primal-dual accelerated gradient descent (APDAGD) and the adaptive primal-dual accelerated mirror descent (APDAMD) algorithms. Then, we demonstrate the improved practical efficiency of the APDRCD algorithm through extensive comparative experimental studies. We also propose a greedy version of APDRCD, which we refer to as \emph{accelerated primal-dual greedy coordinate descent} (APDGCD), to further enhance practical performance. Finally, we generalize the APDRCD and APDGCD algorithms to distributed algorithms for computing the Wasserstein barycenter for multiple probability distributions.
APA
Guo, W., Ho, N. & Jordan, M.. (2020). Fast Algorithms for Computational Optimal Transport and Wasserstein Barycenter. Proceedings of the Twenty Third International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics, in Proceedings of Machine Learning Research 108:2088-2097 Available from https://proceedings.mlr.press/v108/guo20a.html.

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