Introduction to Optimization Theory

Introduction of core algorithmic techniques and proof strategies that underlie the best known provable guarantees for minimizing high dimensional convex functions. Focus on broad canonical optimization problems and survey results for efficiently solving them, ultimately providing the theoretical foundation for further study in optimization. In particular, focus will be on first-order methods for both smooth and non-smooth convex function minimization as well as methods for structured convex function minimization, discussing algorithms such as gradient descent, accelerated gradient descent, mirror descent, Newton's method, interior point methods, and more. Prerequisite: multivariable calculus and linear algebra.