A new regret analysis for Adam-type algorithms
Ahmet Alacaoglu, Yura Malitsky, Panayotis Mertikopoulos, Volkan Cevher
Abstract
In this paper, we focus on a theory-practice gap for Adam and its variants (AMSgrad, AdamNC, etc.). In practice, these algorithms are used with a constant first-order moment parameter (typically between and ). In theory, regret guarantees for online convex optimization require a rapidly decaying schedule. We show that this is an artifact of the standard analysis and propose a novel framework that allows us to derive optimal, data-dependent regret bounds with a constant , without further assumptions. We also demonstrate the flexibility of our analysis on a wide range of different algorithms and settings.
Ask about this paper
Your agent reads all of it.
Lune indexed this paper to the last equation, along with the top-tier papers that cite it. Ask a question and the answer quotes them.
Your agent calls
Luneget_paper_fulltext
Free to start. No credit card required.
Terminal
Install the CLIlune papers fulltext 56e3b2dd-34be-4fef-8feb-a39f048124c3Cited by top-tier papers20
- 1-bit Adam: Communication Efficient Large-Scale Training with Adam's Convergence SpeedHanlin Tang, Shaoduo Gan, Ammar Ahmad Awan, Samyam Rajbhandari et al.ICML 2021 · 106 citations
- High Probability Bounds for a Class of Nonconvex Algorithms with AdaGrad StepsizeAli Kavis, Kfir Yehuda Levy, Volkan CevherICLR 2022 · 51 citations
- In Search of Adam's Secret SauceAntonio Orvieto, Robert GowerNeurIPS 2025 · 43 citations
- Adam with model exponential moving average is effective for nonconvex optimizationKwangjun Ahn, Ashok CutkoskyNeurIPS 2024 · 36 citations
- SGD with AdaGrad Stepsizes: Full Adaptivity with High Probability to Unknown Parameters, Unbounded Gradients and Affine VarianceAmit Attia, Tomer KorenICML 2023 · 34 citations
Builds on1
Related papers
- Between Stochastic and Adversarial Online Convex Optimization: Improved Regret Bounds via SmoothnessSarah Sachs, Hédi Hadiji, Tim van Erven, Cristóbal GuzmánNeurIPS 2022 · 30 citations
- Better Full-Matrix Regret via Parameter-Free Online LearningAshok CutkoskyNeurIPS 2020 · 7 citations
- Dynamic Regret via Discounted-to-Dynamic Reduction with Applications to Curved Losses and Adam OptimizerYan-Feng Xie, Yu-Jie Zhang, Peng Zhao, Zhi-Hua ZhouICML 2026 · 2 citations
- Closing the gap between the upper bound and lower bound of Adam's iteration complexityBohan Wang, Jingwen Fu, Huishuai Zhang, Nanning Zheng et al.NeurIPS 2023 · 2 citations
- Towards Understanding Adam Convergence on Highly Degenerate PolynomialsZhiwei Bai, Jiajie Zhao, Zhangchen Zhou, Zhi-Qin John Xu et al.ICML 2026 · 2 citations
