Dual Free SDCA for Empirical Risk Minimization with Adaptive Probabilities

In this paper we develop dual free SDCA with adaptive probabilities for regularized empirical risk minimization. This extends recent work of Shai Shalev-Shwartz [SDCA without Duality, arXiv:1502.06177] to allow non-uniform selection of ”dual” coordinate in SDCA. Moreover, the probability can change over time, making it more efficient than uniform selection. Our work focuses on generating adaptive probabilities through iterative process, preferring to choose coordinate with highest potential to decrease sub-optimality. We also propose a practical variant Algorithm adfSDCA+ which is more aggressive. The work is concluded with multiple experiments which shows efficiency of proposed algorithms.