Provided by: libdogleg-doc_0.09-2build2_all 
NAME
libdogleg - A general purpose sparse optimizer to solve data fitting problems
DESCRIPTION
This is a library for solving large-scale nonlinear optimization problems. By employing
sparse linear algebra, it is taylored for problems that have weak coupling between the
optimization variables. For appropriately sparse problems this results in massive
performance gains.
The main task of this library is to find the vector p that minimizes
norm2( x )
where x = f(p) is a vector that has higher dimensionality than p. The user passes in a
callback function (of type "dogleg_callback_t") that takes in the vector p and returns the
vector x and a matrix of derivatives J = df/dp. J is a matrix with a row for each element
of f and a column for each element of p. J is a sparse matrix, which results in
substantial increases in computational efficiency if most entries of J are 0. J is stored
row-first in the callback routine. libdogleg uses a column-first data representation so it
references the transpose of J (called Jt). J stored row-first is identical to Jt stored
column-first; this is purely a naming choice.
This library implements Powell's dog-leg algorithm to solve the problem. Like the more-
widely-known Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, Powell's dog-leg algorithm solves a nonlinear
optimization problem by interpolating between a Gauss-Newton step and a gradient descent
step. Improvements over LM are
• a more natural representation of the linearity of the operating point (trust region
size vs a vague lambda term).
• significant efficiency gains, since a matrix inversion isn't needed to retry a
rejected step
The algorithm is described in many places, originally in
M. Powell. A Hybrid Method for Nonlinear Equations. In P. Rabinowitz, editor, Numerical
Methods for Nonlinear Algebraic Equations, pages 87-144. Gordon and Breach Science,
London, 1970.
Various enhancements to Powell's original method are described in the literature; at this
time only the original algorithm is implemented here.
The sparse matrix algebra is handled by the CHOLMOD library, written by Tim Davis. Parts
of CHOLMOD are licensed under the GPL and parts under the LGPL. Only the LGPL pieces are
used here, allowing libdogleg to be licensed under the LGPL as well. Due to this I lose
some convenience (all simple sparse matrix arithmetic in CHOLMOD is GPL-ed) and some
performance (the fancier computational methods, such as supernodal analysis are GPL-ed).
For my current applications the performance losses are minor.
FUNCTIONS AND TYPES
Main API
dogleg_optimize
This is the main call to the library. Its declared as
double dogleg_optimize(double* p, unsigned int Nstate,
unsigned int Nmeas, unsigned int NJnnz,
dogleg_callback_t* f, void* cookie,
dogleg_solverContext_t** returnContext);
• p is the initial estimate of the state vector (and holds the final result)
• "Nstate" specifies the number of optimization variables (elements of p)
• "Nmeas" specifies the number of measurements (elements of x). "Nmeas >= Nstate" is a
requirement
• "NJnnz" specifies the number of non-zero elements of the jacobian matrix df/dp. In a
dense matrix "Jnnz = Nstate*Nmeas". We are dealing with sparse jacobians, so "NJnnz"
should be far less. If not, libdogleg is not an appropriate routine to solve this
problem.
• "f" specifies the callback function that the optimization routine calls to sample the
problem being solved
• "cookie" is an arbitrary data pointer passed untouched to "f"
• If not "NULL", "returnContext" can be used to retrieve the full context structure from
the solver. This can be useful since this structure contains the latest operating
point values. It also has an active "cholmod_common" structure, which can be reused if
more CHOLMOD routines need to be called externally. If this data is requested, the
user is required to free it with "dogleg_freeContext" when done.
"dogleg_optimize" returns norm2( x ) at the minimum, or a negative value if an error
occurred.
dogleg_freeContext
Used to deallocate memory used for an optimization cycle. Defined as:
void dogleg_freeContext(dogleg_solverContext_t** ctx);
If a pointer to a context is not requested (by passing "returnContext = NULL" to
"dogleg_optimize"), libdogleg calls this routine automatically. If the user did retrieve
this pointer, though, it must be freed with "dogleg_freeContext" when the user is
finished.
dogleg_testGradient
libdogleg requires the user to compute the jacobian matrix J. This is a performance
optimization, since J could be computed by differences of x. This optimization is often
worth the extra effort, but it creates a possibility that J will have a mistake and J =
df/dp would not be true. To find these types of issues, the user can call
void dogleg_testGradient(unsigned int var, const double* p0,
unsigned int Nstate, unsigned int Nmeas, unsigned int NJnnz,
dogleg_callback_t* f, void* cookie);
This function computes the jacobian with center differences and compares the result with
the jacobian computed by the callback function. It is recommended to do this for every
variable while developing the program that uses libdogleg.
• "var" is the index of the variable being tested
• "p0" is the state vector p where we're evaluating the jacobian
• "Nstate", "Nmeas", "NJnnz" are the number of state variables, measurements and non-
zero jacobian elements, as before
• "f" is the callback function, as before
• "cookie" is the user data, as before
This function returns nothing, but prints out the test results.
dogleg_callback_t
The main user callback that specifies the optimization problem has type
typedef void (dogleg_callback_t)(const double* p,
double* x,
cholmod_sparse* Jt,
void* cookie);
• p is the current state vector
• x is the resulting f(p)
• Jt is the transpose of df/dp at p. As mentioned previously, Jt is stored column-first
by CHOLMOD, which can be interpreted as storing J row-first by the user-defined
callback routine
• The "cookie" is the user-defined arbitrary data passed into "dogleg_optimize".
dogleg_solverContext_t
This is the solver context that can be retrieved through the "returnContext" parameter of
the "dogleg_optimize" call. This structure contains all the internal state used by the
solver. If requested, the user is responsible for calling "dogleg_freeContext" when done.
This structure is defined as:
typedef struct
{
cholmod_common common;
dogleg_callback_t* f;
void* cookie;
// between steps, beforeStep contains the operating point of the last step.
// afterStep is ONLY used while making the step. Externally, use beforeStep
// unless you really know what you're doing
dogleg_operatingPoint_t* beforeStep;
dogleg_operatingPoint_t* afterStep;
// The result of the last JtJ factorization performed. Note that JtJ is not
// necessarily factorized at every step, so this is NOT guaranteed to contain
// the factorization of the most recent JtJ
cholmod_factor* factorization;
// Have I ever seen a singular JtJ? If so, I add a small constant to the
// diagonal from that point on. This is a simple and fast way to deal with
// singularities. This is suboptimal but works for me for now.
int wasPositiveSemidefinite;
} dogleg_solverContext_t;
Some of the members are copies of the data passed into "dogleg_optimize"; some others are
internal state. Of potential interest are
• "common" is a cholmod_common structure used by all CHOLMOD calls. This can be used for
any extra CHOLMOD work the user may want to do
• "beforeStep" contains the operating point of the optimum solution. The user can
analyze this data without the need to re-call the callback routine.
dogleg_operatingPoint_t
An operating point of the solver. This is a part of "dogleg_solverContext_t". Various
variables describing the operating point such as p, J, x, norm2(x) and Jt x are available.
All of the just-mentioned variables are computed at every step and are thus always valid.
// an operating point of the solver
typedef struct
{
double* p;
double* x;
double norm2_x;
cholmod_sparse* Jt;
double* Jt_x;
// the cached update vectors. It's useful to cache these so that when a step is rejected, we can
// reuse these when we retry
double* updateCauchy;
cholmod_dense* updateGN_cholmoddense;
double updateCauchy_lensq, updateGN_lensq; // update vector lengths
// whether the current update vectors are correct or not
int updateCauchy_valid, updateGN_valid;
int didStepToEdgeOfTrustRegion;
} dogleg_operatingPoint_t;
Parameters
It is not required to call any of these, but it's highly recommended to set the initial
trust-region size and the termination thresholds to match the problem being solved.
Furthermore, it's highly recommended for the problem being solved to be scaled so that
every state variable affects the objective norm2( x ) equally. This makes this method's
concept of "trust region" much more well-defined and makes the termination criteria work
correctly.
dogleg_setMaxIterations
To set the maximum number of solver iterations, call
void dogleg_setMaxIterations(int n);
dogleg_setDebug
To turn on debug output, call
void dogleg_setDebug(int debug);
with a non-zero value for "debug". By default, debug output is disabled.
dogleg_setInitialTrustregion
The optimization method keeps track of a trust region size. Here, the trust region is a
ball in R^Nstate. When the method takes a step p -> p + delta_p, it makes sure that
sqrt( norm2( delta_p ) ) < trust region size.
The initial value of the trust region size can be set with
void dogleg_setInitialTrustregion(double t);
The dogleg algorithm is efficient when recomputing a rejected step for a smaller trust
region, so set the initial trust region size to a value larger to a reasonable estimate;
the method will quickly shrink the trust region to the correct size.
dogleg_setThresholds
The routine exits when the maximum number of iterations is exceeded, or a termination
threshold is hit, whichever happens first. The termination thresholds are all designed to
trigger when very slow progress is being made. If all went well, this slow progress is due
to us finding the optimum. There are 3 termination thresholds:
• The function being minimized is E = norm2( x ) where x = f(p).
dE/dp = 2*Jt*x where Jt is transpose(dx/dp).
if( for every i fabs(Jt_x[i]) < JT_X_THRESHOLD )
{ we are done; }
• The method takes discrete steps: p -> p + delta_p
if( for every i fabs(delta_p[i]) < UPDATE_THRESHOLD)
{ we are done; }
• The method dynamically controls the trust region.
if(trustregion < TRUSTREGION_THRESHOLD)
{ we are done; }
To set these threholds, call
void dogleg_setThresholds(double Jt_x, double update, double trustregion);
To leave a particular threshold alone, specify a negative value.
dogleg_setTrustregionUpdateParameters
This function sets the parameters that control when and how the trust region is updated.
The default values should work well in most cases, and shouldn't need to be tweaked.
Declaration looks like
void dogleg_setTrustregionUpdateParameters(double downFactor, double downThreshold,
double upFactor, double upThreshold);
To see what the parameters do, look at "evaluateStep_adjustTrustRegion" in the source.
Again, these should just work as is.
BUGS
The current implementation doesn't handle a singular JtJ gracefully (JtJ = Jt * J).
Analytically, JtJ is at worst positive semi-definite (has 0 eigenvalues). If a singular
JtJ is ever encountered, from that point on, JtJ + lambda*I is inverted instead for some
positive constant lambda. This makes the matrix strictly positive definite, but is sloppy.
At least I should vary lambda. In my current applications, a singular JtJ only occurs if
at a particular operating point the vector x has no dependence at all on some elements of
p. In the general case other causes could exist, though.
There's an inefficiency in that the callback always returns x and J. When I evaluate and
reject a step, I do not end up using J at all. Dependng on the callback function, it may
be better to ask for x and then, if the step is accepted, to ask for J.
AUTHOR
Dima Kogan, "<dima@secretsauce.net>"
LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2011 Oblong Industries
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of
the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either
version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
The full text of the license is available at <http://www.gnu.org/licenses>