2024 Cornell Optimization Open Textbook Feedback

Computational complexity

• References were not provided to support applications on computer science and quantum computing.

Heuristic algorithms

• More details on the Application Section.
• Please come up with one numerical example with hill-climbing.
• Please add more references to support the content in the Introduction section.
• Please add figure captions for the pseudocodes.
• Avoid using contraction (e.g., we're) and pronouns (e.g., we) in scientific writing.
• ResearchGate is not a publisher. Please check the reference again.

Local branching

• The title should be “Problem Solution” instead of ”Problem Resolution“.
• The added figure is too small for viewing from the main page and also lacks captions and explanations.
• There are still some formatting issues with the subtitles. For example, some are in bold form while others are not in the content.

Trust-region methods

• For the applications section, a better method is to briefly summarize the advantages of the method in multiple areas, instead of presents its application on two very specific cases.
• Please try to update equations on page 5.
• Please try to use the pseudocode for the procedure described on page 3.
• m_k and p in eq.(1) are not defined.
• Fix the typo “prediced reduction” in eq.(3).
• Avoid using contraction (e.g., it’s, doesn’t) and pronouns (e.g., we, us) in scientific writing.
• Rewrite the sentence, “Identical to line search, we do not need to compute the algorithm (2)” as (2) itself is not an algorithm.
• The termination conditions are not complete in section “Termination Criteria”.
• Fletcher is not the same author as cited in [5].

Quadratic programming

• An inappropriate nonconvex example was used in the Wiki Page. The problem is an MIQP problem instead of a single QP problem.
• Some symbols used in the pseudocodes still lack explanation.

Subgradient optimization

• References were not well formatted.
• Symbols used in equations lack explanations.
• The application section was not well drafted and supported by references.

Dynamic optimization

• For the algorithm description, it would be better to have a pseudocode or a flow chart to summarize it.
• Attaching code to the Wiki editing page is not recommended.
• It would be better to provide more references for supporting the statements made in the Application Section.
• Please try to add more citations in the introduction section.
• In-text citations are required.
• Avoid using contraction (e.g., you've, don't) and pronouns (e.g., we, us) in scientific writing.
• Please add some mathematical expressions to Algorithm Discussion section for explicitness.
• Adding a different type of problem would be recommended instead of making Knapsack Problem larger size.
• In-text citation should be added to figure captions.

Nondifferentiable Optimization

• If the topic is about nondifferntial optimization, then it would be strange that only one approach is included in the Wiki page.
• It is also recommended to revise the citation format in the file based on our example files.
• Please add the case of non convex functions.
• Please add references to support the content in the Introduction section. In-text citations are required.
• Please use Latex equation editor for typing symbols and equations.
• There are multiple methods introduced in the Introduction section. Please expand the Algorithm Discussion section and add more details.
• The provided example is somewhat trivial. Please provide a more sophisticated example.
• It should be "CVXPY" instead of "CVXpy" and "MATLAB" instead of "Matlab" in Application and Conclusion sections.

Evolutionary multimodal optimization

• It would be better to have subsections of each approach in the Algorithm Discussion section to improve the clarity.
• The logic flow and clarity of both the Algorithm Discussion section and Numerical Example section need to be largely improved.
• Please include citations to support the Wiki contents.
• Please make sure abbreviations should be consistent throughout the context.
• In-text citations are required.
• Please add mathematical expressions to Algorithm Discussion section for explicitness.
• Please provide step by step calculation for the numerical example.
• Adding some figures may help reader to understand the content.

Stackelberg leadership model

• Please use flowchart/pseudocode for representing the steps of algorithm
• Check the consistency of abbreviations (e.g. what is PAWS?)

Quadratic constrained quadratic programming

• Form of in-text citation is not proper
• Abbreviations should be introduced only once throughout all sections (e.g., QCQP, QP, SDP)
• Avoid using pronouns (e.g., we) in scientific writing.

Derivative free optimization

• Please try to include a flowchart or pseudocode for illustration of the algorithm.
• If DFO is defined in the previous sections, please use such abbreviations consistently (same for other abbreviations).

Signomial problems

• There is a lack of numerical examples for illustrating the global optimization method introduced on the Wiki page.
• The clarification of the equations used in the Introduction section needs to be improved.

Adadelta

• Adding a subsection title to divide the numerical examples will improve the clarity of this file.
• Please add the platforms (e.g. PyTorch, TF) to illustrate how this algorithm is introduced.
• Avoid using contraction (e.g., it’s, doesn’t) and pronouns (e.g., we, let's) in scientific writing.
• Citation of each algorithm should be added in the sentence "such as RMSprop, Adam, and Nadam, exist as well."
• Abbreviations should be introduced one time only throughout all sections (e.g., RNNs).

Adafactor

• The clarity of the alghrithm and numerical example session needs to be improved. It is convenient to list all equations, but not good to present it to others.
• More citations are needed for supporting your statement.

AdamW

• For the application section, it would be good to emphasize the advantages of AdamW compared to other approach by citing the quantitative results from previous literature.
• Avoid using pronouns (e.g., we, let's) in scientific writing.

Adamax

• The pseudocode was not well defined. More explanations and logical flow are needed.
• Citations need to be included in the punctuation like period.
• Since this is a modified version of Adam, a comparison with Adam is needed for the numerical example.
• A machine learning case is needed since this is an algorithm designed for machine learning models.

FTRL algorithm

• It is very difficult to clarify different levels of subtitles based on the text.
• References were not well formatted. For example, "[1]" is added to many references with no meaning.
• Some symbols used in the equation lack explanations.

Nadam

• The result figures of the numerical example have not been placed in the proper place.
• The numerical example and application parts are still not representative of illustrating NDAM's performance for machine learning models.

Beyesian optimization

• Citation form (in text) should be double checked.

Genetic algorithm

• Please provide some citations for supporting your statement (e.g. in Introduction)

Simulated annealing

• Once the abbr. is defined please use it throughout the context (e.g. SA)
• Avoid using pronouns (e.g., we) in scientific writing.

Particle swarm optimization

• The caption was missed for the iteration results.

Differential evolution

• Provide more references to support the statements made in the Application Section.
• Make sure abbreviations are consistent throughout the context (e.g. Please define DE at the introduction section not in the later section, please check the similar cases as well).
• In-text citations are required.
• The symbols in the pseudocode is not in proper format. Please use Latex equation editor for this.
• Please number and label all figures, use FigureX as a reference in the text.
• Please add more details to numerical example (e.g., replace x = -7 with -5 because f(x1) > f(u1))