ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Second-order optimization on Stiefel manifold without retractions

other · 2026-05-07

A new second-order method for optimization on the Stiefel manifold achieves local quadratic convergence without using retractions. The update combines a tangent component to reduce the objective and a normal component to reduce infeasibility, constructed via Newton–Schulz iteration. The method offers a low-cost alternative to Riemannian approaches, with potential for high-accuracy requirements.

Key facts

  • Method is second-order and retraction-free
  • Local quadratic convergence proven
  • Inexact variant achieves superlinear convergence
  • Normal component uses Newton–Schulz fixed-point iteration
  • Geometric connection established between Newton–Schulz and Stiefel manifolds

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