# Optimal Complexity and Certification of Bregman First-Order Methods

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.08510 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.08510/

## Key facts

- Cited by 16 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 19 Nov 2019.

## Built on by (most cited first, 16 of 16)

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- [Adaptive first-order methods revisited: Convex optimization without Lipschitz requirements](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.08011/) (2021)
- [On exploration of an interior mirror descent flow for stochastic nonconvex constrained problem](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.15264/) (2025)
- [In-Expectation Convergence of Stochastic Gradient Methods under Heavy-Tailed Noise](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.00520/) (2026)
- [Several Performance Bounds on Decentralized Online Optimization are Highly Conservative and Potentially Misleading](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.06466/) (2025)
- [Beyond Averaging in John Ellipsoid Approximation: High-Accuracy Algorithms in the Leverage-Score Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.20082/) (2026)
- [Entropy-Smooth Convex Optimization Cannot Be Accelerated](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.27476/) (2026)
- [Mirror descent algorithms with logarithmic barriers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.22834/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We provide a lower bound showing that the O(1/k) convergence rate of the NoLips method (a.k.a. Bregman Gradient) is optimal for the class of functions satisfying the h-smoothness assumption. This assumption, also known as relative smoothness, appeared in the recent developments around the Bregman Gradient method, where acceleration remained an open issue. On the way, we show how to constructively obtain the corresponding worst-case functions by extending the computer-assisted performance estimation framework of Drori and Teboulle (Mathematical Programming, 2014) to Bregman first-order methods, and to handle the classes of differentiable and strictly convex functions.
