# Active set complexity of the Away-step Frank-Wolfe Algorithm

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.11492 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.11492/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 24 Dec 2019.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

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- [Beyond Averaging in John Ellipsoid Approximation: High-Accuracy Algorithms in the Leverage-Score Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.20082/) (2026)
- [Constrained Variable Projection for Structured Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.23939/) (2026)
- [Lloyd's K-Means Clustering Algorithm Is Frank-Wolfe in Disguise](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.25190/) (2026)
- [Guarded Block Transfers for Polytope Distance: Linear Convergence with Explicit Constants and Gap-Certified Screening for SVM Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.15829/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this paper, we study active set identification results for the away-step Frank-Wolfe algorithm in different settings. We first prove a local identification property that we apply, in combination with a convergence hypothesis, to get an active set identification result. We then prove, in the nonconvex case, a novel O(1/√k) convergence rate result and active set identification for different stepsizes (under suitable assumptions on the set of stationary points). By exploiting those results, we also give explicit active set complexity bounds for both strongly convex and nonconvex objectives. While we initially consider the probability simplex as feasible set, in the appendix we show how to adapt some of our results to generic polytopes.
