Parameter-Free Dynamic Regret under Heavy-Tailed Noise
Abstract
We study online convex optimization with one unbiased stochastic subgradient per round and noise having a finite -th central moment, where is unknown. For a bounded convex domain of diameter , subgradients bounded by , noise scale , and comparator path length , let . A single algorithm, using none of , attains expected dynamic regret against every fixed comparator sequence. Restarted AdaGrad experts produce the noise-path exponent , and a prior favoring longer restart intervals removes horizon-dependent logarithmic overhead. We give an explicit bound uniform in ; its logarithm-free form has noise coefficient , while the static-regret constant is universal. The analysis requires only marginal noise moments and permits dependent errors. Complete pathwise proofs retain both the expert-loss range and the gradient energies preceding comparator movement. Matching lower bounds hold on every bounded convex domain of positive diameter, under the same gradient-only information model. Together with a path-budget-tuned upper bound, they characterize the minimax rate with universal constants, including its linear-regret saturation.