Stochastic Optimization on Continuous Domains With Finite-Time Guarantees by Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods

We introduce bounds on the finite-time performance of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms in solving global stochastic optimization problems defined over continuous domains. It is shown that MCMC algorithms with finite-time guarantees can be developed with a proper choice of the target distribution and by studying their convergence in total variation norm. This work is inspired by the concept of finite-time learning with known accuracy and confidence developed in statistical learning theory.