XXooptRobotics

Convergence Behavior at a Saddle Point of the Cost Surface

mediummcq

General

You are minimizing a smooth scalar cost f(x)f(x) over xRnx \in \mathbb{R}^n (for example, an energy/objective in motion planning or learned-controller training). At a point xx^\star you find that the gradient f(x)=0\nabla f(x^\star) = 0 and the Hessian 2f(x)\nabla^2 f(x^\star) has both strictly positive and strictly negative eigenvalues.

Which statement is correct about xx^\star and the behavior of optimization algorithms there?