Glossary · Math & training
Learning Rate Schedule
A policy that changes the optimizer's learning rate as training progresses according to steps, epochs, metrics, or a predefined curve.
Why it matters
Different training stages can benefit from different update scales, so one constant rate may be unstable early or wasteful late.
In practice
Version the schedule with the optimizer configuration, log the actual rate at every step, and compare schedules under the same token or update budget.
Common confusion
A scheduler controls the learning rate over time; it does not decide when an optimizer step occurs or guarantee convergence.
Related terms
Sources
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