diff --git a/src/ainotes.cls b/src/ainotes.cls
index 0323a80..b41a4ae 100644
--- a/src/ainotes.cls
+++ b/src/ainotes.cls
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@
     showspaces = false,
     showstringspaces = true,
     showtabs = false,
-    tabsize = 3
+    tabsize = 3,
+    belowskip = -0.8\baselineskip
 }
 \lstset{style=mystyle}
 \lstset{language=Python}
diff --git a/src/statistical-and-mathematical-methods-for-ai/img/_gradient_contour.pdf b/src/statistical-and-mathematical-methods-for-ai/img/_gradient_contour.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08403c7
Binary files /dev/null and b/src/statistical-and-mathematical-methods-for-ai/img/_gradient_contour.pdf differ
diff --git a/src/statistical-and-mathematical-methods-for-ai/main.tex b/src/statistical-and-mathematical-methods-for-ai/main.tex
index b7c882b..2356a8b 100644
--- a/src/statistical-and-mathematical-methods-for-ai/main.tex
+++ b/src/statistical-and-mathematical-methods-for-ai/main.tex
@@ -12,5 +12,6 @@
     \input{sections/_linear_systems.tex}
     \input{sections/_matrix_decomp.tex}
     \input{sections/_vector_calculus.tex}
+    \input{sections/_gradient_methods.tex}
 
 \end{document}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/statistical-and-mathematical-methods-for-ai/sections/_gradient_methods.tex b/src/statistical-and-mathematical-methods-for-ai/sections/_gradient_methods.tex
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f1de01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/statistical-and-mathematical-methods-for-ai/sections/_gradient_methods.tex
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+\chapter{Gradient methods}
+
+
+\section{Minimum of a function}
+
+Let $f: \mathbb{R}^N \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be continuous and differentiable in $\mathbb{R}^N$.
+\begin{descriptionlist}
+    \item[Stationary point] \marginnote{Stationary point}
+        $\vec{x}^*$ is a stationary point of $f$ iff: 
+        \[ \nabla f(\vec{x}^*) = \nullvec \]
+
+    \item[Local minimum] \marginnote{Local minimum}
+        $\vec{x}^* \in \mathbb{R}^N$ is a local minimum of $f$ iff:
+        \[ f(\vec{x}^*) \leq f(\vec{x}) \text{ } \forall \vec{x} \in \mathbb{R}^N: \Vert \vec{x} - \vec{x}^* \Vert < \varepsilon \]
+        
+    \item[Strict local minimum] \marginnote{Strict local minimum}
+        $\vec{x}^* \in \mathbb{R}^N$ is a strict local minimum of $f$ iff:
+        \[ f(\vec{x}^*) < f(\vec{x}) \text{ } \forall \vec{x} \in \mathbb{R}^N: \Vert \vec{x} - \vec{x}^* \Vert < \varepsilon \]
+
+    \item[Global minimum] \marginnote{Global minimum}
+        $\vec{x}^* \in \mathbb{R}^N$ is a global minimum of $f$ iff:
+        \[ f(\vec{x}^*) \leq f(\vec{x}) \text{ } \forall \vec{x} \in \mathbb{R}^N \]
+        
+    \item[Strict global minimum] \marginnote{Strict global minimum}
+        $\vec{x}^* \in \mathbb{R}^N$ is a strict global minimum of $f$ iff:
+        \[ f(\vec{x}^*) < f(\vec{x}) \text{ } \forall \vec{x} \in \mathbb{R}^N \]
+\end{descriptionlist}
+
+
+\subsection{Optimality conditions}
+
+\begin{description}
+    \item[First order condition] \marginnote{First order condition}
+        Let $f: \mathbb{R}^N \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be continuous and differentiable in $\mathbb{R}^N$.
+        \[ \text{If } \vec{x}^* \text{ local minimum of } f \Rightarrow \nabla f(\vec{x}^*) = \nullvec \]
+
+    \item[Second order condition] \marginnote{Second order condition}
+        Let $f: \mathbb{R}^N \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be continuous and twice differentiable.
+        \[ 
+            \text{If } \nabla f(\vec{x}^*) = \nullvec \text{ and } \nabla^2 f(\vec{x}^*) \text{ positive definite} \Rightarrow 
+            \vec{x}^* \text{ strict local minimum of } f 
+        \]
+\end{description}
+
+As the second order condition requires to compute the Hessian matrix, which is expensive, in practice only the first order condition is checked.
+
+
+
+\section{Descent methods}
+
+\marginnote{Descent methods}
+Descent methods are iterative methods that have the property:
+\[ f(\vec{x}_k) < f(\vec{x}_{k+1}) \]
+
+The iteration is defined as:
+\[ \vec{x}_k = \vec{x}_{k-1} + \alpha_{k-1}\vec{p}_{k-1} \]
+where $\vec{p}_{k-1} \in \mathbb{R}^N$ is the search direction and \marginnote{Search direction\\Step length}
+$\alpha_{k-1} \in \mathbb{R}$ is the step length.
+
+Note: descent methods usually converge to a local minimum.
+
+\begin{figure}
+    \centering
+    \includegraphics[width=0.5\linewidth]{img/_gradient_contour.pdf}
+    \caption{Descent method steps in $\mathbb{R}^2$ (i.e. moving across contour lines)}
+\end{figure}
+
+
+\subsection{Choice of the search direction}
+
+\begin{description}
+    \item[Descent direction] \marginnote{Descent direction}
+        $\vec{p} \in \mathbb{R}^N$ is a descent direction of $f$ in $\vec{x}$ if:
+        \[ \exists \bar{\alpha} > 0, \forall \alpha \in [0, \bar{\alpha}]: f(\vec{x} + \alpha \vec{p}) < f(\vec{x}) \]
+\end{description}
+
+\begin{theorem}
+    Let $\vec{p} \in \mathbb{R}^N$, $\vec{p} \neq \nullvec$.
+    \[ \text{If } \vec{p}^T \nabla f(\vec{x}) < 0 \Rightarrow \vec{p} \text{ descent direction of } f \text{ in } x \]
+\end{theorem}
+
+\begin{theorem}
+    For all $\vec{x}$, $\vec{p} = -\nabla f(\vec{x})$ is a descent direction of $f$ in $x$.
+\end{theorem}
+\begin{proof}
+    \[
+        \begin{split}
+            \vec{p}^T \nabla f(\vec{x}) < 0 &\iff -(\nabla f(\vec{x}))^T \nabla f(\vec{x}) < 0 \\
+                &\iff - \Vert \nabla f(\vec{x}) \Vert_2^2 < 0
+        \end{split}
+    \]
+    This holds as the norm is always positive.
+\end{proof}
+
+\begin{description}
+    \item[Gradient-like methods] \marginnote{Gradient-like methods}
+        Gradient-like methods are descent methods that use $-\nabla f$ as step.
+\end{description}
+
+
+\subsection{Choice of the step length}
+\begin{description}
+    \item[Constant] 
+        In machine learning, it is common to set a constant value for the step (learning rate), 
+        but it can be proved that this does not guarantee convergence.
+    
+    \item[Backtracking procedure] \marginnote{Backtracking procedure}
+        $\alpha_k$ is chose such that it respects the Wolfe condition\footnote{\url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfe_conditions}}:
+        \begin{lstlisting}[mathescape=true]
+            def backtracking($\tau$, $c_1$):
+                $\alpha_k$ = 1 # Initial guess
+                while $f(x_k - \alpha_k \nabla f(\vec{x}_k))$ > $f(\vec{x}_k)$ + $c_1 \alpha_k \nabla f(\vec{x}_k)^T \nabla f(\vec{x}_k)$:
+                    $\alpha_k$ = $\alpha_k$ / $\tau$
+                return $\alpha_k$
+        \end{lstlisting}
+        It can be proved that, by using the backtracking procedure, gradient methods converge to a local minimum.
+\end{description}
+
+
+\subsection{Stopping condition}
+\marginnote{Stopping condition}
+We can stop iterating when $\vec{x}_k \approx \vec{x}^*$, that is, $\nabla f(\vec{x}_k) \approx \nullvec$.
+We can verify this by checking the norm of the gradient against a tolerance $\tau$:
+\begin{descriptionlist}
+    \item[Absolute condition] $\Vert \nabla f(x_k) \Vert_2 < \tau$ 
+    \item[Relative condition] $\frac{\Vert \nabla f(x_k) \Vert_2}{\Vert \nabla f(x_0) \Vert_2} < \tau$ 
+\end{descriptionlist}
+
+A generic gradient-like method can then be defined as:
+\begin{lstlisting}[mathescape=true]
+    def gradientMethod($f$, $\vec{x}_0$):
+        $k$ = 0
+        while stoppingCondition($f$, $\vec{x}_k$, $\vec{x}_0$):
+            $p_k$ = $-\nabla f(\vec{x}_k)$
+            $\alpha_k$ = backtracking($\dots$)
+            $\vec{x}_{k+1}$ = $\vec{x}_k$ + $\alpha_k \vec{p}_k$
+            $k$ = $k$ + 1
+        return $x_k$
+\end{lstlisting}
\ No newline at end of file