A Geometric Approach to Covariance Matrix Estimation and its Applications to Radar Problems

A new class of disturbance covariance matrix estimators for radar signal processing applications is introduced following a geometric paradigm. Each estimator is associated with a given unitary invariant norm and performs the sample covariance matrix projection into a specific set of structured covariance matrices. Regardless of the considered norm, an efficient solution technique to handle the resulting constrained optimization problem is developed. Specifically, it is shown that the new family of distribution-free estimators shares a shrinkagetype form; besides, the eigenvalues estimate just requires the solution of a one-dimensional convex problem whose objective function depends on the considered unitary norm. For the two most common norm instances, i.e., Frobenius and spectral, very efficient algorithms are developed to solve the aforementioned one-dimensional optimization leading to almost closed form covariance estimates. At the analysis stage, the performance of the new estimators is assessed in terms of achievable Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) both for a spatial and a Doppler processing assuming different data statistical characterizations. The results show that interesting SINR improvements with respect to some counterparts available in the open literature can be achieved especially in training starved regimes.Comment: submitted for journal publicatio

CorrGAN: Sampling Realistic Financial Correlation Matrices Using Generative Adversarial Networks

We propose a novel approach for sampling realistic financial correlation matrices. This approach is based on generative adversarial networks. Experiments demonstrate that generative adversarial networks are able to recover most of the known stylized facts about empirical correlation matrices estimated on asset returns. This is the first time such results are documented in the literature. Practical financial applications range from trading strategies enhancement to risk and portfolio stress testing. Such generative models can also help ground empirical finance deeper into science by allowing for falsifiability of statements and more objective comparison of empirical methods

A Geometric Approach to Covariance Matrix Estimation and its Applications to Radar Problems

A new class of disturbance covariance matrix estimators for radar signal processing applications is introduced following a geometric paradigm. Each estimator is associated with a given unitary invariant norm and performs the sample covariance matrix projection into a specific set of structured covariance matrices. Regardless of the considered norm, an efficient solution technique to handle the resulting constrained optimization problem is developed. Specifically, it is shown that the new family of distribution-free estimators shares a shrinkage-type form; besides, the eigenvalues estimate just requires the solution of a one-dimensional convex problem whose objective function depends on the considered unitary norm. For the two most common norm instances, i.e., Frobenius and spectral, very efficient algorithms are developed to solve the aforementioned one-dimensional optimization leading to almost closed-form covariance estimates. At the analysis stage, the performance of the new estimators is assessed in terms of achievable signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) both for spatial and Doppler processing scenarios assuming different data statistical characterizations. The results show that interesting SINR improvements with respect to some counterparts available in the open literature can be achieved especially in training starved regimes