Greedy regularized kernel interpolation

Kernel based regularized interpolation is a well known technique to approximate a continuous multivariate function using a set of scattered data points and the corresponding function evaluations, or data values. This method has some advantage over exact interpolation: one can obtain the same approximation order while solving a better conditioned linear system. This method is well suited also for noisy data values, where exact interpolation is not meaningful. Moreover, it allows more flexibility in the kernel choice, since approximation problems can be solved also for non strictly positive definite kernels. We discuss in this paper a greedy algorithm to compute a sparse approximation of the kernel regularized interpolant. This sparsity is a desirable property when the approximant is used as a surrogate of an expensive function, since the resulting model is fast to evaluate. Moreover, we derive convergence results for the approximation scheme, and we prove that a certain greedy selection rule produces asymptotically quasi-optimal error rates

Deterministic error bounds for kernel-based learning techniques under bounded noise

We consider the problem of reconstructing a function from a finite set of noise-corrupted samples. Two kernel algorithms are analyzed, namely kernel ridge regression and $\varepsilon$-support vector regression. By assuming the ground-truth function belongs to the reproducing kernel Hilbert space of the chosen kernel, and the measurement noise affecting the dataset is bounded, we adopt an approximation theory viewpoint to establish \textit{deterministic}, finite-sample error bounds for the two models. Finally, we discuss their connection with Gaussian processes and two numerical examples are provided. In establishing our inequalities, we hope to help bring the fields of non-parametric kernel learning and system identification for robust control closer to each other.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figure

Interpolation and Learning with Scale Dependent Kernels

We study the learning properties of nonparametric ridge-less least squares. In particular, we consider the common case of estimators defined by scale dependent kernels, and focus on the role of the scale. These estimators interpolate the data and the scale can be shown to control their stability through the condition number. Our analysis shows that are different regimes depending on the interplay between the sample size, its dimensions, and the smoothness of the problem. Indeed, when the sample size is less than exponential in the data dimension, then the scale can be chosen so that the learning error decreases. As the sample size becomes larger, the overall error stop decreasing but interestingly the scale can be chosen in such a way that the variance due to noise remains bounded. Our analysis combines, probabilistic results with a number of analytic techniques from interpolation theory.Comment: The paper is not completed and contains parts which need to be modifie