1,907 research outputs found
On surrogate loss functions and -divergences
The goal of binary classification is to estimate a discriminant function
from observations of covariate vectors and corresponding binary
labels. We consider an elaboration of this problem in which the covariates are
not available directly but are transformed by a dimensionality-reducing
quantizer . We present conditions on loss functions such that empirical risk
minimization yields Bayes consistency when both the discriminant function and
the quantizer are estimated. These conditions are stated in terms of a general
correspondence between loss functions and a class of functionals known as
Ali-Silvey or -divergence functionals. Whereas this correspondence was
established by Blackwell [Proc. 2nd Berkeley Symp. Probab. Statist. 1 (1951)
93--102. Univ. California Press, Berkeley] for the 0--1 loss, we extend the
correspondence to the broader class of surrogate loss functions that play a key
role in the general theory of Bayes consistency for binary classification. Our
result makes it possible to pick out the (strict) subset of surrogate loss
functions that yield Bayes consistency for joint estimation of the discriminant
function and the quantizer.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/08-AOS595 the Annals of
Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical
Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
Learning Probability Measures with respect to Optimal Transport Metrics
We study the problem of estimating, in the sense of optimal transport
metrics, a measure which is assumed supported on a manifold embedded in a
Hilbert space. By establishing a precise connection between optimal transport
metrics, optimal quantization, and learning theory, we derive new probabilistic
bounds for the performance of a classic algorithm in unsupervised learning
(k-means), when used to produce a probability measure derived from the data. In
the course of the analysis, we arrive at new lower bounds, as well as
probabilistic upper bounds on the convergence rate of the empirical law of
large numbers, which, unlike existing bounds, are applicable to a wide class of
measures.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures. Advances in Neural Information Processing
Systems, NIPS 201
Quadratic optimal functional quantization of stochastic processes and numerical applications
In this paper, we present an overview of the recent developments of
functional quantization of stochastic processes, with an emphasis on the
quadratic case. Functional quantization is a way to approximate a process,
viewed as a Hilbert-valued random variable, using a nearest neighbour
projection on a finite codebook. A special emphasis is made on the
computational aspects and the numerical applications, in particular the pricing
of some path-dependent European options.Comment: 41 page
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