Sparse multinomial kernel discriminant analysis (sMKDA)

Dimensionality reduction via canonical variate analysis (CVA) is important for pattern recognition and has been extended variously to permit more flexibility, e.g. by "kernelizing" the formulation. This can lead to over-fitting, usually ameliorated by regularization. Here, a method for sparse, multinomial kernel discriminant analysis (sMKDA) is proposed, using a sparse basis to control complexity. It is based on the connection between CVA and least-squares, and uses forward selection via orthogonal least-squares to approximate a basis, generalizing a similar approach for binomial problems. Classification can be performed directly via minimum Mahalanobis distance in the canonical variates. sMKDA achieves state-of-the-art performance in terms of accuracy and sparseness on 11 benchmark datasets

Stochastic collocation on unstructured multivariate meshes

Collocation has become a standard tool for approximation of parameterized systems in the uncertainty quantification (UQ) community. Techniques for least-squares regularization, compressive sampling recovery, and interpolatory reconstruction are becoming standard tools used in a variety of applications. Selection of a collocation mesh is frequently a challenge, but methods that construct geometrically "unstructured" collocation meshes have shown great potential due to attractive theoretical properties and direct, simple generation and implementation. We investigate properties of these meshes, presenting stability and accuracy results that can be used as guides for generating stochastic collocation grids in multiple dimensions.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figure

Functional Regression

Functional data analysis (FDA) involves the analysis of data whose ideal units of observation are functions defined on some continuous domain, and the observed data consist of a sample of functions taken from some population, sampled on a discrete grid. Ramsay and Silverman's 1997 textbook sparked the development of this field, which has accelerated in the past 10 years to become one of the fastest growing areas of statistics, fueled by the growing number of applications yielding this type of data. One unique characteristic of FDA is the need to combine information both across and within functions, which Ramsay and Silverman called replication and regularization, respectively. This article will focus on functional regression, the area of FDA that has received the most attention in applications and methodological development. First will be an introduction to basis functions, key building blocks for regularization in functional regression methods, followed by an overview of functional regression methods, split into three types: [1] functional predictor regression (scalar-on-function), [2] functional response regression (function-on-scalar) and [3] function-on-function regression. For each, the role of replication and regularization will be discussed and the methodological development described in a roughly chronological manner, at times deviating from the historical timeline to group together similar methods. The primary focus is on modeling and methodology, highlighting the modeling structures that have been developed and the various regularization approaches employed. At the end is a brief discussion describing potential areas of future development in this field