We develop methodology for testing hypotheses regarding the slope function in functional linear regression for time series via a reproducing kernel Hilbert space approach. In contrast to most of the literature, which considers tests for the exact nullity of the slope function, we are interested in the null hypothesis that the slope function vanishes only approximately, where deviations are measured with respect to the $L^2$-norm. An asymptotically pivotal test is proposed, which does not require the estimation of nuisance parameters and long-run covariances. The key technical tools to prove the validity of our approach include a uniform Bahadur representation and a weak invariance principle for a sequential process of estimates of the slope function. Both scalar-on-function and function-on-function linear regression are considered and finite-sample methods for implementing our methodology are provided. We also illustrate the potential of our methods by means of a small simulation study and a data example.
We study kernel least-squares estimation under a norm constraint. This form of regularisation is known as Ivanov regularisation and it provides better control of the norm of the estimator than the well-established Tikhonov regularisation. Ivanov regularisation can be studied under minimal assumptions. In particular, we assume only that the RKHS is separable with a bounded and measurable kernel. We provide rates of convergence for the expected squared $L^2$ error of our estimator under the weak assumption that the variance of the response variables is bounded and the unknown regression function…
Suppose that $Y$ is a scalar and $X$ is a second-order stochastic process, where $Y$ and $X$ are conditionally independent given the random variables $ξ_1,...,ξ_p$ which belong to the closed span $L_X^2$ of $X$. This paper investigates a unified framework for the inverse regression dimension-reduction problem. It is found that the identification of $L_X^2$ with the reproducing kernel Hilbert space of $X$ provides a platform for a seamless extension from the finite- to infinite-dimensional settings. It also facilitates convenient computational algorithms that can be applied to a variety of mode…
We study an adaptive estimation procedure called the Goldenshluger-Lepski method in the context of reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) regression. Adaptive estimation provides a way of selecting tuning parameters for statistical estimators using only the available data. This allows us to perform estimation without making strong assumptions about the estimand. In contrast to procedures such as training and validation, the Goldenshluger-Lepski method uses all of the data to produce non-adaptive estimators for a range of values of the tuning parameters. An adaptive estimator is selected by pe…
In this work, we develop and study an empirical projection operator scheme for solving nonparametric regression problems. This scheme is based on an approximate projection of the regression function over a suitable reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). The RKHS considered in this paper are generated by the Mercer kernels given by the Legendre Christoffel-Darboux and convolution Sinc kernels. We provide error and convergence analysis of the proposed scheme under the assumption that the regression function belongs to some suitable functional spaces. We also consider the popular RKHS regulariz…
We consider the problem of estimating a meta-model of an unknown regression model with non-Gaussian and non-bounded error. The meta-model belongs to a reproducing kernel Hilbert space constructed as a direct sum of Hilbert spaces leading to an additive decomposition including the variables and interactions between them. The estimator of this meta-model is calculated by minimizing an empirical least-squares criterion penalized by the sum of the Hilbert norm and the empirical $L^2$-norm. In this context, the upper bounds of the empirical $L^2$ risk and the $L^2$ risk of the estimator are establi…
An extension of reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) theory provides a new framework for modeling functional regression models with functional responses. The approach only presumes a general nonlinear regression structure as opposed to previously studied linear regression models. Generalized cross-validation (GCV) is proposed for automatic smoothing parameter estimation. The new RKHS estimate is applied to both simulated and real data as illustrations.
We propose a nonlinear function-on-function regression model where both the covariate and the response are random functions. The nonlinear regression is carried out in two steps: we first construct Hilbert spaces to accommodate the functional covariate and the functional response, and then build a second-layer Hilbert space for the covariate to capture nonlinearity. The second-layer space is assumed to be a reproducing kernel Hilbert space, which is generated by a positive definite kernel determined by the inner product of the first-layer Hilbert space for $X$--this structure is known as the n…
KU Leuven（鲁汶大学）；Fudan University（复旦大学）；Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学）
This paper generalizes regularized regression problems in a hyper-reproducing kernel Hilbert space (hyper-RKHS), illustrates its utility for kernel learning and out-of-sample extensions, and proves asymptotic convergence results for the introduced regression models in an approximation theory view. Algorithmically, we consider two regularized regression models with bivariate forms in this space, including kernel ridge regression (KRR) and support vector regression (SVR) endowed with hyper-RKHS, and further combine divide-and-conquer with Nyström approximation for scalability in large sample cas…
The main ideas behind the classical multivariate logistic regression model make sense when translated to the functional setting, where the explanatory variable $X$ is a function and the response $Y$ is binary. However, some important technical issues appear (or are aggravated with respect to those of the multivariate case) due to the functional nature of the explanatory variable. First, the mere definition of the model can be questioned: while most approaches so far proposed rely on the $L_2$-based model, we suggest an alternative (in some sense, more general) approach, based on the theory of …
This article studies global testing of the slope function in functional linear regression model in the framework of reproducing kernel Hilbert space. We propose a new testing statistic based on smoothness regularization estimators. The asymptotic distribution of the testing statistic is established under null hypothesis. It is shown that the null asymptotic distribution is determined jointly by the reproducing kernel and the covariance function. Our theoretical analysis shows that the proposed testing is consistent over a class of smooth local alternatives. Despite the generality of the method…
Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data（深圳大数据研究院）；The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen（香港中文大学（深圳））；Pennsylvania State University（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）
We study the fair regression problem under the notion of Mean Parity (MP) fairness, which requires the conditional mean of the learned function output to be constant with respect to the sensitive attributes. We address this problem by leveraging reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) to construct the functional space whose members are guaranteed to satisfy the fairness constraints. The proposed functional space suggests a closed-form solution for the fair regression problem that is naturally compatible with multiple sensitive attributes. Furthermore, by formulating the fairness-accuracy trade…
We consider the random-design least-squares regression problem within the reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) framework. Given a stream of independent and identically distributed input/output data, we aim to learn a regression function within an RKHS $\mathcal{H}$, even if the optimal predictor (i.e., the conditional expectation) is not in $\mathcal{H}$. In a stochastic approximation framework where the estimator is updated after each observation, we show that the averaged unregularized least-mean-square algorithm (a form of stochastic gradient), given a sufficient large step-size, attains…
A Hilbert space embedding for probability measures has recently been proposed, wherein any probability measure is represented as a mean element in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). Such an embedding has found applications in homogeneity testing, independence testing, dimensionality reduction, etc., with the requirement that the reproducing kernel is characteristic, i.e., the embedding is injective. In this paper, we generalize this embedding to finite signed Borel measures, wherein any finite signed Borel measure is represented as a mean element in an RKHS. We show that the proposed e…
In this paper, we introduce a new distribution regression model for probability distributions. This model is based on a Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS) regression framework, where universal kernels are built using Wasserstein distances for distributions belonging to W 2 ($Ω$) and $Ω$ is a compact subspace of R. We prove the universal kernel property of such kernels and use this setting to perform regressions on functions. Different regression models are first compared with the proposed one on simulated functional data. We then apply our regression model to transient evoked otoascoutic …
University of Seville（塞维利亚大学）；University Carlos III de Madrid（马德里卡洛斯三世大学）
Usually, complex-valued RKHS are presented as an straightforward application of the real-valued case. In this paper we prove that this procedure yields a limited solution for regression. We show that another kernel, here denoted as pseudo kernel, is needed to learn any function in complex-valued fields. Accordingly, we derive a novel RKHS to include it, the widely RKHS (WRKHS). When the pseudo-kernel cancels, WRKHS reduces to complex-valued RKHS of previous approaches. We address the kernel and pseudo-kernel design, paying attention to the kernel and the pseudo-kernel being complex-valued. In …
In this work we consider the problem of estimating function-on-scalar regression models when the functions are observed over multi-dimensional or manifold domains and with potentially multivariate output. We establish the minimax rates of convergence and present an estimator based on reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces that achieves the minimax rate. To better interpret the derived rates, we extend well-known links between RKHS and Sobolev spaces to the case where the domain is a compact Riemannian manifold. This is accomplished using an interesting connection to Weyl's Law from partial differen…
Kernel ridge regression (KRR) is a well-known and popular nonparametric regression approach with many desirable properties, including minimax rate-optimality in estimating functions that belong to common reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS). The approach, however, is computationally intensive for large data sets, due to the need to operate on a dense $n \times n$ kernel matrix, where $n$ is the sample size. Recently, various approximation schemes for solving KRR have been considered, and some analyzed. Some approaches such as Nyström approximation and sketching have been shown to preserve …
A hierarchical Vovk-Azoury-Warmuth forecaster with discounting for online regression in RKHS
Institute of Mathematics, Mechanics and Computer Sciences of the Southern Federal University（南方联邦大学数学、力学与计算机科学学院）；Regional Scientific and Educational Mathematical Center of the Southern Federal University（南方联邦大学区域科学与教育数学中心）
Regularization is used to find a solution that both fits the data and is sufficiently smooth, and thereby is very effective for designing and refining learning algorithms. But the influence of its exponent remains poorly understood. In particular, it is unclear how the exponent of the reproducing kernel Hilbert space~(RKHS) regularization term affects the accuracy and the efficiency of kernel-based learning algorithms. Here we consider regularized least squares regression (RLSR) with an RKHS regularization raised to the power of m, where m is a variable real exponent. We design an efficient al…
In this paper, we consider the nonparametric least square regression in a Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS). We propose a new randomized algorithm that has optimal generalization error bounds with respect to the square loss, closing a long-standing gap between upper and lower bounds. Moreover, we show that our algorithm has faster finite-time and asymptotic rates on problems where the Bayes risk with respect to the square loss is small. We state our results using standard tools from the theory of least square regression in RKHSs, namely, the decay of the eigenvalues of the associated int…
Based on the theories of sliced inverse regression (SIR) and reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS), a new approach RDSIR (RKHS-based Double SIR) to nonlinear dimension reduction for survival data is proposed and discussed. An isometrically isomorphism is constructed based on RKHS property, then the nonlinear function in the RKHS can be represented by the inner product of two elements which reside in the isomorphic feature space. Due to the censorship of survival data, double slicing is used to estimate weight function or conditional survival function to adjust for the censoring bias. The suf…
McGill University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics（麦吉尔大学数学与统计学系）；Université Marie et Louis Pasteur, CNRS, LmB (UMR 6623)（玛丽·路易斯·帕斯特大学、法国国家科学研究中心、LmB（UMR 6623））
Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts（卢塞恩应用科学与艺术大学）
We introduce a novel boosting algorithm called `KTBoost' which combines kernel boosting and tree boosting. In each boosting iteration, the algorithm adds either a regression tree or reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) regression function to the ensemble of base learners. Intuitively, the idea is that discontinuous trees and continuous RKHS regression functions complement each other, and that this combination allows for better learning of functions that have parts with varying degrees of regularity such as discontinuities and smooth parts. We empirically show that KTBoost significantly outp…
In this paper, an online learning algorithm is proposed as sequential stochastic approximation of a regularization path converging to the regression function in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHSs). We show that it is possible to produce the best known strong (RKHS norm) convergence rate of batch learning, through a careful choice of the gain or step size sequences, depending on regularity assumptions on the regression function. The corresponding weak (mean square distance) convergence rate is optimal in the sense that it reaches the minimax and individual lower rates in the literature. I…
The problem of estimating a parametric or nonparametric regression function in a model with normal errors is considered. For this purpose, a novel objective prior for the regression function is proposed, defined as the distribution maximizing entropy subject to a suitable constraint based on the Fisher information on the regression function. The prior is named I-prior. For the present model, it is Gaussian with covariance kernel proportional to the Fisher information, and mean chosen a priori (e.g., 0). The I-prior has the intuitively appealing property that the more information is available a…
NTT DATA Mathematical Systems Inc.（NTT数据数学系统公司）；The University of Tokyo（东京大学）；RIKEN AIP（日本理化学研究所先进智能项目中心）
Labeling cost is often expensive and is a fundamental limitation of supervised learning. In this paper, we study importance labeling problem, in which we are given many unlabeled data and select a limited number of data to be labeled from the unlabeled data, and then a learning algorithm is executed on the selected one. We propose a new importance labeling scheme that can effectively select an informative subset of unlabeled data in least squares regression in Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces (RKHS). We analyze the generalization error of gradient descent combined with our labeling scheme and…
Consider the problem: given the data pair $(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y})$ drawn from a population with $f_*(x) = \mathbf{E}[\mathbf{y} | \mathbf{x} = x]$, specify a neural network model and run gradient flow on the weights over time until reaching any stationarity. How does $f_t$, the function computed by the neural network at time $t$, relate to $f_*$, in terms of approximation and representation? What are the provable benefits of the adaptive representation by neural networks compared to the pre-specified fixed basis representation in the classical nonparametric literature? We answer the above qu…
Modeling dynamical systems with ordinary differential equations implies a mechanistic view of the process underlying the dynamics. However in many cases, this knowledge is not available. To overcome this issue, we introduce a general framework for nonparametric ODE models using penalized regression in Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces (RKHS) based on operator-valued kernels. Moreover, we extend the scope of gradient matching approaches to nonparametric ODE. A smooth estimate of the solution ODE is built to provide an approximation of the derivative of the ODE solution which is in turn used to …
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics（上海财经大学）
In statistical learning, identifying underlying structures of true target functions based on observed data plays a crucial role to facilitate subsequent modeling and analysis. Unlike most of those existing methods that focus on some specific settings under certain model assumptions, this paper proposes a general and novel framework for recovering true structures of target functions by using unstructured M-regression in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). The proposed framework is inspired by the fact that gradient functions can be employed as a valid tool to learn underlying structures,…
Computational Efficiency under Covariate Shift in Kernel Ridge Regression
Swiss Finance Institute (SFI) EPFL（瑞士金融研究所（SFI）EPFL）；MaLGa, DIBRIS University of Genova（MaLGa，热那亚大学DIBRIS分校）；DIMA University of Genova（热那亚大学DIMA分校）；IIT CBMM, MIT（IIT CBMM，麻省理工学院）
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne（洛桑联邦理工学院）
We study generalization properties of distributed algorithms in the setting of nonparametric regression over a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). We first investigate distributed stochastic gradient methods (SGM), with mini-batches and multi-passes over the data. We show that optimal generalization error bounds can be retained for distributed SGM provided that the partition level is not too large. We then extend our results to spectral-regularization algorithms (SRA), including kernel ridge regression (KRR), kernel principal component analysis, and gradient methods. Our results are super…
Optimal experimental design seeks to determine the most informative allocation of experiments to infer an unknown statistical quantity. In this work, we investigate the optimal design of experiments for {\em estimation of linear functionals in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHSs)}. This problem has been extensively studied in the linear regression setting under an estimability condition, which allows estimating parameters without bias. We generalize this framework to RKHSs, and allow for the linear functional to be only approximately inferred, i.e., with a fixed bias. This scenario captur…
This paper presents new results on Functional Analysis of Variance for fixed effect models with correlated Hilbert-valued Gaussian error components. The geometry of the Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS) of the error term is considered in the computation of the total sum of squares, the residual sum of squares, and the sum of squares due to the regression. Under suitable linear transformation of the correlated functional data, the distributional characteristics of these statistics, their moment generating and characteristic functions, are derived. Fixed effect linear hypothesis testing is…
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems（马克斯·普朗克智能系统研究所）；Tübingen, Germany（德国图宾根）
This short technical report presents some learning theory results on vector-valued reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) regression, where the input space is allowed to be non-compact and the output space is a (possibly infinite-dimensional) Hilbert space. Our approach is based on the integral operator technique using spectral theory for non-compact operators. We place a particular emphasis on obtaining results with as few assumptions as possible; as such we only use Chebyshev's inequality, and no effort is made to obtain the best rates or constants.
In this article, we consider convergence rates in functional linear regression with functional responses, where the linear coefficient lies in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). Without assuming that the reproducing kernel and the covariate covariance kernel are aligned, or assuming polynomial rate of decay of the eigenvalues of the covariance kernel, convergence rates in prediction risk are established. The corresponding lower bound in rates is derived by reducing to the scalar response case. Simulation studies and two benchmark datasets are used to illustrate that the proposed approa…
We address the problem of {\it adaptivity} in the framework of reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) regression. More precisely, we analyze estimators arising from a linear regularization scheme $g_\lam$. In practical applications, an important task is to choose the regularization parameter $\lam$ appropriately, i.e. based only on the given data and independently on unknown structural assumptions on the regression function. An attractive approach avoiding data-splitting is the {\it Lepskii Principle} (LP), also known as the {\it Balancing Principle} is this setting. We show that a modified p…
