Description:
The problem of the estimation of a regression function by continuous piecewise linear functions is formulated as a nonconvex, nonsmooth optimization problem. Estimates are defined by minimization of the empirical L 2 risk over a class of functions, which are defined as maxima of minima of linear functions. An algorithm for finding continuous piecewise linear functions is presented. We observe that the objective function in the optimization problem is semismooth, quasidifferentiable and piecewise partially separable. The use of these properties allow us to design an efficient algorithm for approximation of subgradients of the objective function and to apply the discrete gradient method for its minimization. We present computational results with some simulated data and compare the new estimator with a number of existing ones.
Description:
An L-2-boosting algorithm for estimation of a regression function from random design is presented, which consists of fitting repeatedly a function from a fixed nonlinear function space to the residuals of the data by least squares and by defining the estimate as a linear combination of the resulting least squares estimates. Splitting of the sample is used to decide after how many iterations of smoothing of the residuals the algorithm terminates. The rate of convergence of the algorithm is analyzed in case of an unbounded response variable. The method is used to fit a sum of maxima of minima of linear functions to a given data set, and is compared with other nonparametric regression estimates using simulated data.
Description:
An L-2-boosting algorithm for estimation of a regression function from random design is presented, which consists of fitting repeatedly a function from a fixed nonlinear function space to the residuals of the data by least squares and by defining the estimate as a linear combination of the resulting least squares estimates. Splitting of the sample is used to decide after how many iterations of smoothing of the residuals the algorithm terminates. The rate of convergence of the algorithm is analyzed in case of an unbounded response variable. The method is used to fit a sum of maxima of minima of linear functions to a given data set, and is compared with other nonparametric regression estimates using simulated data.