Within the framework of statistical learning theory we analyze in detail the so-called elastic-net regularization scheme proposed by Zou and Hastie [H. Zou, T. Hastie, Regularization and variable selection via the elastic net, J. R. Stat. Soc. Ser. B, 67(2) (2005) 301–320] for the selection of groups of correlated variables. To investigate the statistical properties of this scheme and in particular its consistency properties, we set up a suitable mathematical framework. Our setting is random-design regression where we allow the re- sponse variable to be vector-valued and we consider prediction functions which are linear combinations of elements (features) in an infinite-dimensional dictionary. Under the assumption that the regression function admits a sparse representation on the dictio- nary, we prove that there exists a particular elastic-net representation of the regression function such that, if the number of data increases, the elastic-net estimator is consistent not only for prediction but also for variable/feature selection. Our results include finite-sample bounds and an adaptive scheme to select the regularization parameter. Moreover, using convex analysis tools, we derive an iterative thresholding algorithm for computing the elastic-net solution which is different from the optimization procedure originally proposed in the above-cited work.

Elastic net regularization in learning theory

DE VITO, ERNESTO;ROSASCO, LORENZO
2009-01-01

Abstract

Within the framework of statistical learning theory we analyze in detail the so-called elastic-net regularization scheme proposed by Zou and Hastie [H. Zou, T. Hastie, Regularization and variable selection via the elastic net, J. R. Stat. Soc. Ser. B, 67(2) (2005) 301–320] for the selection of groups of correlated variables. To investigate the statistical properties of this scheme and in particular its consistency properties, we set up a suitable mathematical framework. Our setting is random-design regression where we allow the re- sponse variable to be vector-valued and we consider prediction functions which are linear combinations of elements (features) in an infinite-dimensional dictionary. Under the assumption that the regression function admits a sparse representation on the dictio- nary, we prove that there exists a particular elastic-net representation of the regression function such that, if the number of data increases, the elastic-net estimator is consistent not only for prediction but also for variable/feature selection. Our results include finite-sample bounds and an adaptive scheme to select the regularization parameter. Moreover, using convex analysis tools, we derive an iterative thresholding algorithm for computing the elastic-net solution which is different from the optimization procedure originally proposed in the above-cited work.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11567/221313
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