arXiv Statistics ML

Robust Multi-Task Learning for Principal Component Analysis

The paper introduces robust multi-task procedures for principal component analysis that leverage similarity across tasks to enhance eigenspace estimation while remaining resilient to outlier tasks. It establishes non-asymptotic convergence rates and demonstrates that the methods achieve minimax optimal performance across various regimes. One procedure, based on matrix-depth, attains optimal error dependence on the proportion of outlier tasks, addressing a key challenge in robust multi-task learning.

arXiv Machine Learning
1d ago

High-Dimensional Partial Least Squares: Spectral Analysis and Fundamental Limitations

The paper investigates Partial Least Squares (PLS) in high-dimensional settings, focusing on a model where two data matrices share a low-rank latent structure plus individual-specific components. By analyzing the singular vectors of the cross‑covariance matrix with random matrix theory, the authors derive asymptotic characterizations of how well the estimated latent directions align with the true ones. They show that the PLS variant based on Singular Value Decomposition (PLS‑SVD) outperforms separate principal component analysis in detecting the common latent subspace, while also identifying regimes where PLS‑SVD behaves counter‑intuitively or reaches fundamental limits.

By Victor L\'eger, Florent Chatelain
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 10

Low-Rank Plus Sparse Matrix Transfer Learning under Growing Representations and Ambient Dimensions

The paper introduces a transfer learning framework for structured matrix estimation when both the ambient dimension and the intrinsic representation grow over time. It models the target parameter as an embedded source component plus low‑rank innovations and sparse edits, and proposes an anchored alternating projection estimator that preserves the transferred subspace while estimating only the new components. Deterministic error bounds are derived that separate target noise, representation growth, and source estimation error, showing improved rates when rank and sparsity increments are small, and the framework is applied to Markov transition matrix estimation and structured covariance estimation with theoretical guarantees and empirical validation.

By Jinhang Chai, Xuyuan Liu, Elynn Chen, Yujun Yan
arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 5

Anchor PCA

arXiv:2606. 06233v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Principal component analysis (PCA) is one of the most widely used unsupervised dimension reduction techniques.

By Benedikt Seiter, Anya Fries, Julius von K\"ugelgen, Jonas Peters
arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 27

Efficient Estimation of High Information Projections using Nearest Neighbours

The paper introduces a new dimensionality reduction technique that enhances nearest‑neighbour relationships to estimate high‑information projections. It constructs a matrix encoding local covariance via nearest‑neighbour pairs and shows that, under standard regularity conditions, this matrix consistently estimates the Density Information Matrix (DIM), a non‑parametric analogue of the Fisher Information Matrix. The authors also demonstrate the method’s practical usefulness for clustering and outlier detection.

By David P. Hofmeyr
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 22

Transfer Learning for Matrix Completion

arXiv:2507.02248v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: In this paper, we explore the knowledge transfer under the setting of matrix completion, which aims to enhance the estimation of a low-rank t...

By Dali Liu, Yuying Xie, Haolei Weng