Euclidean consensus dendrograms and other classification structures (Q1060515)

By embedding the ultrametric distances between objects in a classification structure into a Euclidean space, two linear-algebraic procedures can be used to obtain a consensus among any combination of dendrograms, partitions, coverings, or more general arrangements of overlapping groups; the consensus has the property that the sum of the squared distances from the objects in each of the separate representations to their positions in the consensus is minimized in the Euclidean space. A consensus classification structure (usually a dendrogram) is obtained by reversing the embedding procedure. Admissibility criteria for a consensus are briefly considered.