Approximating the covariance ellipsoid

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Abstract: We explore ways in which the covariance ellipsoid calB=vinmathbbRd:mathbbE<X,v>2leq1 of a centred random vector X in mathbbRd can be approximated by a simple set. The data one is given for constructing the approximating set consists of X1,...,XN that are independent and distributed as X. We present a general method that can be used to construct such approximations and implement it for two types of approximating sets. We first construct a (random) set calK defined by a union of intersections of slabs Hz,alpha=vinmathbbRd:|<z,v>|leqalpha (and therefore calK is actually the output of a neural network with two hidden layers). The slabs are generated using X1,...,XN, and under minimal assumptions on X (e.g., X can be heavy-tailed) it suffices that N=c1deta−4log(2/eta) to ensure that (1−eta)calKsubsetcalBsubset(1+eta)calK. In some cases (e.g., if X is rotation invariant and has marginals that are well behaved in some weak sense), a smaller sample size suffices: N=c1deta−2log(2/eta). We then show that if the slabs are replaced by randomly generated ellipsoids defined using X1,...,XN, the same degree of approximation is true when Ngeqc2deta−2log(2/eta). The construction we use is based on the small-ball method.












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