Geometric averages of partitioned datasets

DOI10.1137/21M1436580MaRDI QIDQ6372242arXivFDO

Authors Tom Needham, Thomas Weighill

Publication date 7 July 2021

Published in arXiv

Full work available at URL https://doi.org/10.1137/21M1436580

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Metric geometry (51F99) Statistics on metric spaces (62R20)

arXiv classification

cs.CGmath.MG

Abstract: We introduce a method for jointly registering ensembles of partitioned datasets in a way which is both geometrically coherent and partition-aware. Once such a registration has been defined, one can group partition blocks across datasets in order to extract summary statistics, generalizing the commonly used order statistics for scalar-valued data. By modeling a partitioned dataset as an unordered $k$-tuple of points in a Wasserstein space, we are able to draw from techniques in optimal transport. More generally, our method is developed using the formalism of local Fr'{e}chet means in symmetric products of metric spaces. We establish basic theory in this general setting, including Alexandrov curvature bounds and a verifiable characterization of local means. Our method is demonstrated on ensembles of political redistricting plans to extract and visualize basic properties of the space of plans for a particular state, using North Carolina as our main example.

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