Sparse Classification: a scalable discrete optimization perspective

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bertsimas, Dimitris, Pauphilet, Jean, Van Parys, Bart
Format: Preprint
Published: 2017
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author Bertsimas, Dimitris
Pauphilet, Jean
Van Parys, Bart
author_facet Bertsimas, Dimitris
Pauphilet, Jean
Van Parys, Bart
contents We formulate the sparse classification problem of $n$ samples with $p$ features as a binary convex optimization problem and propose a cutting-plane algorithm to solve it exactly. For sparse logistic regression and sparse SVM, our algorithm finds optimal solutions for $n$ and $p$ in the $10,000$s within minutes. On synthetic data our algorithm achieves perfect support recovery in the large sample regime. Namely, there exists a $n_0$ such that the algorithm takes a long time to find the optimal solution and does not recover the correct support for $n<n_0$, while for $n\geqslant n_0$, the algorithm quickly detects all the true features, and does not return any false features. In contrast, while Lasso accurately detects all the true features, it persistently returns incorrect features, even as the number of observations increases. Consequently, on numerous real-world experiments, our outer-approximation algorithms returns sparser classifiers while achieving similar predictive accuracy as Lasso. To support our observations, we analyze conditions on the sample size needed to ensure full support recovery in classification. Under some assumptions on the data generating process, we prove that information-theoretic limitations impose $n_0 < C \left(2 + σ^2\right) k \log(p-k)$, for some constant $C>0$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_1710_01352
institution arXiv
publishDate 2017
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sparse Classification: a scalable discrete optimization perspective
Bertsimas, Dimitris
Pauphilet, Jean
Van Parys, Bart
Optimization and Control
We formulate the sparse classification problem of $n$ samples with $p$ features as a binary convex optimization problem and propose a cutting-plane algorithm to solve it exactly. For sparse logistic regression and sparse SVM, our algorithm finds optimal solutions for $n$ and $p$ in the $10,000$s within minutes. On synthetic data our algorithm achieves perfect support recovery in the large sample regime. Namely, there exists a $n_0$ such that the algorithm takes a long time to find the optimal solution and does not recover the correct support for $n<n_0$, while for $n\geqslant n_0$, the algorithm quickly detects all the true features, and does not return any false features. In contrast, while Lasso accurately detects all the true features, it persistently returns incorrect features, even as the number of observations increases. Consequently, on numerous real-world experiments, our outer-approximation algorithms returns sparser classifiers while achieving similar predictive accuracy as Lasso. To support our observations, we analyze conditions on the sample size needed to ensure full support recovery in classification. Under some assumptions on the data generating process, we prove that information-theoretic limitations impose $n_0 < C \left(2 + σ^2\right) k \log(p-k)$, for some constant $C>0$.
title Sparse Classification: a scalable discrete optimization perspective
topic Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.01352