A Lanczos-Based Algorithmic Approach for Spike Detection in Large Sample Covariance Matrices

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Younes, Charbel Abi, Ding, Xiucai, Trogdon, Thomas
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Younes, Charbel Abi
Ding, Xiucai
Trogdon, Thomas
author_facet Younes, Charbel Abi
Ding, Xiucai
Trogdon, Thomas
contents We introduce a new approach for estimating the number of spikes in a general class of spiked covariance models without directly computing the eigenvalues of the sample covariance matrix. This approach is based on the Lanczos algorithm and the asymptotic properties of the associated Jacobi matrix and its Cholesky factorization. A key aspect of the analysis is interpreting the eigenvector spectral distribution as a perturbation of its asymptotic counterpart. The specific exponential-type asymptotics of the Jacobi matrix enables an efficient approximation of the Stieltjes transform of the asymptotic spectral distribution via a finite continued fraction. As a consequence, we also obtain estimates for the density of the asymptotic distribution and the location of outliers. We provide consistency guarantees for our proposed estimators, proving their convergence in the high-dimensional regime. We demonstrate that, when applied to standard spiked covariance models, our approach outperforms existing methods in computational efficiency and runtime, while still maintaining robustness to exotic population covariances.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_03066
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Lanczos-Based Algorithmic Approach for Spike Detection in Large Sample Covariance Matrices
Younes, Charbel Abi
Ding, Xiucai
Trogdon, Thomas
Statistics Theory
Probability
Computation
60B20, 42C05, 62G07
We introduce a new approach for estimating the number of spikes in a general class of spiked covariance models without directly computing the eigenvalues of the sample covariance matrix. This approach is based on the Lanczos algorithm and the asymptotic properties of the associated Jacobi matrix and its Cholesky factorization. A key aspect of the analysis is interpreting the eigenvector spectral distribution as a perturbation of its asymptotic counterpart. The specific exponential-type asymptotics of the Jacobi matrix enables an efficient approximation of the Stieltjes transform of the asymptotic spectral distribution via a finite continued fraction. As a consequence, we also obtain estimates for the density of the asymptotic distribution and the location of outliers. We provide consistency guarantees for our proposed estimators, proving their convergence in the high-dimensional regime. We demonstrate that, when applied to standard spiked covariance models, our approach outperforms existing methods in computational efficiency and runtime, while still maintaining robustness to exotic population covariances.
title A Lanczos-Based Algorithmic Approach for Spike Detection in Large Sample Covariance Matrices
topic Statistics Theory
Probability
Computation
60B20, 42C05, 62G07
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.03066