Sharp analysis of sketched least squares and randomized low-rank approximation

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Epperly, Ethan N., Webber, Robert J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Epperly, Ethan N.
Webber, Robert J.
author_facet Epperly, Ethan N.
Webber, Robert J.
contents Two widely used randomized algorithms are the sketch-and-solve method for least-squares regression and the randomized SVD for low-rank approximation. These algorithms apply a random embedding to compress a target matrix, and they perform computations on the compressed matrix to save computational cost. This paper asks, what is the optimal random embedding in these algorithms? Also, what is the sharpest possible error bound for the optimal embedding? The paper proves that a random orthonormal matrix is minimax optimal for the sketch-and-solve algorithm while any rotation-invariant embedding is minimax optimal for the randomized SVD. Following these results, the paper obtains the best possible error bounds for sketched least-squares and the randomized SVD. Last, empirical experiments provide evidence of universality phenomena, in which several random embeddings lead to similar accuracy to the optimal embeddings in practice.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_19096
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sharp analysis of sketched least squares and randomized low-rank approximation
Epperly, Ethan N.
Webber, Robert J.
Numerical Analysis
Computation
65F20, 65F55, 68W20
Two widely used randomized algorithms are the sketch-and-solve method for least-squares regression and the randomized SVD for low-rank approximation. These algorithms apply a random embedding to compress a target matrix, and they perform computations on the compressed matrix to save computational cost. This paper asks, what is the optimal random embedding in these algorithms? Also, what is the sharpest possible error bound for the optimal embedding? The paper proves that a random orthonormal matrix is minimax optimal for the sketch-and-solve algorithm while any rotation-invariant embedding is minimax optimal for the randomized SVD. Following these results, the paper obtains the best possible error bounds for sketched least-squares and the randomized SVD. Last, empirical experiments provide evidence of universality phenomena, in which several random embeddings lead to similar accuracy to the optimal embeddings in practice.
title Sharp analysis of sketched least squares and randomized low-rank approximation
topic Numerical Analysis
Computation
65F20, 65F55, 68W20
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.19096