CUR matrix decompositions for improved data analysis

Principal components analysis and, more generally, the Singular Value Decomposition are fundamental data analysis tools that express a data matrix in terms of a sequence of orthogonal or uncorrelated vectors of decreasing importance. Unfortunately, being linear combinations of up to all the data points, these vectors are notoriously difficult to interpret in terms of the data and processes generating the data. In this article, we develop CUR matrix decompositions for improved data analysis. CUR decompositions are low-rank matrix decompositions that are explicitly expressed in terms of a small number of actual columns and/or actual rows of the data matrix. Because they are constructed from actual data elements,…

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  National Science Foundation

  Award: CAREER