Anatoly Zhigljavsky

This book is interdisciplinary and unites several areas of applied probability, statistics, and computational mathematics including computer experiments, optimal experimental design, and global optimization. The bulk of the book is based on several recent papers by the authors but also contains new results. Considering applications, this brief highlights multistart and other methods of global optimizations requiring efficient exploration of the domain of optimization. This book is accessible to a wide range of readers; the prerequisites for reading the book are rather low, and many numerical examples are provided that pictorially illustrate the main ideas, methods, and conclusions. The main purpose of this book is the construction of efficient exploration strategies of high-dimensional sets. In high dimensions, the asymptotic arguments could be practically misleading and hence the emphasis on the non-asymptotic regime. An important link with global optimization stems from the observation that approximate covering is one of the key concepts associated with multistart and other key random search algorithms. In addition to global optimization, important applications of the results are computer experiments and machine learning. It is demonstrated that the asymptotically optimal space-filling designs, such as pure random sampling or low-discrepancy point nets, could be rather inefficient in the non-asymptotic regime and the authors suggest ways of increasing the efficiency of such designs. The range of techniques ranges from experimental design, Monte Carlo, and asymptotic expansions in the central limit theorem to multivariate geometry, theory of lattices, and numerical integration. This book could be useful to a wide circle of readers, especially those specializing in global optimization, numerical analysis, computer experiments, and computational mathematics. As specific recipes for improving set exploration schemes are formulated, the book can also be used by the practitioners interested in applications only.

Accessible to a variety of readers, this book is of interest to specialists, graduate students and researchers in mathematics, optimization, computer science, operations research, management science, engineering and other applied areas interested in solving optimization problems. Basic principles, potential and boundaries of applicability of stochastic global optimization techniques are examined in this book. A variety of issues that face specialists in global optimization are explored, such as multidimensional spaces which are frequently ignored by researchers. The importance of precise interpretation of the mathematical results in assessments of optimization methods is demonstrated through examples of convergence in probability of random search. Methodological issues concerning construction and applicability of stochastic global optimization methods are discussed, including the one-step optimal average improvement method based on a statistical model of the objective function. A significant portion of this book is devoted to an analysis of high-dimensional global optimization problems and the so-called ‘curse of dimensionality’. An examination of the three different classes of high-dimensional optimization problems, the geometry of high-dimensional balls and cubes, very slow convergence of global random search algorithms in large-dimensional problems , and poor uniformity of the uniformly distributed sequences of points are included in this book.

This book gives an overview of singular spectrum analysis (SSA). SSA is a technique of time series analysis and forecasting combining elements of classical time series analysis, multivariate statistics, multivariate geometry, dynamical systems and signal processing. SSA is multi-purpose and naturally combines both model-free and parametric techniques, which makes it a very special and attractive methodology for solving a wide range of problems arising in diverse areas. Rapidly increasing number of novel applications of SSA is a consequence of the new fundamental research on SSA and the recent progress in computing and software engineering which made it possible to use SSA for very complicated tasks that were unthinkable twenty years ago. In this book, the methodology of SSA is concisely but at the same time comprehensively explained by two prominent statisticians with huge experience in SSA. The book offers a valuable resource for a very wide readership, including professional statisticians, specialists in signal and image processing, as well as specialists in numerous applied disciplines interested in using statistical methods for time series analysis, forecasting, signal and image processing. The second edition of the book contains many updates and some new material including a thorough discussion on the place of SSA among other methods and new sections on multivariate and multidimensional extensions of SSA.

This comprehensive and richly illustrated volume provides up-to-date material on Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA). SSA is a well-known methodology for the analysis and forecasting of time series. Since quite recently, SSA is also being used to analyze digital images and other objects that are not necessarily of planar or rectangular form and may contain gaps. SSA is multi-purpose and naturally combines both model-free and parametric techniques, which makes it a very special and attractive methodology for solving a wide range of problems arising in diverse areas, most notably those associated with time series and digital images. An effective, comfortable and accessible implementation of SSA is provided by the R-package Rssa, which is available from CRAN and reviewed in this book. Written by prominent statisticians who have extensive experience with SSA, the book (a) presents the up-to-date SSA methodology, including multidimensional extensions, in language accessible to a large circle of users, (b) combines different versions of SSA into a single tool, (c) shows the diverse tasks that SSA can be used for, (d) formally describes the main SSA methods and algorithms, and (e) provides tutorials on the Rssa package and the use of SSA. The book offers a valuable resource for a very wide readership, including professional statisticians, specialists in signal and image processing, as well as specialists in numerous applied disciplines interested in using statistical methods for time series analysis, forecasting, signal and image processing. The book is written on a level accessible to a broad audience and includes a wealth of examples; hence it can also be used as a textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on time series analysis and signal processing.

This book aims to cover major methodological and theoretical developments in the ?eld of stochastic global optimization. This ?eld includes global random search and methods based on probabilistic assumptions about the objective function. We discuss the basic ideas lying behind the main algorithmic schemes, formulate the most essential algorithms and outline the ways of their theor- ical investigation. We try to be mathematically precise and sound but at the same time we do not often delve deep into the mathematical detail, referring instead to the corresponding literature. We often do not consider the most g- eral assumptions, preferring instead simplicity of arguments. For example, we only consider continuous ?nite dimensional optimization despite the fact that some of the methods can easily be modi?ed for discrete or in?nite-dimensional optimization problems. The authors’ interests and the availability of good surveys on particular topics have in uenced the choice of material in the book. For example, there are excellent surveys on simulated annealing (both on theoretical and - plementation aspects of this method) and evolutionary algorithms (including genetic algorithms). We thus devote much less attention to these topics than they merit, concentrating instead on the issues which are not that well d- umented in literature. We also spend more time discussing the most recent ideas which have been proposed in the last few years.

This book aims to cover major methodological and theoretical developments in the ?eld of stochastic global optimization. This ?eld includes global random search and methods based on probabilistic assumptions about the objective function. We discuss the basic ideas lying behind the main algorithmic schemes, formulate the most essential algorithms and outline the ways of their theor- ical investigation. We try to be mathematically precise and sound but at the same time we do not often delve deep into the mathematical detail, referring instead to the corresponding literature. We often do not consider the most g- eral assumptions, preferring instead simplicity of arguments. For example, we only consider continuous ?nite dimensional optimization despite the fact that some of the methods can easily be modi?ed for discrete or in?nite-dimensional optimization problems. The authors’ interests and the availability of good surveys on particular topics have in uenced the choice of material in the book. For example, there are excellent surveys on simulated annealing (both on theoretical and - plementation aspects of this method) and evolutionary algorithms (including genetic algorithms). We thus devote much less attention to these topics than they merit, concentrating instead on the issues which are not that well d- umented in literature. We also spend more time discussing the most recent ideas which have been proposed in the last few years.