35.9LGMay 7
Hedging Memory Horizons for Non-Stationary Prediction via Online AggregationYutong Wang, Yannig Goude, Qiwei Yao
We study online prediction under distribution shift, where inputs arrive chronologically and outcomes are revealed only after prediction. In this setting, predictors must remain stable in quiet regimes yet adapt when regimes shift, and the right adaptation memory is unknown in advance. We propose MELO (Memory-hedged Exponentially Weighted Least-Squares Online aggregation), a model-agnostic method that hedges across adaptation scales: it wraps any non-anticipating base-predictor pool with exponentially weighted least-squares (EWLS) adaptation experts at multiple forgetting factors, and aggregates raw and EWLS-adapted forecasts with MLpol, a parameter-free online aggregation rule. Under boundedness conditions, we establish deterministic oracle inequalities showing that it competes with both the best raw predictor and the best bounded, time-varying affine combinations of the base predictions, up to a path-length-dependent tracking cost and a sublinear aggregation overhead. We evaluate MELO on French national electricity-load forecasting through the COVID-19 lockdown using no regime indicators, lockdown dates, or policy covariates. MELO reduces overall RMSE by 34.7\% relative to base-only MLpol and achieves lower overall RMSE than a TabICL reference supplied with an external COVID policy-response covariate. Moreover, MELO requires only lightweight per-step recursive updates without model retraining.
MLMay 30, 2023
Testing for the Markov Property in Time Series via Deep Conditional Generative LearningYunzhe Zhou, Chengchun Shi, Lexin Li et al.
The Markov property is widely imposed in analysis of time series data. Correspondingly, testing the Markov property, and relatedly, inferring the order of a Markov model, are of paramount importance. In this article, we propose a nonparametric test for the Markov property in high-dimensional time series via deep conditional generative learning. We also apply the test sequentially to determine the order of the Markov model. We show that the test controls the type-I error asymptotically, and has the power approaching one. Our proposal makes novel contributions in several ways. We utilize and extend state-of-the-art deep generative learning to estimate the conditional density functions, and establish a sharp upper bound on the approximation error of the estimators. We derive a doubly robust test statistic, which employs a nonparametric estimation but achieves a parametric convergence rate. We further adopt sample splitting and cross-fitting to minimize the conditions required to ensure the consistency of the test. We demonstrate the efficacy of the test through both simulations and the three data applications.
MEDec 31, 2021
Modelling matrix time series via a tensor CP-decompositionJinyuan Chang, Jing He, Lin Yang et al.
We consider to model matrix time series based on a tensor CP-decomposition. Instead of using an iterative algorithm which is the standard practice for estimating CP-decompositions, we propose a new and one-pass estimation procedure based on a generalized eigenanalysis constructed from the serial dependence structure of the underlying process. To overcome the intricacy of solving a rank-reduced generalized eigenequation, we propose a further refined approach which projects it into a lower-dimensional full-ranked eigenequation. This refined method improves significantly the finite-sample performance of the estimation. The asymptotic theory has been established under a general setting without the stationarity. It shows, for example, that all the component coefficient vectors in the CP-decomposition are estimated consistently with certain convergence rates. The proposed model and the estimation method are also illustrated with both simulated and real data; showing effective dimension-reduction in modelling and forecasting matrix time series.