## Using the Golden Section Search Method to Minimize the Sum of Absolute Deviations

#### Introduction

Recently, I introduced the golden search method – a special way to save computation time by modifying the bisection method with the golden ratio – and I illustrated how to minimize a cusped function with this script.  I also wrote an R function to implement this method and an R script to apply this method with an example.  Today, I will use apply this method to a statistical topic: minimizing the sum of absolute deviations with the median.

While reading Page 148 (Section 6.3) in Michael Trosset’s “An Introduction to Statistical Inference and Its Applications”, I learned 2 basic, simple, yet interesting theorems.

If X is a random variable with a population mean $\mu$ and a population median $q_2$, then

a) $\mu$ minimizes the function $f(c) = E[(X - c)^2]$

b) $q_2$ minimizes the function $h(c) = E(|X - c|)$

I won’t prove these theorems in this blog post (perhaps later), but I want to use the golden section search method to show a result similar to b):

c) The sample median, $\tilde{m}$, minimizes the function

$g(c) = \sum_{i=1}^{n} |X_i - c|$.

This is not surprising, of course, since

$|X - c|$ is just a function of the random variable $X$

– by the law of large numbers,

$\lim_{n\to \infty}\sum_{i=1}^{n} |X_i - c| = E(|X - c|)$

Thus, if the median minimizes $E(|X - c|)$, then, intuitively, it minimizes $\lim_{n\to \infty}\sum_{i=1}^{n} |X_i - c|$.  Let’s show this with the golden section search method, and let’s explore any differences that may arise between odd-numbered and even-numbered data sets.

## Scripts and Functions: Using R to Implement the Golden Section Search Method for Numerical Optimization

In an earlier post, I introduced the golden section search method – a modification of the bisection method for numerical optimization that saves computation time by using the golden ratio to set its test points.  This post contains the R function that implements this method, the R functions that contain the 3 functions that were minimized by this method, and the R script that ran the minimization.

I learned some new R functions while learning this new algorithm.

– the curve() function for plotting curves

– the cat() function for concatenating strings and variables and, hence, for printing debugging statements

## The Golden Section Search Method: Modifying the Bisection Method with the Golden Ratio for Numerical Optimization

#### Introduction

The first algorithm that I learned for root-finding in my undergraduate numerical analysis class (MACM 316 at Simon Fraser University) was the bisection method.  It’s very intuitive and easy to implement in any programming language (I was using MATLAB at the time).  The bisection method can be easily adapted for optimizing 1-dimensional functions with a slight but intuitive modification.  As there are numerous books and web sites on the bisection method, I will not dwell on it in my blog post.

Instead, I will explain a clever and elegant way to modify the bisection method with the golden ratio that results in faster computation; I learned this method while reading “A First Course in Statistical Programming with R” by John Braun and Duncan Murdoch.  Using a script in R to implement this special algorithm, I will illustrate how to minimize a non-differentiable function with the golden section search method.  In a later post (for the sake of brevity), I will use the same method to show that the minimizer of the sum of the absolute deviations from a univariate data set is the median.  The R functions and script for doing everything are in another post.

The Fibonacci spiral approximates the golden spiral, a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor is the golden ratio.

Source: Dicklyon via Wikimedia

## Checking the Goodness of Fit of the Poisson Distribution in R for Alpha Decay by Americium-241

#### Introduction

Today, I will discuss the alpha decay of americium-241 and use R to model the number of emissions from a real data set with the Poisson distribution.  I was especially intrigued in learning about the use of Am-241 in smoke detectors, and I will elaborate on this clever application.  I will then use the Pearson chi-squared test to check the goodness of fit of my model.  The R script for the full analysis is given at the end of the post; there is a particularly useful code for superscripting the mass number of a chemical isotope in the title of a plot.  While there are many examples of superscripts in plot titles and axes that can be found on the web, none showed how to put the superscript before a text.  I hope that this and other tricks in this script are of use to you.

Smoke Detector with Americium-241

## Presentation Slides: Machine Learning, Predictive Modelling, and Pattern Recognition in Business Analytics

I recently delivered a presentation entitled “Using Advanced Predictive Modelling and Pattern Recognition in Business Analytics” at the Statistical Society of Canada’s (SSC’s) Southern Ontario Regional Association (SORA) Business Analytics Seminar Series.  In this presentation, I

– discussed how traditional statistical techniques often fail in analyzing large data sets

– defined and described machine learning, supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and the many classes of techniques within these fields, as well as common examples in business analytics to illustrate these concepts

– introduced partial least squares regression and bootstrap forest (or random forest) as two examples of supervised learning (0r predictive modelling) techniques that can effectively overcome the common failures of traditional statistical techniques and can be easily implemented in JMP

– illustrated how partial least squares regression and bootstrap forest were successfully used to solve some major problems for 2 different clients at Predictum, where I currently work as a statistician

## Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Trioxide and Acid Rain: Pollution from Burning Coal

#### Introduction

It is well known that burning coal produces carbon dioxide, which contributes to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere and, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is a major source of anthropogenic global warming and climate change.  However, burning coal releases 2 other drastic but lesser known pollutants – sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide – which are responsible for numerous health problems and acid rain.

Bituminous Coal – A low-grade coal with high sulfur content

Source: “Minerals and Materials Photo Gallery”,  U.S House Subcommittee on Energy and Natural Resources

via Wikimedia