A support vector method for clustering

Asa Ben-Hur, David Horn, Hava T. Siegelmann, Vladimir Vapnik

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a novel method for clustering using the support vector machine approach. Data points are mapped to a high dimensional feature space, where support vectors are used to define a sphere enclosing them. The boundary of the sphere forms in data space a set of closed contours containing the data. Data points enclosed by each contour are defined as a cluster. As the width parameter of the Gaussian kernel is decreased, these contours fit the data more tightly and splitting of contours occurs. The algorithm works by separating clusters according to valleys in the underlying probability distribution, and thus clusters can take on arbitrary geometrical shapes. As in other SV algorithms, outliers can be dealt with by introducing a soft margin constant leading to smoother cluster boundaries. The structure of the data is explored by varying the two parameters. We investigate the dependence of our method on these parameters and apply it to several data sets.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Neural Information Processing Systems 13 - Proceedings of the 2000 Conference, NIPS 2000
PublisherNeural information processing systems foundation
ISBN (Print)0262122413, 9780262122412
StatePublished - 2001
Event14th Annual Neural Information Processing Systems Conference, NIPS 2000 - Denver, CO, United States
Duration: 27 Nov 20002 Dec 2000

Publication series

NameAdvances in Neural Information Processing Systems
ISSN (Print)1049-5258

Conference

Conference14th Annual Neural Information Processing Systems Conference, NIPS 2000
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityDenver, CO
Period27/11/002/12/00

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