English

A Short Introduction to Model Selection, Kolmogorov Complexity and Minimum Description Length (MDL)

Machine Learning 2010-05-17 v2 Computational Complexity

Abstract

The concept of overfitting in model selection is explained and demonstrated with an example. After providing some background information on information theory and Kolmogorov complexity, we provide a short explanation of Minimum Description Length and error minimization. We conclude with a discussion of the typical features of overfitting in model selection.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1005.2364,
  title  = {A Short Introduction to Model Selection, Kolmogorov Complexity and Minimum Description Length (MDL)},
  author = {Volker Nannen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1005.2364},
  year   = {2010}
}

Comments

20 pages, Chapter 1 of The Paradox of Overfitting, Master's thesis, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 2003

R2 v1 2026-06-21T15:22:33.960Z