English

On principal curves with a length constraint

Probability 2019-10-15 v2

Abstract

Principal curves are defined as parametric curves passing through the "middle" of a probability distribution in R^d. In addition to the original definition based on self-consistency, several points of view have been considered among which a least square type constrained minimization problem.In this paper, we are interested in theoretical properties satisfied by a constrained principal curve associated to a probability distribution with second-order moment. We study open and closed principal curves f:[0,1]-->R^d with length at most L and show in particular that they have finite curvature whenever the probability distribution is not supported on the range of a curve with length L.We derive from the order 1 condition, expressing that a curve is a critical point for the criterion, an equation involving the curve, its curvature, as well as a random variable playing the role of the curve parameter. This equation allows to show that a constrained principal curve in dimension 2 has no multiple point.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1707.01326,
  title  = {On principal curves with a length constraint},
  author = {Sylvain Delattre and Aurélie Fischer},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1707.01326},
  year   = {2019}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-22T20:38:25.531Z