Learning with Group Invariant Features: A Kernel Perspective

Abstract: We analyze in this paper a random feature map based on a theory of invariance I-theory introduced recently. More specifically, a group invariant signal signature is obtained through cumulative distributions of group transformed random projections. Our analysis bridges invariant feature learning with kernel methods, as we show that this feature map defines an expected Haar integration kernel that is invariant to the specified group action. We show how this non-linear random feature map approximates this group invariant kernel uniformly on a set of $N$ points. Moreover, we show that it defines a function space that is dense in the equivalent Invariant Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space. Finally, we quantify error rates of the convergence of the empirical risk minimization, as well as the reduction in the sample complexity of a learning algorithm using such an invariant representation for signal classification, in a classical supervised learning setting.