Mathematical foundations

Abstract

Statistical machine learning and signal processing are topics in applied mathematics, which are based upon many abstract mathematical concepts. Defining these concepts clearly is the most important first step in this book. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce these foundational mathematical concepts. It also justifies the statement that much of the art of statistical machine learning as applied to signal processing, lies in the choice of convenient mathematical models that happen to be useful in practice. Convenient in this context means that the algebraic consequences of the choice of mathematical modeling assumptions are in some sense manageable. The seeds of this manageability are the elementary mathematical concepts upon which the subject is built.