- A kernel is a density function that satisfies the following 3 properties
- Symmetric: K(−x)=K(x)
- Sum to 1: ∫K(x)dx=1
- Non negative: K(x)>=∀x
- Using the kernel function, we can map the feature variables to a higher dimension, then the problem can be easily classified or predicted
- For example, a cluster of points on a 2D plane might not be able to be classified with a line; but when mapped to a 3D plane it might be able to be classified with a hyperplane
- Polynomial kernel is a commonly used function where it maps the feature to the various higher powered combinations
- X=(x1,x2)
- ϕ(X)=(x1,x2)2=(x12+2x1x2+x22)