A fast and efficient Modal EM algorithm for Gaussian mixtures
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In the modal approach to clustering, clusters are defined as the local maxima of the underlying probability density function, where the latter can be estimated either non-parametrically or using finite mixture models. Thus, clusters are closely related to certain regions around the density modes, and every cluster corresponds to a bump of the density. The Modal EM algorithm is an iterative procedure that can identify the local maxima of any density function. In this contribution, we propose a fast and efficient Modal EM algorithm to be used when the density function is estimated through a finite mixture of Gaussian distributions with parsimonious component-covariance structures. After describing the procedure, we apply the proposed Modal EM algorithm on both simulated and real data examples, showing its high flexibility in several contexts.
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