Definition

Let 𝒳\mathcal{X} be a non-empty set. A function k:𝒳×𝒳→ℝk : \mathcal{X} \times \mathcal{X} \to \mathbb{R} is a kernel if there exists a ℝ\mathbb{R}-Hilbert space and a map ϕ:𝒳→ℋ\phi: \mathcal{X} \to \mathcal{H} such that ∀x,x′∈𝒳\forall x,x' \in \mathcal{X},

k(x,x′):=⟨ϕ(x),ϕ(x′)⟩ℋk(x,x') := \langle \phi(x),\phi(x')\rangle_\mathcal{H}

Notes

  • theorem sums of kernels k1+k2k_1 + k_2 are kernels, and αk\alpha k is a kernel for α>0\alpha >0

References

  1. http://mlss.tuebingen.mpg.de/2015/slides/gretton/part_1.pdf