Efficient Fourier representations of families of Gaussian processes

Abstract

We introduce a class of algorithms for constructing Fourier representations of Gaussian processes in $1$ dimension that are valid over ranges of hyperparameter values. The scaling and frequencies of the Fourier basis functions are evaluated numerically via generalized quadratures. The representations introduced allow for $O(m^3)$ inference, independent of $N$, for all hyperparameters in the user-specified range after $O(N + m^2\log{m})$ precomputation where $N$, the number of data points, is usually significantly larger than $m$, the number of basis functions. Inference independent of $N$ for various hyperparameters is facilitated by generalized quadratures, and the $O(N + m^2\log{m})$ precomputation is achieved with the non-uniform FFT. Numerical results are provided for Mat\'ern kernels with $\nu \in [3/2, 7/2]$ and lengthscale $\rho \in [0.1, 0.5]$ and squared-exponential kernels with lengthscale $\rho \in [0.1, 0.5]$. The algorithms of this paper generalize mathematically to higher dimensions, though they suffer from the standard curse of dimensionality.