The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Sum-of-norms regularized nonnegative matrix factorization

Sum-of-norms regularized nonnegative matrix factorization
Sum-of-norms regularized nonnegative matrix factorization

When applying nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF), the rank parameter is generally unknown. This rank, called the nonnegative rank, is usually estimated heuristically since computing its exact value is NP-hard. In this work, we propose an approximation method to estimate the rank on the fly while solving NMF. We use the sum-of-norm (SON), a group-lasso structure that encourages pairwise similarity, to reduce the rank of a factor matrix when the initial rank is overestimated. On various data sets, SON-NMF can reveal the correct nonnegative rank of the data without prior knowledge or parameter tuning. SON-NMF is a nonconvex, nonsmooth, nonseparable, and nonproximable problem, making it nontrivial to solve. First, since rank estimation in NMF is NP-hard, the proposed approach does not benefit from lower computational complexity. Using a graph-theoretic argument, we prove that the complexity of SON NMF is essentially irreducible. Second, the per iteration cost of algorithms for SON-NMF can be high. This motivates us to propose a first-order BCD algorithm that approximately solves SON-NMF with low per iteration cost via the proximal average operator. SON-NMF exhibits favorable features for applications. Besides the ability to automatically estimate the rank from data, SON-NMF can handle rank-deficient data matrices and detect weak components with little energy. Furthermore, in hyperspectral imaging, SON-NMF naturally addresses the issue of spectral variability.

1530-888X
228-255
Ang, Andersen
ed509ecd-39a3-4887-a709-339fdaded867
Hamed, Waqas Bin
4f8a8f76-daa8-4bcf-9cde-cb80470e811a
De Sterck, Hans
2ed04478-7382-446f-93a7-6ce8462049eb
Ang, Andersen
ed509ecd-39a3-4887-a709-339fdaded867
Hamed, Waqas Bin
4f8a8f76-daa8-4bcf-9cde-cb80470e811a
De Sterck, Hans
2ed04478-7382-446f-93a7-6ce8462049eb

Ang, Andersen, Hamed, Waqas Bin and De Sterck, Hans (2026) Sum-of-norms regularized nonnegative matrix factorization. Neural Computation, 38 (2), 228-255. (doi:10.1162/NECO.a.1482).

Record type: Article

Abstract

When applying nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF), the rank parameter is generally unknown. This rank, called the nonnegative rank, is usually estimated heuristically since computing its exact value is NP-hard. In this work, we propose an approximation method to estimate the rank on the fly while solving NMF. We use the sum-of-norm (SON), a group-lasso structure that encourages pairwise similarity, to reduce the rank of a factor matrix when the initial rank is overestimated. On various data sets, SON-NMF can reveal the correct nonnegative rank of the data without prior knowledge or parameter tuning. SON-NMF is a nonconvex, nonsmooth, nonseparable, and nonproximable problem, making it nontrivial to solve. First, since rank estimation in NMF is NP-hard, the proposed approach does not benefit from lower computational complexity. Using a graph-theoretic argument, we prove that the complexity of SON NMF is essentially irreducible. Second, the per iteration cost of algorithms for SON-NMF can be high. This motivates us to propose a first-order BCD algorithm that approximately solves SON-NMF with low per iteration cost via the proximal average operator. SON-NMF exhibits favorable features for applications. Besides the ability to automatically estimate the rank from data, SON-NMF can handle rank-deficient data matrices and detect weak components with little energy. Furthermore, in hyperspectral imaging, SON-NMF naturally addresses the issue of spectral variability.

Text
arXiv file (accepted version before journal editing the format)
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (1MB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 19 September 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 20 January 2026
Published date: 20 January 2026

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 508606
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/508606
ISSN: 1530-888X
PURE UUID: 5817cd94-df63-4355-a4ef-3687e2b05956
ORCID for Andersen Ang: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8330-758X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 28 Jan 2026 17:34
Last modified: 04 Feb 2026 03:07

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Andersen Ang ORCID iD
Author: Waqas Bin Hamed
Author: Hans De Sterck

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×