Complex Covariance: Analyzing X & Y Relationships

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The discussion centers on the relationship between two variables, x and y, defined by sinusoidal functions, where traditional correlation methods yield a result of zero despite their inherent relationship. Non-parametric techniques such as Singular Value Decomposition (SVD), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Total Least Squares (TLS) are suggested for exploring this relationship further. The author notes that constructing complex variables using Hilbert transforms leads to a misleading correlation, as the correlation definition evaluates to zero. They seek to identify the correct terminology for this approach to facilitate further research. The analysis of lagged correlations in time series is highlighted as a standard non-parametric statistical technique.
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Apologies for misleading title

1) Let's say I have some process e.g. an gravitational orbit or something that results in x = sin(w t) and y = cos (w t)

2) a. Clearly x and y are related, but using a simple correlation <x|y>/(<x^2><y^2>)**0.5 will result in 0. That is, x and y are not correlated.
b. My question is, what non parametric techniques (e.g. SVD, PCA, TLS) are there to extract the nature of the relationship between x and y?

3) I could extract some relation by doing total least squares / SVD on a matrix of time series for column vectors of [x, x^2, y, y^2], but that would only result in relating the the x^2 and y^2 components.

4) a. Alternatively, I could construct the the complex 'x_complex' = x + i*hilbert_transform(x), do the same for y.
b. now 'x_complex' and 'y_complex' have a correlation of one. (hilbert transform and kramers kronig transform are the same thing)
c. but this isn't the case b/c the definition of correlation is <x_complex|y_complex_conjugate> which evaluates to zero.

5) The approach in 4b is promising, but I don't know what it's called, so I can't even figure out what to google to see what's been done on this .
 
Physics news on Phys.org
There is a 100% correlation of x lagged by 90 degrees with y.
Analysing lagged correlations between time series is a standard non-parametric statistical analysis technique.
 
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