The Dynamics of AdaBoost: Cyclic Behavior and Convergence of Margins

Abstract

In order to study the convergence properties of the AdaBoost algorithm, we reduce AdaBoost to a nonlinear iterated map and study the evolution of its weight vectors. This dynamical systems approach allows us to understand AdaBoost's convergence properties completely in certain cases; for these cases we find stable cycles, allowing us to explicitly solve for AdaBoost's output.