Comment by revskill

3 years ago

What is hyperplane ?

A hyperplane is a multi-dimensional linear function that splits space into two distinct regions. In the context of a classifier, it splits feature space into disjunct sub-spaces (one for each class). SVMs effectively place a hyperplane with maximum margin, thereby separating classes in an optimal way.

  • Worth keeping in mind that though it may be optimal according to some mathematical criterion, that is no guarantee that it's the best for the purposes you have in mind.

A subspace of dimension n-1 of a n-dimensional vector space. It is an extension of the well-known concept of a 2d-plane in a 3d-space to nd-spaces.

  • You could also describe a hyperplane as the set of solutions of a system of linear equations.

    • Or as the subspace of all the vectors are orthogonal to a given single vector, or as the subspace generated by any orthogonal basis with one base vector removed, or as the kernel of a linear form, ... – but a more visual explanation is probably better as a first foray in the question.

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