In this paper we consider high-dimensional multiclass classification by sparse multinomial logistic regression. We propose first a feature selection procedure based on penalized maximum likelihood with a complexity penalty on the model size and derive the nonasymptotic bounds for misclassification excess risk of the resulting classifier. We establish also their tightness by deriving the corresponding minimax lower bounds. In particular, we show that there is a phase transition between small and large number of classes. The bounds can be reduced under the additional low noise condition. To find a penalized maximum likelihood solution with a complexity penalty requires, however, a combinatorial search over all possible models. To design a feature selection procedure computationally feasible for high-dimensional data, we propose multinomial logistic group Lasso and Slope classifiers and show that they also achieve the minimax order.

We consider high-dimensional binary classification by sparse logistic regression. We propose a model/feature selection procedure based on penalized maximum likelihood with a complexity penalty on the model size and derive the non-asymptotic bounds for its misclassification excess risk. To assess its tightness, we establish the corresponding minimax lower bounds. The bounds can be reduced under the additional low-noise condition. The proposed complexity penalty is remarkably related to the Vapnik-Chervonenkis-dimension of a set of sparse linear classifiers. Implementation of any complexity penalty-based criterion, however, requires a combinatorial search over all possible models. To find a model selection procedure computationally feasible for high-dimensional data, we extend the Slope estimator for logistic regression and show that under an additional weighted restricted eigenvalue condition it is rate-optimal in the minimax sense.

We consider model selection in generalized linear models (GLM) for high-dimensional data and propose a wide class of model selection criteria based on penalized maximum likelihood with a complexity penalty on the model size. We derive a general nonasymptotic upper bound for the Kullback-Leibler risk of the resulting estimators and establish the corresponding minimax lower bounds for the sparse GLM. For the properly chosen (nonlinear) penalty, the resulting penalized maximum likelihood estimator is shown to be asymptotically minimax and adaptive to the unknown sparsity. We also discuss possible extensions of the proposed approach to model selection in the GLM under additional structural constraints and aggregation.