Bayesian Regression and Gaussian Processes

This chapter introduces Bayesian regression and shows how it extends many of the concepts in the previous chapter. We develop kernel based machine learning methods—specifically Gaussian process regression, an important class of Bayesian machine learning methods—and demonstrate their application to “surrogate” models of derivative prices. This chapter also provides a natural starting point from which to develop intuition for the role and functional form of regularization in a frequentist setting—the subject of subsequent chapters.