Nonlinear Parameter Optimization Using R Tools

Chapter 6Nonlinear least squares

As we have mentioned, the nonlinear least squares problem is sufficiently common and important that special tools exist for its solution. Let us look at the tools R provide either in the base system or otherwise for its solution.

6.1 nls() from package stats

In the commonly distributed R system, the stats package includes nls(). This function is intended to solve nonlinear least squares problems, and it has a large repertoire of features for such problems. A particular strength is the way in which nls() is called to compute nonlinear least squares solutions. We can specify our nonlinear least squares problem as a mathematical expression, and nls() does all the work of translating this into the appropriate internal computational structures for solving the nonlinear least squares problem. In my opinion, nls() points the way to how nonlinear least squares and other nonlinear parameter estimation should be implemented and is a milestone in the software developments in this field. Thanks to Doug Bates and his collaborators for this.

nls() does, unfortunately, have a number of shortcomings, which are discussed in the following text. We also show some alternatives that can be used to overcome the deficiencies.

6.1.1 A simple example

Let us consider a simple example where nls() works using the weight loss of an obese patient over time (Venables and Ripley, 1994, p. 225) (Figure 6.1). The data is in the R package MASS that is in the base distribution ...