On regression analysis with Padé approximants.

The advantages and disadvantages of application of Padé approximants to regression analysis with two independent covariates are discussed. The main difficulty of using Padé function is nonlinearity of data fitting. Possible approaches to overcoming the problem are discussed. New formulation of residuals is suggested in the method of least squares. It leads to a system of linear equations in case of rational functions. The possibility of using ridge regularization technique to avoid overfitting is demonstrated in this approach. To illustrate the efficiency of the suggested method, several practical cases from physics and reliability theory are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]