This article discusses the methodology and theory of principal component analysis (PCA) for functional data. It first provides an overview of PCA in the context of finite-dimensional data and infinite-dimensional data, focusing on functional linear regression, before considering the applications of PCA for functional data analysis, principally in cases of dimension reduction. It then describes adaptive methods for prediction and weighted least squares in functional linear regression. It also examines the role of principal components in the assessment of density for functional data, showing how principal component functions are linked to the amount of probability mass contained in a small ball around a given, fixed function, and how this property can be used to define a simple, easily estimable density surrogate. The article concludes by explaining the use of PCA for estimating log-density.
Functional linear regression that’s interpretable