In mathematics, Tucker decomposition decomposes a tensor into a set of matrices and one small core tensor. It is named after Ledyard R. Tucker[1] although it goes back to Hitchcock in 1927.[2] Initially described as a three-mode extension of factor analysis and principal component analysis it may actually be generalized to higher mode analysis.
It may be regarded as a more flexible PARAFAC (parallel factor analysis ) model. In PARAFAC the core tensor is restricted to be "diagonal".