Sure Screening for Gaussian Graphical Models

We propose {graphical sure screening}, or GRASS, a very simple and computationally-efficient screening procedure for recovering the structure of a Gaussian graphical model in the high-dimensional setting. The GRASS estimate of the conditional dependence graph is obtained by thresholding the elements of the sample covariance matrix. The proposed approach possesses the sure screening property: with very high probability, the GRASS estimated edge set contains the true edge set. Furthermore, with high probability, the size of the estimated edge set is controlled. We provide a choice of threshold for GRASS that can control the expected false positive rate. We illustrate the performance of GRASS in a simulation study and on a gene expression data set, and show that in practice it performs quite competitively with more complex and computationally-demanding techniques for graph estimation

Topological nodal states in circuit lattice

The search for artificial structure with tunable topological properties is an interesting research direction of today's topological physics. Here, we introduce a scheme to realize `topological semimetal states' with a three-dimensional periodic inductor-capacitor (LC) circuit lattice, where the topological nodal-line state and Weyl state can be achieved by tuning the parameters of inductors and capacitors. A tight-binding-like model is derived to analyze the topological properties of the LC circuit lattice. The key characters of the topological states, such as the drumhead-like surface bands for nodal-line state and the Fermi-arc-like surface bands for Weyl state, are found in these systems. We also show that the Weyl points are stable with the fabrication errors of electric devices.Comment: 4 figure

Ant colony optimization for scheduling walking beam reheating furnaces

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.This paper presents a new mathematical model for the walking beam reheating furnace scheduling problem (WBRFSP) in an iron and steel plant, which allows the mixed package of hot and cold slabs and aims to minimize the energy consumption and increase the product quality. An ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is designed to solve this model. Simulation results based on the data derived from the field data of an iron and steel plant show the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm

Optimal Save-Then-Transmit Protocol for Energy Harvesting Wireless Transmitters

In this paper, the design of a wireless communication device relying exclusively on energy harvesting is considered. Due to the inability of rechargeable energy sources to charge and discharge at the same time, a constraint we term the energy half-duplex constraint, two rechargeable energy storage devices (ESDs) are assumed so that at any given time, there is always one ESD being recharged. The energy harvesting rate is assumed to be a random variable that is constant over the time interval of interest. A save-then-transmit (ST) protocol is introduced, in which a fraction of time {\rho} (dubbed the save-ratio) is devoted exclusively to energy harvesting, with the remaining fraction 1 - {\rho} used for data transmission. The ratio of the energy obtainable from an ESD to the energy harvested is termed the energy storage efficiency, {\eta}. We address the practical case of the secondary ESD being a battery with {\eta} < 1, and the main ESD being a super-capacitor with {\eta} = 1. The optimal save-ratio that minimizes outage probability is derived, from which some useful design guidelines are drawn. In addition, we compare the outage performance of random power supply to that of constant power supply over the Rayleigh fading channel. The diversity order with random power is shown to be the same as that of constant power, but the performance gap can be large. Furthermore, we extend the proposed ST protocol to wireless networks with multiple transmitters. It is shown that the system-level outage performance is critically dependent on the relationship between the number of transmitters and the optimal save-ratio for single-channel outage minimization. Numerical results are provided to validate our proposed study.Comment: This is the longer version of a paper to appear in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communication

Neutrino masses and Baryogenesis via Leptogenesis in the Exceptional Supersymmetric Standard Model

Neutrino oscillation experiments discover that (left-handed) neutrinos have masses much less than charged leptons and quarks in the Standard Model. One solution to the light neutrino mass puzzle is the seesaw model where right-handed neutrinos are introduced with large Majorana masses. The heavy Majorana right-handed (RH) neutrinos lead to lepton number violation in the early universe. They decay into either leptons or anti-leptons via Yukawa couplings. The CP asymmetries of these decays result in lepton number asymmetry in the universe. The lepton number asymmetry can be converted into baryon number asymmetry via the electroweak sphaleron process. This mechanism explains the baryon asymmetry of universe problem and is called leptogenesis. However, one finds that in order to generated enough baryon number in the universe, the reheating temperature, which is required to be of order of the lightest right-handed neutrino mass, has to be higher than ∼ 10^9 GeV. The high reheating temperature would lead to the over-produced gravitinos in the universe, contrasting with the present observation. We investigate leptogenesis in the Exceptional Supersymmetric Standard Model. We find that the extra Yukawa couplings would enhance the CP asymmetries of the RH neutrino decay drastically. And the evolution of lepton/baryon asymmetries is described by Boltzmann Equations. Numerical calculation of the Boltzmann Equations shows that a correct amount of baryon number in the universe can be achieved when the lightest right-handed neutrino mass is ∼ 10^7 GeV, and then the gravitino-over-production problem is avoided