Robustness and Randomness

Robustness problems of computational geometry algorithms is a topic that has been subject to intensive research efforts from both computer science and mathematics communities. Robustness problems are caused by the lack of precision in computations involving floating-point instead of real numbers. This paper reviews methods dealing with robustness and inaccuracy problems. It discussed approaches based on exact arithmetic, interval arithmetic and probabilistic methods. The paper investigates the possibility to use randomness at certain levels of reasoning to make geometric constructions more robust

Confidence limits: what is the problem? Is there the solution?

This contribution to the debate on confidence limits focuses mostly on the case of measurements with `open likelihood', in the sense that it is defined in the text. I will show that, though a prior-free assessment of {\it confidence} is, in general, not possible, still a search result can be reported in a mostly unbiased and efficient way, which satisfies some desiderata which I believe are shared by the people interested in the subject. The simpler case of `closed likelihood' will also be treated, and I will discuss why a uniform prior on a sensible quantity is a very reasonable choice for most applications. In both cases, I think that much clarity will be achieved if we remove from scientific parlance the misleading expressions `confidence intervals' and `confidence levels'.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, using cernrepp.cls (included). Contribution to the Workshop on Confidence Limits, CERN, Geneva, 17-18 January 2000. This paper and related work are also available at http://www-zeus.roma1.infn.it/~agostini/prob+stat.htm

Recent progress in exact geometric computation

AbstractComputational geometry has produced an impressive wealth of efficient algorithms. The robust implementation of these algorithms remains a major issue. Among the many proposed approaches for solving numerical non-robustness, Exact Geometric Computation (EGC) has emerged as one of the most successful. This survey describes recent progress in EGC research in three key areas: constructive zero bounds, approximate expression evaluation and numerical filters

Symmetry Detection of Rational Space Curves from their Curvature and Torsion

We present a novel, deterministic, and efficient method to detect whether a given rational space curve is symmetric. By using well-known differential invariants of space curves, namely the curvature and torsion, the method is significantly faster, simpler, and more general than an earlier method addressing a similar problem. To support this claim, we present an analysis of the arithmetic complexity of the algorithm and timings from an implementation in Sage.Comment: 25 page

Near NP-Completeness for Detecting p-adic Rational Roots in One Variable

We show that deciding whether a sparse univariate polynomial has a p-adic rational root can be done in NP for most inputs. We also prove a polynomial-time upper bound for trinomials with suitably generic p-adic Newton polygon. We thus improve the best previous complexity upper bound of EXPTIME. We also prove an unconditional complexity lower bound of NP-hardness with respect to randomized reductions for general univariate polynomials. The best previous lower bound assumed an unproved hypothesis on the distribution of primes in arithmetic progression. We also discuss how our results complement analogous results over the real numbers.Comment: 8 pages in 2 column format, 1 illustration. Submitted to a conferenc

Bayesian Inference in Processing Experimental Data: Principles and Basic Applications

This report introduces general ideas and some basic methods of the Bayesian probability theory applied to physics measurements. Our aim is to make the reader familiar, through examples rather than rigorous formalism, with concepts such as: model comparison (including the automatic Ockham's Razor filter provided by the Bayesian approach); parametric inference; quantification of the uncertainty about the value of physical quantities, also taking into account systematic effects; role of marginalization; posterior characterization; predictive distributions; hierarchical modelling and hyperparameters; Gaussian approximation of the posterior and recovery of conventional methods, especially maximum likelihood and chi-square fits under well defined conditions; conjugate priors, transformation invariance and maximum entropy motivated priors; Monte Carlo estimates of expectation, including a short introduction to Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods.Comment: 40 pages, 2 figures, invited paper for Reports on Progress in Physic

Enumerative Galois theory for cubics and quartics

We show that there are $O_\varepsilon(H^{1.5+\varepsilon})$ monic, cubic polynomials with integer coefficients bounded by $H$ in absolute value whose Galois group is $A_3$. We also show that the order of magnitude for $D_4$ quartics is $H^2 (\log H)^2$, and that the respective counts for $A_4$, $V_4$, $C_4$ are $O(H^{2.91})$, $O(H^2 \log H)$, $O(H^2 \log H)$. Our work establishes that irreducible non-$S_3$ cubic polynomials are less numerous than reducible ones, and similarly in the quartic setting: these are the first two solved cases of a 1936 conjecture made by van der Waerden

Statistical mechanics of the random K-SAT model

The Random K-Satisfiability Problem, consisting in verifying the existence of an assignment of N Boolean variables that satisfy a set of M=alpha N random logical clauses containing K variables each, is studied using the replica symmetric framework of diluted disordered systems. We present an exact iterative scheme for the replica symmetric functional order parameter together for the different cases of interest K=2, K>= 3 and K>>1. The calculation of the number of solutions, which allowed us [Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 3881 (1996)] to predict a first order jump at the threshold where the Boolean expressions become unsatisfiable with probability one, is thoroughly displayed. In the case K=2, the (rigorously known) critical value (alpha=1) of the number of clauses per Boolean variable is recovered while for K>=3 we show that the system exhibits a replica symmetry breaking transition. The annealed approximation is proven to be exact for large K.Comment: 34 pages + 1 table + 8 fig., submitted to Phys. Rev. E, new section added and references update