1,334 research outputs found
Multivariate Convex Approximation and Least-Norm Convex Data-Smoothing
The main contents of this paper is two-fold.First, we present a method to approximate multivariate convex functions by piecewise linear upper and lower bounds.We consider a method that is based on function evaluations only.However, to use this method, the data have to be convex.Unfortunately, even if the underlying function is convex, this is not always the case due to (numerical) errors.Therefore, secondly, we present a multivariate data-smoothing method that smooths nonconvex data.We consider both the case that we have only function evaluations and the case that we also have derivative information.Furthermore, we show that our methods are polynomial time methods.We illustrate this methodology by applying it to some examples.approximation theory;convexity;data-smoothing
BSP-fields: An Exact Representation of Polygonal Objects by Differentiable Scalar Fields Based on Binary Space Partitioning
The problem considered in this work is to find a dimension independent algorithm for the generation of signed scalar fields exactly representing polygonal objects and satisfying the following requirements: the defining real function takes zero value exactly at the polygonal object boundary; no extra zero-value isosurfaces should be generated; C1 continuity of the function in the entire domain. The proposed algorithms are based on the binary space partitioning (BSP) of the object by the planes passing through the polygonal faces and are independent of the object genus, the number of disjoint components, and holes in the initial polygonal mesh. Several extensions to the basic algorithm are proposed to satisfy the selected optimization criteria. The generated BSP-fields allow for applying techniques of the function-based modeling to already existing legacy objects from CAD and computer animation areas, which is illustrated by several examples
Approximate Dynamic Programming Algorithms for United States Air Force Officer Sustainment
The United States Air Force (USAF) officer sustainment system involves making accession and promotion decisions for nearly 64 thousand officers annually. We formulate a discrete time stochastic Markov decision process model to examine this military workforce planning problem. The large size of the motivating problem suggests that conventional exact dynamic programming algorithms are inappropriate. As such, we propose two approximate dynamic programming (ADP) algorithms to solve the problem. We employ a least-squares approximate policy iteration (API) algorithm with instrumental variables Bellman error minimization to determine approximate policies. In this API algorithm, we use a modified version of the Bellman equation based on the post-decision state variable. Approximating the value function using a post-decision state variable allows us to find the best policy for a given approximation using a decomposable mixed integer nonlinear programming formulation. We also propose an approximate value iteration algorithm using concave adaptive value estimation (CAVE). The CAVE algorithm identities an improved policy for a test problem based on the current USAF officer sustainment system. The CAVE algorithm obtains a statistically significant 2.8% improvement over the currently employed USAF policy, which serves as the benchmark
Aspects of Unstructured Grids and Finite-Volume Solvers for the Euler and Navier-Stokes Equations
One of the major achievements in engineering science has been the development of computer algorithms for solving nonlinear differential equations such as the Navier-Stokes equations. In the past, limited computer resources have motivated the development of efficient numerical schemes in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) utilizing structured meshes. The use of structured meshes greatly simplifies the implementation of CFD algorithms on conventional computers. Unstructured grids on the other hand offer an alternative to modeling complex geometries. Unstructured meshes have irregular connectivity and usually contain combinations of triangles, quadrilaterals, tetrahedra, and hexahedra. The generation and use of unstructured grids poses new challenges in CFD. The purpose of this note is to present recent developments in the unstructured grid generation and flow solution technology
A numerical algorithm for semi-discrete optimal transport in 3D
This paper introduces a numerical algorithm to compute the optimal
transport map between two measures and , where derives from a
density defined as a piecewise linear function (supported by a
tetrahedral mesh), and where is a sum of Dirac masses.
I first give an elementary presentation of some known results on optimal
transport and then observe a relation with another problem (optimal sampling).
This relation gives simple arguments to study the objective functions that
characterize both problems.
I then propose a practical algorithm to compute the optimal transport map
between a piecewise linear density and a sum of Dirac masses in 3D. In this
semi-discrete setting, Aurenhammer et.al [\emph{8th Symposium on Computational
Geometry conf. proc.}, ACM (1992)] showed that the optimal transport map is
determined by the weights of a power diagram. The optimal weights are computed
by minimizing a convex objective function with a quasi-Newton method. To
evaluate the value and gradient of this objective function, I propose an
efficient and robust algorithm, that computes at each iteration the
intersection between a power diagram and the tetrahedral mesh that defines the
measure .
The numerical algorithm is experimented and evaluated on several datasets,
with up to hundred thousands tetrahedra and one million Dirac masses.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figure
- …