4,088 research outputs found
Better estimates from binned income data: Interpolated CDFs and mean-matching
Researchers often estimate income statistics from summaries that report the
number of incomes in bins such as \$0-10,000, \$10,001-20,000,...,\$200,000+.
Some analysts assign incomes to bin midpoints, but this treats income as
discrete. Other analysts fit a continuous parametric distribution, but the
distribution may not fit well.
We fit nonparametric continuous distributions that reproduce the bin counts
perfectly by interpolating the cumulative distribution function (CDF). We also
show how both midpoints and interpolated CDFs can be constrained to reproduce
the mean of income when it is known.
We compare the methods' accuracy in estimating the Gini coefficients of all
3,221 US counties. Fitting parametric distributions is very slow. Fitting
interpolated CDFs is much faster and slightly more accurate. Both interpolated
CDFs and midpoints give dramatically better estimates if constrained to match a
known mean.
We have implemented interpolated CDFs in the binsmooth package for R. We have
implemented the midpoint method in the rpme command for Stata. Both
implementations can be constrained to match a known mean.Comment: 20 pages (including Appendix), 3 tables, 2 figures (+2 in Appendix
Polynomial-based non-uniform interpolatory subdivision with features control
Starting from a well-known construction of polynomial-based interpolatory 4-point schemes, in this paper we present
an original affine combination of quadratic polynomial samples that leads to a non-uniform 4-point scheme with edge
parameters. This blending-type formulation is then further generalized to provide a powerful subdivision algorithm
that combines the fairing curve of a non-uniform refinement with the advantages of a shape-controlled interpolation
method and an arbitrary point insertion rule. The result is a non-uniform interpolatory 4-point scheme that is unique
in combining a number of distinctive properties. In fact it generates visually-pleasing limit curves where special
features ranging from cusps and flat edges to point/edge tension effects may be included without creating undesired
undulations. Moreover such a scheme is capable of inserting new points at any positions of existing intervals, so that
the most convenient parameter values may be chosen as well as the intervals for insertion.
Such a fully flexible curve scheme is a fundamental step towards the construction of high-quality interpolatory subdivision surfaces with features control
Multiscale Representations for Manifold-Valued Data
We describe multiscale representations for data observed on equispaced grids and taking values in manifolds such as the sphere , the special orthogonal group , the positive definite matrices , and the Grassmann manifolds . The representations are based on the deployment of Deslauriers--Dubuc and average-interpolating pyramids "in the tangent plane" of such manifolds, using the and maps of those manifolds. The representations provide "wavelet coefficients" which can be thresholded, quantized, and scaled in much the same way as traditional wavelet coefficients. Tasks such as compression, noise removal, contrast enhancement, and stochastic simulation are facilitated by this representation. The approach applies to general manifolds but is particularly suited to the manifolds we consider, i.e., Riemannian symmetric spaces, such as , , , where the and maps are effectively computable. Applications to manifold-valued data sources of a geometric nature (motion, orientation, diffusion) seem particularly immediate. A software toolbox, SymmLab, can reproduce the results discussed in this paper
Computing trisections of 4-manifolds
Algorithms that decompose a manifold into simple pieces reveal the geometric
and topological structure of the manifold, showing how complicated structures
are constructed from simple building blocks. This note describes a way to
algorithmically construct a trisection, which describes a -dimensional
manifold as a union of three -dimensional handlebodies. The complexity of
the -manifold is captured in a collection of curves on a surface, which
guide the gluing of the handelbodies. The algorithm begins with a description
of a manifold as a union of pentachora, or -dimensional simplices. It
transforms this description into a trisection. This results in the first
explicit complexity bounds for the trisection genus of a -manifold in terms
of the number of pentachora (-simplices) in a triangulation.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Polyhedral computational geometry for averaging metric phylogenetic trees
This paper investigates the computational geometry relevant to calculations
of the Frechet mean and variance for probability distributions on the
phylogenetic tree space of Billera, Holmes and Vogtmann, using the theory of
probability measures on spaces of nonpositive curvature developed by Sturm. We
show that the combinatorics of geodesics with a specified fixed endpoint in
tree space are determined by the location of the varying endpoint in a certain
polyhedral subdivision of tree space. The variance function associated to a
finite subset of tree space has a fixed algebraic formula within
each cell of the corresponding subdivision, and is continuously differentiable
in the interior of each orthant of tree space. We use this subdivision to
establish two iterative methods for producing sequences that converge to the
Frechet mean: one based on Sturm's Law of Large Numbers, and another based on
descent algorithms for finding optima of smooth functions on convex polyhedra.
We present properties and biological applications of Frechet means and extend
our main results to more general globally nonpositively curved spaces composed
of Euclidean orthants.Comment: 43 pages, 6 figures; v2: fixed typos, shortened Sections 1 and 5,
added counter example for polyhedrality of vistal subdivision in general
CAT(0) cubical complexes; v1: 43 pages, 5 figure
The Construction of Balanced Bounding-Volume Hierarchies using Spatial Object Median Splitting Method for Collision Detection
Finding two or more contact points between rigid bodies simulation is always a fundamental task in virtual environment. Furthermore, the contact point needs to be accurately reported as soon as possible within 30-60 frames per second (fps) between moving polyhedral. This article introduced an efficient splitting method that is able to divide the bounding-volume of Axis Aligned Bounding-Box (AABB) hierarchies into a balanced tree. The construction of well-balanced tree will helps to improve the speed of the intersection between rigid bodies’ objects
All-Hex Meshing of Multiple-Region Domains without Cleanup
AbstractIn this paper, we present a new algorithm for all-hex meshing of domains with multiple regions without post-processing cleanup. Our method starts with a strongly balanced octree. In contrast to snapping the grid points onto the geometric boundaries, we move points a slight distance away from the common boundaries. Then we intersect the moved grid with the geometry. This allows us to avoid creating any flat angles, and we are able to handle two-sided regions and more complex topologies than prior methods. The algorithm is robust and cleanup-free; without the use of any pillowing, swapping, or smoothing. Thus, our simple algorithm is also more predictable than prior art
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