High-frequency asymptotic compression of dense BEM matrices for general geometries without ray tracing

Wave propagation and scattering problems in acoustics are often solved with boundary element methods. They lead to a discretization matrix that is typically dense and large: its size and condition number grow with increasing frequency. Yet, high frequency scattering problems are intrinsically local in nature, which is well represented by highly localized rays bouncing around. Asymptotic methods can be used to reduce the size of the linear system, even making it frequency independent, by explicitly extracting the oscillatory properties from the solution using ray tracing or analogous techniques. However, ray tracing becomes expensive or even intractable in the presence of (multiple) scattering obstacles with complicated geometries. In this paper, we start from the same discretization that constructs the fully resolved large and dense matrix, and achieve asymptotic compression by explicitly localizing the Green's function instead. This results in a large but sparse matrix, with a faster associated matrix-vector product and, as numerical experiments indicate, a much improved condition number. Though an appropriate localisation of the Green's function also depends on asymptotic information unavailable for general geometries, we can construct it adaptively in a frequency sweep from small to large frequencies in a way which automatically takes into account a general incident wave. We show that the approach is robust with respect to non-convex, multiple and even near-trapping domains, though the compression rate is clearly lower in the latter case. Furthermore, in spite of its asymptotic nature, the method is robust with respect to low-order discretizations such as piecewise constants, linears or cubics, commonly used in applications. On the other hand, we do not decrease the total number of degrees of freedom compared to a conventional classical discretization. The combination of the ...Comment: 24 pages, 13 figure

Split-Bregman-based sparse-view CT reconstruction

Total variation minimization has been extensively researched for image denoising and sparse view reconstruction. These methods show superior denoising performance for simple images with little texture, but result in texture information loss when applied to more complex images. It could thus be beneficial to use other regularizers within medical imaging. We propose a general regularization method, based on a split-Bregman approach. We show results for this framework combined with a total variation denoising operator, in comparison to ASD-POCS. We show that sparse-view reconstruction and noise regularization is possible. This general method will allow us to investigate other regularizers in the context of regularized CT reconstruction, and decrease the acquisition times in µCT

Approximate Fitting of a Circular Arc When Two Points Are Known

The task of approximating points with circular arcs is performed in many applications, such as polyline compression, noise filtering, and feature recognition. However, the development of algorithms that perform a significant amount of circular arcs fitting requires an efficient way of fitting circular arcs with complexity O(1). The elegant solution to this task based on an eigenvector problem for a square nonsymmetrical matrix is described in [1]. For the compression algorithm described in [2], it is necessary to solve this task when two points on the arc are known. This paper describes a different approach to efficiently fitting the arcs and solves the task when one or two points are known.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, extended abstract published at the conferenc

The \theta-formulation of the 2D elastica -- Buckling and boundary layer theory

The equations of a planar elastica under pressure can be rewritten in a useful form by parametrising the variables in terms of the local orientation angle, $\theta$, instead of the arc length. This ``$\theta$-formulation'' lends itself to a particularly easy boundary layer analysis in the limit of weak bending stiffness. Within this parameterization, boundary layers are located at inflexion points, where $\theta$ is extremum, and they connect regions of low and large curvature. A simple composite solution is derived without resorting to elliptic functions and integrals. This approximation can be used as an elementary building block to describe complex shapes. Applying this theory to the study of an elastic ring under uniform pressure and subject to a set of point forces, we discover a snapping instability. This instability is confirmed by numerical simulations. Finally, we carry out experiments and find good agreement of the theory with the experimental shape of the deformed elastica.Comment: associated ANIMATIONS and MATHEMATICA FILES available at https://difusion.ulb.ac.be/vufind/Record/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/355924/Holding

Trends in Mathematical Imaging and Surface Processing

Motivated both by industrial applications and the challenge of new problems, one observes an increasing interest in the field of image and surface processing over the last years. It has become clear that even though the applications areas differ significantly the methodological overlap is enormous. Even if contributions to the field come from almost any discipline in mathematics, a major role is played by partial differential equations and in particular by geometric and variational modeling and by their numerical counterparts. The aim of the workshop was to gather a group of leading experts coming from mathematics, engineering and computer graphics to cover the main developments

Proceedings of the second "international Traveling Workshop on Interactions between Sparse models and Technology" (iTWIST'14)

The implicit objective of the biennial "international - Traveling Workshop on Interactions between Sparse models and Technology" (iTWIST) is to foster collaboration between international scientific teams by disseminating ideas through both specific oral/poster presentations and free discussions. For its second edition, the iTWIST workshop took place in the medieval and picturesque town of Namur in Belgium, from Wednesday August 27th till Friday August 29th, 2014. The workshop was conveniently located in "The Arsenal" building within walking distance of both hotels and town center. iTWIST'14 has gathered about 70 international participants and has featured 9 invited talks, 10 oral presentations, and 14 posters on the following themes, all related to the theory, application and generalization of the "sparsity paradigm": Sparsity-driven data sensing and processing; Union of low dimensional subspaces; Beyond linear and convex inverse problem; Matrix/manifold/graph sensing/processing; Blind inverse problems and dictionary learning; Sparsity and computational neuroscience; Information theory, geometry and randomness; Complexity/accuracy tradeoffs in numerical methods; Sparsity? What's next?; Sparse machine learning and inference.Comment: 69 pages, 24 extended abstracts, iTWIST'14 website: http://sites.google.com/site/itwist1

Simple homogenized model for the non-linear analysis of FRP strengthened masonry structures. Part II : structural applications

The homogenized masonry nonlinear stress-strain curves obtained through the simple micromechanical model developed in the first part of the paper are here used for the analysis of strengthened masonry walls under various loading conditions. In particular, a deep beam and a shear wall strengthened with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) strips are analyzed for masonry loaded in-plane. Additionally, single and double curvature masonry structures strengthened in various ways, namely a circular arch with buttresses and a ribbed cross vault, are considered. For all the examples presented, both the nonstrengthened and FRP–strengthened cases are discussed. Additional nonlinear finite-element analyses are performed, modeling masonry through an equivalent macroscopic material with softening to assess the present model predictions. Detailed comparisons between the experimental data, where available, and numerical results are also presented. The examples show the efficiency of the homogenized technique with respect to (1) accuracy of the results; (2) low number of finite elements required; and (3) independence of the mesh at a structural level from the actual texture of masonry