206,262 research outputs found
A Bayesian approach to the study of white dwarf binaries in LISA data: The application of a reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo method
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) defines new demands on data
analysis efforts in its all-sky gravitational wave survey, recording
simultaneously thousands of galactic compact object binary foreground sources
and tens to hundreds of background sources like binary black hole mergers and
extreme mass ratio inspirals. We approach this problem with an adaptive and
fully automatic Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampler, able to
sample from the joint posterior density function (as established by Bayes
theorem) for a given mixture of signals "out of the box'', handling the total
number of signals as an additional unknown parameter beside the unknown
parameters of each individual source and the noise floor. We show in examples
from the LISA Mock Data Challenge implementing the full response of LISA in its
TDI description that this sampler is able to extract monochromatic Double White
Dwarf signals out of colored instrumental noise and additional foreground and
background noise successfully in a global fitting approach. We introduce 2
examples with fixed number of signals (MCMC sampling), and 1 example with
unknown number of signals (RJ-MCMC), the latter further promoting the idea
behind an experimental adaptation of the model indicator proposal densities in
the main sampling stage. We note that the experienced runtimes and degeneracies
in parameter extraction limit the shown examples to the extraction of a low but
realistic number of signals.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in PRD,
revised versio
Ultrafast photocurrents at the surface of the three-dimensional topological insulator
Topological insulators constitute a new and fascinating class of matter with
insulating bulk yet metallic surfaces that host highly mobile charge carriers
with spin-momentum locking. Remarkably, the direction and magnitude of surface
currents can be controlled with tailored light beams, but the underlying
mechanisms are not yet well understood. To directly resolve the "birth" of such
photocurrents we need to boost the time resolution to the scale of elementary
scattering events ( 10 fs). Here, we excite and measure photocurrents in
the three-dimensional model topological insulator
with a time resolution as short as 20 fs by sampling the concomitantly emitted
broadband THz electromagnetic field from 1 to 40 THz. Remarkably, the ultrafast
surface current response is dominated by a charge transfer along the Se-Bi
bonds. In contrast, photon-helicity-dependent photocurrents are found to have
orders of magnitude smaller magnitude than expected from generation scenarios
based on asymmetric depopulation of the Dirac cone. Our findings are also of
direct relevance for optoelectronic devices based on topological-insulator
surface currents
On inferring intentions in shared tasks for industrial collaborative robots
Inferring human operators' actions in shared collaborative tasks, plays a crucial role in enhancing the cognitive capabilities of industrial robots. In all these incipient collaborative robotic applications, humans and robots not only should share space but also forces and the execution of a task. In this article, we present a robotic system which is able to identify different human's intentions and to adapt its behavior consequently, only by means of force data. In order to accomplish this aim, three major contributions are presented: (a) force-based operator's intent recognition, (b) force-based dataset of physical human-robot interaction and (c) validation of the whole system in a scenario inspired by a realistic industrial application. This work is an important step towards a more natural and user-friendly manner of physical human-robot interaction in scenarios where humans and robots collaborate in the accomplishment of a task.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Sampling and Reconstruction of Sparse Signals on Circulant Graphs - An Introduction to Graph-FRI
With the objective of employing graphs toward a more generalized theory of
signal processing, we present a novel sampling framework for (wavelet-)sparse
signals defined on circulant graphs which extends basic properties of Finite
Rate of Innovation (FRI) theory to the graph domain, and can be applied to
arbitrary graphs via suitable approximation schemes. At its core, the
introduced Graph-FRI-framework states that any K-sparse signal on the vertices
of a circulant graph can be perfectly reconstructed from its
dimensionality-reduced representation in the graph spectral domain, the Graph
Fourier Transform (GFT), of minimum size 2K. By leveraging the recently
developed theory of e-splines and e-spline wavelets on graphs, one can
decompose this graph spectral transformation into the multiresolution low-pass
filtering operation with a graph e-spline filter, and subsequent transformation
to the spectral graph domain; this allows to infer a distinct sampling pattern,
and, ultimately, the structure of an associated coarsened graph, which
preserves essential properties of the original, including circularity and,
where applicable, the graph generating set.Comment: To appear in Appl. Comput. Harmon. Anal. (2017
Cortical depth dependent functional responses in humans at 7T: improved specificity with 3D GRASE
Ultra high fields (7T and above) allow functional imaging with high contrast-to-noise ratios and improved spatial resolution. This, along with improved hardware and imaging techniques, allow investigating columnar and laminar functional responses. Using gradient-echo (GE) (T2* weighted) based sequences, layer specific responses have been recorded from human (and animal) primary visual areas. However, their increased sensitivity to large surface veins potentially clouds detecting and interpreting layer specific responses. Conversely, spin-echo (SE) (T2 weighted) sequences are less sensitive to large veins and have been used to map cortical columns in humans. T2 weighted 3D GRASE with inner volume selection provides high isotropic resolution over extended volumes, overcoming some of the many technical limitations of conventional 2D SE-EPI, whereby making layer specific investigations feasible. Further, the demonstration of columnar level specificity with 3D GRASE, despite contributions from both stimulated echoes and conventional T2 contrast, has made it an attractive alternative over 2D SE-EPI. Here, we assess the spatial specificity of cortical depth dependent 3D GRASE functional responses in human V1 and hMT by comparing it to GE responses. In doing so we demonstrate that 3D GRASE is less sensitive to contributions from large veins in superficial layers, while showing increased specificity (functional tuning) throughout the cortex compared to GE
Bayesian coherent analysis of in-spiral gravitational wave signals with a detector network
The present operation of the ground-based network of gravitational-wave laser
interferometers in "enhanced" configuration brings the search for gravitational
waves into a regime where detection is highly plausible. The development of
techniques that allow us to discriminate a signal of astrophysical origin from
instrumental artefacts in the interferometer data and to extract the full range
of information are some of the primary goals of the current work. Here we
report the details of a Bayesian approach to the problem of inference for
gravitational wave observations using a network of instruments, for the
computation of the Bayes factor between two hypotheses and the evaluation of
the marginalised posterior density functions of the unknown model parameters.
The numerical algorithm to tackle the notoriously difficult problem of the
evaluation of large multi-dimensional integrals is based on a technique known
as Nested Sampling, which provides an attractive alternative to more
traditional Markov-chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. We discuss the details of
the implementation of this algorithm and its performance against a Gaussian
model of the background noise, considering the specific case of the signal
produced by the in-spiral of binary systems of black holes and/or neutron
stars, although the method is completely general and can be applied to other
classes of sources. We also demonstrate the utility of this approach by
introducing a new coherence test to distinguish between the presence of a
coherent signal of astrophysical origin in the data of multiple instruments and
the presence of incoherent accidental artefacts, and the effects on the
estimation of the source parameters as a function of the number of instruments
in the network.Comment: 22 page
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