11,101 research outputs found
The Data Big Bang and the Expanding Digital Universe: High-Dimensional, Complex and Massive Data Sets in an Inflationary Epoch
Recent and forthcoming advances in instrumentation, and giant new surveys,
are creating astronomical data sets that are not amenable to the methods of
analysis familiar to astronomers. Traditional methods are often inadequate not
merely because of the size in bytes of the data sets, but also because of the
complexity of modern data sets. Mathematical limitations of familiar algorithms
and techniques in dealing with such data sets create a critical need for new
paradigms for the representation, analysis and scientific visualization (as
opposed to illustrative visualization) of heterogeneous, multiresolution data
across application domains. Some of the problems presented by the new data sets
have been addressed by other disciplines such as applied mathematics,
statistics and machine learning and have been utilized by other sciences such
as space-based geosciences. Unfortunately, valuable results pertaining to these
problems are mostly to be found only in publications outside of astronomy. Here
we offer brief overviews of a number of concepts, techniques and developments,
some "old" and some new. These are generally unknown to most of the
astronomical community, but are vital to the analysis and visualization of
complex datasets and images. In order for astronomers to take advantage of the
richness and complexity of the new era of data, and to be able to identify,
adopt, and apply new solutions, the astronomical community needs a certain
degree of awareness and understanding of the new concepts. One of the goals of
this paper is to help bridge the gap between applied mathematics, artificial
intelligence and computer science on the one side and astronomy on the other.Comment: 24 pages, 8 Figures, 1 Table. Accepted for publication: "Advances in
Astronomy, special issue "Robotic Astronomy
Fast, Scalable, and Interactive Software for Landau-de Gennes Numerical Modeling of Nematic Topological Defects
Numerical modeling of nematic liquid crystals using the tensorial Landau-de
Gennes (LdG) theory provides detailed insights into the structure and
energetics of the enormous variety of possible topological defect
configurations that may arise when the liquid crystal is in contact with
colloidal inclusions or structured boundaries. However, these methods can be
computationally expensive, making it challenging to predict (meta)stable
configurations involving several colloidal particles, and they are often
restricted to system sizes well below the experimental scale. Here we present
an open-source software package that exploits the embarrassingly parallel
structure of the lattice discretization of the LdG approach. Our
implementation, combining CUDA/C++ and OpenMPI, allows users to accelerate
simulations using both CPU and GPU resources in either single- or multiple-core
configurations. We make use of an efficient minimization algorithm, the Fast
Inertial Relaxation Engine (FIRE) method, that is well-suited to large-scale
parallelization, requiring little additional memory or computational cost while
offering performance competitive with other commonly used methods. In
multi-core operation we are able to scale simulations up to supra-micron length
scales of experimental relevance, and in single-core operation the simulation
package includes a user-friendly GUI environment for rapid prototyping of
interfacial features and the multifarious defect states they can promote. To
demonstrate this software package, we examine in detail the competition between
curvilinear disclinations and point-like hedgehog defects as size scale,
material properties, and geometric features are varied. We also study the
effects of an interface patterned with an array of topological point-defects.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 1 youtube link. The full catastroph
3D differential phase contrast microscopy
We demonstrate 3D phase and absorption recovery from partially coherent intensity images captured with a programmable LED array source. Images are captured through-focus with four different illumination patterns. Using first Born and weak object approximations (WOA), a linear 3D differential phase contrast (DPC) model is derived. The partially coherent transfer functions relate the sample's complex refractive index distribution to intensity measurements at varying defocus. Volumetric reconstruction is achieved by a global FFT-based method, without an intermediate 2D phase retrieval step. Because the illumination is spatially partially coherent, the transverse resolution of the reconstructed field achieves twice the NA of coherent systems and improved axial resolution
Matrix product states and variational methods applied to critical quantum field theory
We study the second-order quantum phase-transition of massive real scalar
field theory with a quartic interaction ( theory) in (1+1) dimensions
on an infinite spatial lattice using matrix product states (MPS). We introduce
and apply a naive variational conjugate gradient method, based on the
time-dependent variational principle (TDVP) for imaginary time, to obtain
approximate ground states, using a related ansatz for excitations to calculate
the particle and soliton masses and to obtain the spectral density. We also
estimate the central charge using finite-entanglement scaling. Our value for
the critical parameter agrees well with recent Monte Carlo results, improving
on an earlier study which used the related DMRG method, verifying that these
techniques are well-suited to studying critical field systems. We also obtain
critical exponents that agree, as expected, with those of the transverse Ising
model. Additionally, we treat the special case of uniform product states (mean
field theory) separately, showing that they may be used to investigate
non-critical quantum field theories under certain conditions.Comment: 24 pages, 21 figures, with a minor improvement to the QFT sectio
Convolutional Color Constancy
Color constancy is the problem of inferring the color of the light that
illuminated a scene, usually so that the illumination color can be removed.
Because this problem is underconstrained, it is often solved by modeling the
statistical regularities of the colors of natural objects and illumination. In
contrast, in this paper we reformulate the problem of color constancy as a 2D
spatial localization task in a log-chrominance space, thereby allowing us to
apply techniques from object detection and structured prediction to the color
constancy problem. By directly learning how to discriminate between correctly
white-balanced images and poorly white-balanced images, our model is able to
improve performance on standard benchmarks by nearly 40%
Feature Lines for Illustrating Medical Surface Models: Mathematical Background and Survey
This paper provides a tutorial and survey for a specific kind of illustrative
visualization technique: feature lines. We examine different feature line
methods. For this, we provide the differential geometry behind these concepts
and adapt this mathematical field to the discrete differential geometry. All
discrete differential geometry terms are explained for triangulated surface
meshes. These utilities serve as basis for the feature line methods. We provide
the reader with all knowledge to re-implement every feature line method.
Furthermore, we summarize the methods and suggest a guideline for which kind of
surface which feature line algorithm is best suited. Our work is motivated by,
but not restricted to, medical and biological surface models.Comment: 33 page
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