Map Matching with Simplicity Constraints

We study a map matching problem, the task of finding in an embedded graph a path that has low distance to a given curve in R^2. The Fr\'echet distance is a common measure for this problem. Efficient methods exist to compute the best path according to this measure. However, these methods cannot guarantee that the result is simple (i.e. it does not intersect itself) even if the given curve is simple. In this paper, we prove that it is in fact NP-complete to determine the existence a simple cycle in a planar straight-line embedding of a graph that has at most a given Fr\'echet distance to a given simple closed curve. We also consider the implications of our proof on some variants of the problem

New Variables for Classical and Quantum Gravity in all Dimensions II. Lagrangian Analysis

We rederive the results of our companion paper, for matching spacetime and internal signature, by applying in detail the Dirac algorithm to the Palatini action. While the constraint set of the Palatini action contains second class constraints, by an appeal to the method of gauge unfixing, we map the second class system to an equivalent first class system which turns out to be identical to the first class constraint system obtained via the extension of the ADM phase space performed in our companion paper. Central to our analysis is again the appropriate treatment of the simplicity constraint. Remarkably, the simplicity constraint invariant extension of the Hamiltonian constraint, that is a necessary step in the gauge unfixing procedure, involves a correction term which is precisely the one found in the companion paper and which makes sure that the Hamiltonian constraint derived from the Palatini Lagrangian coincides with the ADM Hamiltonian constraint when Gauss and simplicity constraints are satisfied. We therefore have rederived our new connection formulation of General Relativity from an independent starting point, thus confirming the consistency of this framework.Comment: 42 pages. v2: Journal version. Some nonessential sign errors in section 2 corrected. Minor clarification

Lifting SU(2) Spin Networks to Projected Spin Networks

Projected spin network states are the canonical basis of quantum states of geometry for the most recent EPR-FK spinfoam models for quantum gravity. They are functionals of both the Lorentz connection and the time normal field. We analyze in details the map from these projected spin networks to the standard SU(2) spin networks of loop quantum gravity. We show that this map is not one-to-one and that the corresponding ambiguity is parameterized by the Immirzi parameter. We conclude with a comparison of the scalar products between projected spin networks and SU(2) spin network states.Comment: 14 page

U(N) and holomorphic methods for LQG and Spin Foams

The U(N) framework and the spinor representation for loop quantum gravity are two new points of view that can help us deal with the most fundamental problems of the theory. Here, we review the detailed construction of the U(N) framework explaining how one can endow the Hilbert space of N-leg intertwiners with a Fock structure. We then give a description of the classical phase space corresponding to this system in terms of the spinors, and we will study its quantization using holomorphic techniques. We take special care in constructing the usual holonomy operators of LQG in terms of spinors, and in the description of the Hilbert space of LQG with the different polarization given by these spinors.Comment: 16 pages. Proceedings for the 3rd Quantum Geometry and Quantum Gravity School in Zakopane (2011

Classical Setting and Effective Dynamics for Spinfoam Cosmology

We explore how to extract effective dynamics from loop quantum gravity and spinfoams truncated to a finite fixed graph, with the hope of modeling symmetry-reduced gravitational systems. We particularize our study to the 2-vertex graph with N links. We describe the canonical data using the recent formulation of the phase space in terms of spinors, and implement a symmetry-reduction to the homogeneous and isotropic sector. From the canonical point of view, we construct a consistent Hamiltonian for the model and discuss its relation with Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmologies. Then, we analyze the dynamics from the spinfoam approach. We compute exactly the transition amplitude between initial and final coherent spin networks states with support on the 2-vertex graph, for the choice of the simplest two-complex (with a single space-time vertex). The transition amplitude verifies an exact differential equation that agrees with the Hamiltonian constructed previously. Thus, in our simple setting we clarify the link between the canonical and the covariant formalisms.Comment: 38 pages, v2: Link with discretized loop quantum gravity made explicit and emphasize

Null twisted geometries

We define and investigate a quantisation of null hypersurfaces in the context of loop quantum gravity on a fixed graph. The main tool we use is the parametrisation of the theory in terms of twistors, which has already proved useful in discussing the interpretation of spin networks as the quantization of twisted geometries. The classical formalism can be extended in a natural way to null hypersurfaces, with the Euclidean polyhedra replaced by null polyhedra with space-like faces, and SU(2) by the little group ISO(2). The main difference is that the simplicity constraints present in the formalims are all first class, and the symplectic reduction selects only the helicity subgroup of the little group. As a consequence, information on the shapes of the polyhedra is lost, and the result is a much simpler, abelian geometric picture. It can be described by an Euclidean singular structure on the 2-dimensional space-like surface defined by a foliation of space-time by null hypersurfaces. This geometric structure is naturally decomposed into a conformal metric and scale factors, forming locally conjugate pairs. Proper action-angle variables on the gauge-invariant phase space are described by the eigenvectors of the Laplacian of the dual graph. We also identify the variables of the phase space amenable to characterize the extrinsic geometry of the foliation. Finally, we quantise the phase space and its algebra using Dirac's algorithm, obtaining a notion of spin networks for null hypersurfaces. Such spin networks are labelled by SO(2) quantum numbers, and are embedded non-trivially in the unitary, infinite-dimensional irreducible representations of the Lorentz group.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures. v2: minor corrections, improved presentation in section 4, references update

The edge cloud: A holistic view of communication, computation and caching

The evolution of communication networks shows a clear shift of focus from just improving the communications aspects to enabling new important services, from Industry 4.0 to automated driving, virtual/augmented reality, Internet of Things (IoT), and so on. This trend is evident in the roadmap planned for the deployment of the fifth generation (5G) communication networks. This ambitious goal requires a paradigm shift towards a vision that looks at communication, computation and caching (3C) resources as three components of a single holistic system. The further step is to bring these 3C resources closer to the mobile user, at the edge of the network, to enable very low latency and high reliability services. The scope of this chapter is to show that signal processing techniques can play a key role in this new vision. In particular, we motivate the joint optimization of 3C resources. Then we show how graph-based representations can play a key role in building effective learning methods and devising innovative resource allocation techniques.Comment: to appear in the book "Cooperative and Graph Signal Pocessing: Principles and Applications", P. Djuric and C. Richard Eds., Academic Press, Elsevier, 201