55,679 research outputs found
A guided Monte Carlo method for optimization problems
We introduce a new Monte Carlo method by incorporating a guided distribution
function to the conventional Monte Carlo method. In this way, the efficiency of
Monte Carlo methods is drastically improved. To further speed up the algorithm,
we include two more ingredients into the algorithm. First, we freeze the
sub-patterns that have high probability of appearance during the search for
optimal solution, resulting in a reduction of the phase space of the problem.
Second, we perform the simulation at a temperature which is within the optimal
temperature range of the optimization search in our algorithm. We use this
algorithm to search for the optimal path of the traveling salesman problem and
the ground state energy of the spin glass model and demonstrate that its
performance is comparable with more elaborate and heuristic methods.Comment: 4 pages, ReVTe
Efficient Localization of Discontinuities in Complex Computational Simulations
Surrogate models for computational simulations are input-output
approximations that allow computationally intensive analyses, such as
uncertainty propagation and inference, to be performed efficiently. When a
simulation output does not depend smoothly on its inputs, the error and
convergence rate of many approximation methods deteriorate substantially. This
paper details a method for efficiently localizing discontinuities in the input
parameter domain, so that the model output can be approximated as a piecewise
smooth function. The approach comprises an initialization phase, which uses
polynomial annihilation to assign function values to different regions and thus
seed an automated labeling procedure, followed by a refinement phase that
adaptively updates a kernel support vector machine representation of the
separating surface via active learning. The overall approach avoids structured
grids and exploits any available simplicity in the geometry of the separating
surface, thus reducing the number of model evaluations required to localize the
discontinuity. The method is illustrated on examples of up to eleven
dimensions, including algebraic models and ODE/PDE systems, and demonstrates
improved scaling and efficiency over other discontinuity localization
approaches
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