1,107 research outputs found
A variational method for quantitative photoacoustic tomography with piecewise constant coefficients
In this article, we consider the inverse problem of determining spatially
heterogeneous absorption and diffusion coefficients from a single measurement
of the absorbed energy (in the steady-state diffusion approximation of light
transfer). This problem, which is central in quantitative photoacoustic
tomography, is in general ill-posed since it admits an infinite number of
solution pairs. We show that when the coefficients are known to be piecewise
constant functions, a unique solution can be obtained. For the numerical
determination of the coefficients, we suggest a variational method based based
on an Ambrosio-Tortorelli-approximation of a Mumford-Shah-like functional,
which we implemented numerically and tested on simulated two-dimensional data
Quantitative photoacoustic tomography with piecewise constant material parameters
The goal of quantitative photoacoustic tomography is to determine optical and
acoustical material properties from initial pressure maps as obtained, for
instance, from photoacoustic imaging. The most relevant parameters are
absorption, diffusion and Grueneisen coefficients, all of which can be
heterogeneous. Recent work by Bal and Ren shows that in general, unique
reconstruction of all three parameters is impossible, even if multiple
measurements of the initial pressure (corresponding to different laser
excitation directions at a single wavelength) are available.
Here, we propose a restriction to piecewise constant material parameters. We
show that in the diffusion approximation of light transfer, piecewise constant
absorption, diffusion and Gr\"uneisen coefficients can be recovered uniquely
from photoacoustic measurements at a single wavelength. In addition, we
implemented our ideas numerically and tested them on simulated
three-dimensional data
A Toy Model for Testing Finite Element Methods to Simulate Extreme-Mass-Ratio Binary Systems
Extreme mass ratio binary systems, binaries involving stellar mass objects
orbiting massive black holes, are considered to be a primary source of
gravitational radiation to be detected by the space-based interferometer LISA.
The numerical modelling of these binary systems is extremely challenging
because the scales involved expand over several orders of magnitude. One needs
to handle large wavelength scales comparable to the size of the massive black
hole and, at the same time, to resolve the scales in the vicinity of the small
companion where radiation reaction effects play a crucial role. Adaptive finite
element methods, in which quantitative control of errors is achieved
automatically by finite element mesh adaptivity based on posteriori error
estimation, are a natural choice that has great potential for achieving the
high level of adaptivity required in these simulations. To demonstrate this, we
present the results of simulations of a toy model, consisting of a point-like
source orbiting a black hole under the action of a scalar gravitational field.Comment: 29 pages, 37 figures. RevTeX 4.0. Minor changes to match the
published versio
A Phase-Space Discontinuous Galerkin Scheme for the Radiative Transfer Equation in Slab Geometry
We derive and analyze a symmetric interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin scheme for the approximation of the second-order form of the radiative transfer equation in slab geometry. Using appropriate trace lemmas, the analysis can be carried out as for more standard elliptic problems. Supporting examples show the accuracy and stability of the method also numerically, for different polynomial degrees. For discretization, we employ quad-tree grids, which allow for local refinement in phase-space, and we show exemplary that adaptive methods can efficiently approximate discontinuous solutions. We investigate the behavior of hierarchical error estimators and error estimators based on local averaging
Numerical Relativity: A review
Computer simulations are enabling researchers to investigate systems which
are extremely difficult to handle analytically. In the particular case of
General Relativity, numerical models have proved extremely valuable for
investigations of strong field scenarios and been crucial to reveal unexpected
phenomena. Considerable efforts are being spent to simulate astrophysically
relevant simulations, understand different aspects of the theory and even
provide insights in the search for a quantum theory of gravity. In the present
article I review the present status of the field of Numerical Relativity,
describe the techniques most commonly used and discuss open problems and (some)
future prospects.Comment: 2 References added; 1 corrected. 67 pages. To appear in Classical and
Quantum Gravity. (uses iopart.cls
Compact binary merger simulations in numerical relativity
The era of Gravitational Waves Astronomy was launched after the success of the first observation run of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the VIRGO Collaboration. The large laser interferometers incredible achievement prompted the need of extensive studies in the field of compact astrophysical objects, such as Black Holes and Neutron Stars. Today, seven years after this event, the field of study underwent a notable expansion, corroborated by the detection of a signal coming from a Binary Neutron Star merger, together with its electro-magnetic counterpart, and, more recently, by the first detections of signals coming from mixed compact binaries, i.e. Black Hole- Neutron Star binaries. In this thesis work we span our attention across different aspects of compact objects mergers, including the inclusion of new physics into the already performing numerical relativity code BAM and the study of specific systems of compact objects. We first explore the treatment of neutrinos in case of Binary Neutron Star mergers and a tool to identify and further analyze regions containing trapped neutrinos, in the hot remnant of such mergers. Neutrinos, play in fact a key role into the rapid processes that characterize the formation of elements in the dynamical ejecta expelled during these catastrophic events. In the following we explore a variety of configurations of mixed compact binary systems. After the development of the new ID code Elliptica, and the steps taken to verify its accuracy, we make use of its capability to evolve sets of physical system with various properties. Exploring the space of parameters we study different spin configurations and magnitudes of single objects and their effects on the merger dynamics
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