4,050 research outputs found
On the minimum orbital intersection distance computation: a new effective method
The computation of the Minimum Orbital Intersection Distance (MOID) is an
old, but increasingly relevant problem. Fast and precise methods for MOID
computation are needed to select potentially hazardous asteroids from a large
catalogue. The same applies to debris with respect to spacecraft. An iterative
method that strictly meets these two premises is presented.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, article accepted for publication in MNRA
Energy integration describes sound-intensity coding in an insect auditory system
We investigate the transduction of sound stimuli into neural responses and focus on locust auditory receptor cells. As in other mechanosensory model systems, these neurons integrate acoustic inputs over a fairly broad frequency range. To test three alternative hypotheses about the nature of this spectral integration (amplitude, energy, pressure), we perform intracellular recordings while stimulating with superpositions of pure tones. On the basis of online data analysis and automatic feedback to the stimulus generator, we systematically explore regions in stimulus space that lead to the same level of neural activity. Focusing on such iso-firing-rate regions allows for a rigorous quantitative comparison of the electrophysiological data with predictions from the three hypotheses that is independent of nonlinearities induced by the spike dynamics. We find that the dependence of the firing rates of the receptors on the composition of the frequency spectrum can be well described by an energy-integrator model. This result holds at stimulus onset as well as for the steady-state response, including the case in which adaptation effects depend on the stimulus spectrum. Predictions of the model for the responses to bandpass-filtered noise stimuli are verified accurately. Together, our data suggest that the sound-intensity coding of the receptors can be understood as a three-step process, composed of a linear filter, a summation of the energy contributions in the frequency domain, and a firing-rate encoding of the resulting effective sound intensity. These findings set quantitative constraints for future biophysical models
Spatial modeling of extreme snow depth
The spatial modeling of extreme snow is important for adequate risk
management in Alpine and high altitude countries. A natural approach to such
modeling is through the theory of max-stable processes, an infinite-dimensional
extension of multivariate extreme value theory. In this paper we describe the
application of such processes in modeling the spatial dependence of extreme
snow depth in Switzerland, based on data for the winters 1966--2008 at 101
stations. The models we propose rely on a climate transformation that allows us
to account for the presence of climate regions and for directional effects,
resulting from synoptic weather patterns. Estimation is performed through
pairwise likelihood inference and the models are compared using penalized
likelihood criteria. The max-stable models provide a much better fit to the
joint behavior of the extremes than do independence or full dependence models.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AOAS464 the Annals of
Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
Some Problems on the Classical N-Body Problem
Our idea is to imitate Smale's list of problems, in a restricted domain of
mathematical aspects of Celestial Mechanics. All the problems are on the n-body
problem, some with different homogeneity of the potential, addressing many
aspects such as central configurations, stability of relative equilibrium,
singularities, integral manifolds, etc. Following Steve Smale in his list, the
criteria for our selection are: (1) Simple statement. Also preferably
mathematically precise, and best even with a yes or no answer. (2) Personal
acquaintance with the problem, having found it not easy. (3) A belief that the
question, its solution, partial results or even attempts at its solution are
likely to have great importance for the development of the mathematical aspects
of Celestial Mechanics.Comment: 10 pages, list of mathematical problem
Kriging prediction for manifold-valued random fields
The statistical analysis of data belonging to Riemannian manifolds is becoming increasingly important in many applications, such as shape analysis, diffusion tensor imaging and the analysis of covariance matrices. In many cases, data are spatially distributed but it is not trivial to take into account spatial dependence in the analysis because of the non linear geometry of the manifold. This work proposes a solution to the problem of spatial prediction for manifold valued data, with a particular focus on the case of positive definite symmetric matrices. Under the hypothesis that the dispersion of the observations on the manifold is not too large, data can be projected on a suitably chosen tangent space, where an additive model can be used to describe the relationship between response variable and covariates. Thus, we generalize classical kriging prediction, dealing with the spatial dependence in this tangent space, where well established Euclidean methods can be used. The proposed kriging prediction is applied to the matrix field of covariances between temperature and precipitation in Quebec, Canada.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmva.2015.12.00
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