18,467 research outputs found
Detection of image structures using the Fisher information and the Rao metric
In many detection problems, the structures to be detected are parameterized by the points of a parameter space. If the conditional probability density function for the measurements is known, then detection can be achieved by sampling the parameter space at a finite number of points and checking each point to see if the corresponding structure is supported by the data. The number of samples and the distances between neighboring samples are calculated using the Rao metric on the parameter space. The Rao metric is obtained from the Fisher information which is, in turn, obtained from the conditional probability density function. An upper bound is obtained for the probability of a false detection. The calculations are simplified in the low noise case by making an asymptotic approximation to the Fisher information. An application to line detection is described. Expressions are obtained for the asymptotic approximation to the Fisher information, the volume of the parameter space, and the number of samples. The time complexity for line detection is estimated. An experimental comparison is made with a Hough transform-based method for detecting lines
Lens distortion correction by analysing the shape of patterns in Hough transform space : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Electronics and Computer Engineering at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
Many low cost, wide angle lenses suffer from lens distortion, resulting from a radial variation in the lens magnification. As a result, straight lines, particularly those in the periphery, appear curved. The Hough transform is a commonly used linear feature detection technique within an image. In Hough transform space, straight lines and curved lines have different shapes of peaks. This thesis proposes a lens distortion correction method named SLDC based on analysing the shape of patterns in the Hough transform space. It works by reconstructing the distorted line from significant points on the smile-shaped Hough pattern. It then optimises the distortion parameter by mapping the reconstructed curved line into a straight line and minimising the RMSE. From both simulation and correcting real world images, the SLDC provides encouraging results
All-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S4 data
We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic
gravitational waves in the frequency range 50-1000 Hz and with the frequency's
time derivative in the range -1.0E-8 Hz/s to zero. Data from the fourth LIGO
science run (S4) have been used in this search. Three different semi-coherent
methods of transforming and summing strain power from Short Fourier Transforms
(SFTs) of the calibrated data have been used. The first, known as "StackSlide",
averages normalized power from each SFT. A "weighted Hough" scheme is also
developed and used, and which also allows for a multi-interferometer search.
The third method, known as "PowerFlux", is a variant of the StackSlide method
in which the power is weighted before summing. In both the weighted Hough and
PowerFlux methods, the weights are chosen according to the noise and detector
antenna-pattern to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. The respective
advantages and disadvantages of these methods are discussed. Observing no
evidence of periodic gravitational radiation, we report upper limits; we
interpret these as limits on this radiation from isolated rotating neutron
stars. The best population-based upper limit with 95% confidence on the
gravitational-wave strain amplitude, found for simulated sources distributed
isotropically across the sky and with isotropically distributed spin-axes, is
4.28E-24 (near 140 Hz). Strict upper limits are also obtained for small patches
on the sky for best-case and worst-case inclinations of the spin axes.Comment: 39 pages, 41 figures An error was found in the computation of the C
parameter defined in equation 44 which led to its overestimate by 2^(1/4).
The correct values for the multi-interferometer, H1 and L1 analyses are 9.2,
9.7, and 9.3, respectively. Figure 32 has been updated accordingly. None of
the upper limits presented in the paper were affecte
The Hough transform estimator
This article pursues a statistical study of the Hough transform, the
celebrated computer vision algorithm used to detect the presence of lines in a
noisy image. We first study asymptotic properties of the Hough transform
estimator, whose objective is to find the line that ``best'' fits a set of
planar points. In particular, we establish strong consistency and rates of
convergence, and characterize the limiting distribution of the Hough transform
estimator. While the convergence rates are seen to be slower than those found
in some standard regression methods, the Hough transform estimator is shown to
be more robust as measured by its breakdown point. We next study the Hough
transform in the context of the problem of detecting multiple lines. This is
addressed via the framework of excess mass functionals and modality testing.
Throughout, several numerical examples help illustrate various properties of
the estimator. Relations between the Hough transform and more mainstream
statistical paradigms and methods are discussed as well.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/009053604000000760 in the
Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
Direct Observation of Cosmic Strings via their Strong Gravitational Lensing Effect: II. Results from the HST/ACS Image Archive
We have searched 4.5 square degrees of archival HST/ACS images for cosmic
strings, identifying close pairs of similar, faint galaxies and selecting
groups whose alignment is consistent with gravitational lensing by a long,
straight string. We find no evidence for cosmic strings in five large-area HST
treasury surveys (covering a total of 2.22 square degrees), or in any of 346
multi-filter guest observer images (1.18 square degrees). Assuming that
simulations ccurately predict the number of cosmic strings in the universe,
this non-detection allows us to place upper limits on the unitless Universal
cosmic string tension of G mu/c^2 < 2.3 x 10^-6, and cosmic string density of
Omega_s < 2.1 x 10^-5 at the 95% confidence level (marginalising over the other
parameter in each case). We find four dubious cosmic string candidates in 318
single filter guest observer images (1.08 square degrees), which we are unable
to conclusively eliminate with existing data. The confirmation of any one of
these candidates as cosmic strings would imply G mu/c^2 ~ 10^-6 and Omega_s ~
10^-5. However, we estimate that there is at least a 92% chance that these
string candidates are random alignments of galaxies. If we assume that these
candidates are indeed false detections, our final limits on G mu/c^2 and
Omega_s fall to 6.5 x 10^-7 and 7.3 x 10^-6. Due to the extensive sky coverage
of the HST/ACS image archive, the above limits are universal. They are quite
sensitive to the number of fields being searched, and could be further reduced
by more than a factor of two using forthcoming HST data.Comment: 21 pages, 18 figure
- …