52,057 research outputs found
Mode-Seeking on Hypergraphs for Robust Geometric Model Fitting
In this paper, we propose a novel geometric model fitting method, called
Mode-Seeking on Hypergraphs (MSH),to deal with multi-structure data even in the
presence of severe outliers. The proposed method formulates geometric model
fitting as a mode seeking problem on a hypergraph in which vertices represent
model hypotheses and hyperedges denote data points. MSH intuitively detects
model instances by a simple and effective mode seeking algorithm. In addition
to the mode seeking algorithm, MSH includes a similarity measure between
vertices on the hypergraph and a weight-aware sampling technique. The proposed
method not only alleviates sensitivity to the data distribution, but also is
scalable to large scale problems. Experimental results further demonstrate that
the proposed method has significant superiority over the state-of-the-art
fitting methods on both synthetic data and real images.Comment: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision,
pp. 2902-2910, 201
Dark matter implications of the WMAP-Planck Haze
Gamma rays and microwave observations of the Galactic Center and surrounding
areas indicate the presence of anomalous emission, whose origin remains
ambiguous. The possibility of dark matter (DM) annihilation explaining both
signals through prompt emission at gamma-rays and secondary emission at
microwave frequencies from interactions of high-energy electrons produced in
annihilation with the Galactic magnetic fields has attracted much interest in
recent years. We investigate the DM interpretation of the Galactic Center
gamma-ray excess by searching for the associated synchrotron in the WMAP-Planck
data. Considering various magnetic field and cosmic-ray propagation models, we
predict the synchrotron emission due to DM annihilation in our Galaxy, and
compare it with the WMAP-Planck data at 23-70GHz. In addition to standard
microwave foregrounds, we separately model the microwave counterpart to the
Fermi Bubbles and the signal due to DM, and use component separation techniques
to extract the signal associated with each template from the total emission. We
confirm the presence of the Haze at the level of 7% of the total sky intensity
at 23GHz in our chosen region of interest, with a harder spectrum than the synchrotron from regular cosmic-ray electrons. The data do
not show a strong preference towards fitting the Haze by either the Bubbles or
DM emission only. Inclusion of both components provides a better fit with a DM
contribution to the Haze emission of 20% at 23GHz, however, due to significant
uncertainties in foreground modeling, we do not consider this a clear detection
of a DM signal. We set robust upper limits on the annihilation cross section by
ignoring foregrounds, and also report best-fit DM annihilation parameters
obtained from a complete template analysis. We conclude that the WMAP-Planck
data are consistent with a DM interpretation of the gamma-ray excess.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figure
Robust Motion Segmentation from Pairwise Matches
In this paper we address a classification problem that has not been
considered before, namely motion segmentation given pairwise matches only. Our
contribution to this unexplored task is a novel formulation of motion
segmentation as a two-step process. First, motion segmentation is performed on
image pairs independently. Secondly, we combine independent pairwise
segmentation results in a robust way into the final globally consistent
segmentation. Our approach is inspired by the success of averaging methods. We
demonstrate in simulated as well as in real experiments that our method is very
effective in reducing the errors in the pairwise motion segmentation and can
cope with large number of mismatches
The impact of priors and observables on parameter inferences in the Constrained MSSM
We use a newly released version of the SuperBayeS code to analyze the impact
of the choice of priors and the influence of various constraints on the
statistical conclusions for the preferred values of the parameters of the
Constrained MSSM. We assess the effect in a Bayesian framework and compare it
with an alternative likelihood-based measure of a profile likelihood. We employ
a new scanning algorithm (MultiNest) which increases the computational
efficiency by a factor ~200 with respect to previously used techniques. We
demonstrate that the currently available data are not yet sufficiently
constraining to allow one to determine the preferred values of CMSSM parameters
in a way that is completely independent of the choice of priors and statistical
measures. While b->s gamma generally favors large m_0, this is in some contrast
with the preference for low values of m_0 and m_1/2 that is almost entirely a
consequence of a combination of prior effects and a single constraint coming
from the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, which remains somewhat
controversial. Using an information-theoretical measure, we find that the
cosmological dark matter abundance determination provides at least 80% of the
total constraining power of all available observables. Despite the remaining
uncertainties, prospects for direct detection in the CMSSM remain excellent,
with the spin-independent neutralino-proton cross section almost guaranteed
above sigma_SI ~ 10^{-10} pb, independently of the choice of priors or
statistics. Likewise, gluino and lightest Higgs discovery at the LHC remain
highly encouraging. While in this work we have used the CMSSM as particle
physics model, our formalism and scanning technique can be readily applied to a
wider class of models with several free parameters.Comment: Minor changes, extended discussion of profile likelihood. Matches
JHEP accepted version. SuperBayeS code with MultiNest algorithm available at
http://www.superbayes.or
Cosmic Discordance: Are Planck CMB and CFHTLenS weak lensing measurements out of tune?
We examine the level of agreement between low redshift weak lensing data and
the CMB using measurements from the CFHTLenS and Planck+WMAP polarization. We
perform an independent analysis of the CFHTLenS six bin tomography results of
Heymans et al. (2013). We extend their systematics treatment and find the
cosmological constraints to be relatively robust to the choice of non-linear
modeling, extension to the intrinsic alignment model and inclusion of baryons.
We find that the 90% confidence contours of CFHTLenS and Planck+WP do not
overlap even in the full 6-dimensional parameter space of CDM, so the
two datasets are discrepant. Allowing a massive active neutrino or tensor modes
does not significantly resolve the disagreement in the full n-dimensional
parameter space. Our results differ from some in the literature because we use
the full tomographic information in the weak lensing data and marginalize over
systematics. We note that adding a sterile neutrino to CDM does bring
the 8-dimensional 64% contours to overlap, mainly due to the extra effective
number of neutrino species, which we find to be 0.84 0.35 (68%) greater
than standard on combining the datasets. We discuss why this is not a
completely satisfactory resolution, leaving open the possibility of other new
physics or observational systematics as contributing factors. We provide
updated cosmology fitting functions for the CFHTLenS constraints and discuss
the differences from ones used in the literature.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures. We compare our findings with studies that
include other low redshift probes of structure. An interactive figure is
available at http://bit.ly/1oZH0KQ. This version is that accepted by MNRAS,
and so includes changes based on the referee's comments, and updates to the
analysis cod
The Host Galaxies of Fast-Ejecta Core-Collapse Supernovae
Spectra of broad-lined Type Ic supernovae (SN Ic-BL), the only kind of SN
observed at the locations of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs), exhibit
wide features indicative of high ejecta velocities (~0.1c). We study the host
galaxies of a sample of 245 low-redshift (z<0.2) core-collapse SN, including 17
SN Ic-BL, discovered by galaxy-untargeted searches, and 15 optically luminous
and dust-obscured z<1.2 LGRBs. We show that, in comparison with SDSS galaxies
having similar stellar masses, the hosts of low-redshift SN Ic-BL and z<1.2
LGRBs have high stellar-mass and star-formation-rate densities. Core-collapse
SN having typical ejecta velocities, in contrast, show no preference for such
galaxies. Moreover, we find that the hosts of SN Ic-BL, unlike those of SN
Ib/Ic and SN II, exhibit high gas velocity dispersions for their stellar
masses. The patterns likely reflect variations among star-forming environments,
and suggest that LGRBs can be used as probes of conditions in high-redshift
galaxies. They may be caused by efficient formation of massive binary
progenitors systems in densely star-forming regions, or, less probably, a
higher fraction of stars created with the initial masses required for a SN
Ic-BL or LGRB. Finally, we show that the preference of SN Ic-BL and LGRBs for
galaxies with high stellar-mass and star-formation-rate densities cannot be
attributed to a preference for low metal abundances but must reflect the
influence of a separate environmental factor.Comment: Accepted by ApJ 9 May 2014 with only minor revision
SZ contribution to characterize the shape of galaxy cluster haloes
We present the on-going activity to characterize the geometrical properties of the gas and dark matter haloes using multi-wavelength observations of galaxy clusters. The role of the SZ signal in describing the gas distribution is discussed for the pilot case of the CLASH object MACS J1206.2-0847
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