Imprint of DES superstructures on the cosmic microwave background

Small temperature anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) can be sourced by density perturbations via the late-time integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect. Large voids and superclusters are excellent environments to make a localized measurement of this tiny imprint. In some cases excess signals have been reported. We probed these claims with an independent data set, using the first year data of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) in a different footprint, and using a different superstructure finding strategy. We identified 52 large voids and 102 superclusters at redshifts 0.2 < z < 0.65. We used the Jubilee simulation to a priori evaluate the optimal ISW measurement configuration for our compensated top-hat filtering technique, and then performed a stacking measurement of the CMB temperature field based on the DES data. For optimal configurations, we detected a cumulative cold imprint of voids with DeltaTf ≈ -5.0 ± 3.7 muK and a hot imprint of superclusters DeltaTf ≈ 5.1 ± 3.2 muK; this is ˜1.2sigma higher than the expected |DeltaTf| ≈ 0.6 muK imprint of such superstructures in Lambda cold dark matter (LambdaCDM). If we instead use an a posteriori selected filter size (R/Rv = 0.6), we can find a temperature decrement as large as DeltaTf ≈ -9.8 ± 4.7 muK for voids, which is ˜2sigma above LambdaCDM expectations and is comparable to previous measurements made using Sloan Digital Sky Survey superstructure data

Optimal measurement of visual motion across spatial and temporal scales

Sensory systems use limited resources to mediate the perception of a great variety of objects and events. Here a normative framework is presented for exploring how the problem of efficient allocation of resources can be solved in visual perception. Starting with a basic property of every measurement, captured by Gabor's uncertainty relation about the location and frequency content of signals, prescriptions are developed for optimal allocation of sensors for reliable perception of visual motion. This study reveals that a large-scale characteristic of human vision (the spatiotemporal contrast sensitivity function) is similar to the optimal prescription, and it suggests that some previously puzzling phenomena of visual sensitivity, adaptation, and perceptual organization have simple principled explanations.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, 2 appendices; in press in Favorskaya MN and Jain LC (Eds), Computer Vision in Advanced Control Systems using Conventional and Intelligent Paradigms, Intelligent Systems Reference Library, Springer-Verlag, Berli

Imprint of DES super-structures on the Cosmic Microwave Background

Small temperature anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background can be sourced by density perturbations via the late-time integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect. Large voids and superclusters are excellent environments to make a localized measurement of this tiny imprint. In some cases excess signals have been reported. We probed these claims with an independent data set, using the first year data of the Dark Energy Survey in a different footprint, and using a different super-structure finding strategy. We identified 52 large voids and 102 superclusters at redshifts $0.2 < z < 0.65$. We used the Jubilee simulation to a priori evaluate the optimal ISW measurement configuration for our compensated top-hat filtering technique, and then performed a stacking measurement of the CMB temperature field based on the DES data. For optimal configurations, we detected a cumulative cold imprint of voids with $\Delta T_{f} \approx -5.0\pm3.7~\mu K$ and a hot imprint of superclusters $\Delta T_{f} \approx 5.1\pm3.2~\mu K$ ; this is $\sim1.2\sigma$ higher than the expected $|\Delta T_{f}| \approx 0.6~\mu K$ imprint of such super-structures in $\Lambda$CDM. If we instead use an a posteriori selected filter size ($R/R_{v}=0.6$), we can find a temperature decrement as large as $\Delta T_{f} \approx -9.8\pm4.7~\mu K$ for voids, which is $\sim2\sigma$ above $\Lambda$CDM expectations and is comparable to previous measurements made using SDSS super-structure data

Near optimal discrimination of binary coherent signals via atom-light interaction

We study the discrimination of weak coherent states of light with significant overlaps by nondestructive measurements on the light states through measuring atomic states that are entangled to the coherent states via dipole coupling. In this way, the problem of measuring and discriminating coherent light states is shifted to finding the appropriate atom-light interaction and atomic measurements. We show that this scheme allows us to attain a probability of error extremely close to the Helstrom bound, the ultimate quantum limit for discriminating binary quantum states, through the simple Jaynes-Cummings interaction between the field and ancilla with optimized light-atom coupling and projective measurements on the atomic states. Moreover, since the measurement is nondestructive on the light state, information that is not detected by one measurement can be extracted from the post-measurement light states through subsequent measurements.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Local Measurement and Reconstruction for Noisy Graph Signals

The emerging field of signal processing on graph plays a more and more important role in processing signals and information related to networks. Existing works have shown that under certain conditions a smooth graph signal can be uniquely reconstructed from its decimation, i.e., data associated with a subset of vertices. However, in some potential applications (e.g., sensor networks with clustering structure), the obtained data may be a combination of signals associated with several vertices, rather than the decimation. In this paper, we propose a new concept of local measurement, which is a generalization of decimation. Using the local measurements, a local-set-based method named iterative local measurement reconstruction (ILMR) is proposed to reconstruct bandlimited graph signals. It is proved that ILMR can reconstruct the original signal perfectly under certain conditions. The performance of ILMR against noise is theoretically analyzed. The optimal choice of local weights and a greedy algorithm of local set partition are given in the sense of minimizing the expected reconstruction error. Compared with decimation, the proposed local measurement sampling and reconstruction scheme is more robust in noise existing scenarios.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, journal manuscrip

Optimal control of ankle joint moment: Toward unsupported standing in paraplegia

This paper considers part of the problem of how to provide unsupported standing for paraplegics by feedback control. In this work our overall objective is to stabilize the subject by stimulation only of his ankle joints while the other joints are braced, Here, we investigate the problem of ankle joint moment control. The ankle plantarflexion muscles are first identified with pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) signals, periodic sinusoidal signals, and twitches. The muscle is modeled in Hammerstein form as a static recruitment nonlinearity followed by a linear transfer function. A linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG)-optimal controller design procedure for ankle joint moment was proposed based on the polynomial equation formulation, The approach was verified by experiments in the special Wobbler apparatus with a neurologically intact subject, and these experimental results are reported. The controller structure is formulated in such a way that there are only two scalar design parameters, each of which has a clear physical interpretation. This facilitates fast controller synthesis and tuning in the laboratory environment. Experimental results show the effects of the controller tuning parameters: the control weighting and the observer response time, which determine closed-loop properties. Using these two parameters the tradeoff between disturbance rejection and measurement noise sensitivity can be straightforwardly balanced while maintaining a desired speed of tracking. The experimentally measured reference tracking, disturbance rejection, and noise sensitivity are good and agree with theoretical expectations

The reproduction of the response of an aircraft panel to turbulent boundary layer excitation in laboratory conditions

One important topic in the aeronautic and aerospace industries is the reproduction of random pressure field, with prescribed spatial correlation characteristics, in laboratory conditions. In particular, the random-wall pressure fluctuations induced by a Turbulent Boundary Layer (TBL) excitation are a major concern for cabin noise problem, as this excitation has been identified as the dominant contribution in cruise conditions. As in-flight measurements require costly and time-consuming measurement campaigns, the laboratory reproduction has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Some work has already been carried out for the laboratory simulation of the excitation pressure field for several random fields. It has been found that TBL reproduction is very demanding in terms of number of loudspeakers per correlation length, and it should require a dense and non-uniform arrangement of acoustic sources due to the different spanwise and streamwise correlation lengths involved. The present study addresses the problem of directly simulating the vibroacoustic response of an aircraft skin panel using a near-field array of suitably driven loudspeakers. It is compared with the use of an array of shakers and piezoelectric actuators. It is shown how the wavenumber filtering capabilities of the panel reduces the number of sources required, thus dramatically enlarging the frequency range over which the TBL vibro-acoustic response is reproduced with accuracy. Direct reconstruction of the TBL-induced panel response is found to be feasible over the hydrodynamic coincidence frequency range using a limited number of actuators driven by optimal signals. It is shown that piezoelectric actuators, which have more practical implementation than shakers, provide a more effective reproduction of the TBL response than near-field loudspeakers