The Global Patch Collider

Abstract This paper proposes a novel extremely efficient, fullyparallelizable, task-specific algorithm for the computation of global point-wise correspondences in images and videos. Our algorithm, the Global Patch Collider, is based on detecting unique collisions between image points using a collection of learned tree structures that act as conditional hash functions. In contrast to conventional approaches that rely on pairwise distance computation, our algorithm isolates distinctive pixel pairs that hit the same leaf during traversal through multiple learned tree structures. The split functions stored at the intermediate nodes of the trees are trained to ensure that only visually similar patches or their geometric or photometric transformed versions fall into the same leaf node. The matching process involves passing all pixel positions in the images under analysis through the tree structures. We then compute matches by isolating points that uniquely collide with each other ie. fell in the same empty leaf in multiple trees. Our algorithm is linear in the number of pixels but can be made constant time on a parallel computation architecture as the tree traversal for individual image points is decoupled. We demonstrate the efficacy of our method by using it to perform optical flow matching and stereo matching on some challenging benchmarks. Experimental results show that not only is our method extremely computationally efficient, but it is also able to match or outperform state of the art methods that are much more complex

Constraining Quark Transversity through Collins Asymmetry Measurements at STAR

The quark transversity distributions are accessible via measurements of the azimuthal distribution of charged pions inside jets produced in collisions of transversely polarized protons. The STAR Detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is capable of full jet reconstruction and charged pion identification in the mid-rapidity region. This proceeding presents the first results of the Collins moment of leading charged pions in jets reconstructed from 2.2 pb-1 of root(s) = 200 GeV transversely polarized (58%) proton data.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, 19th Particles and Nuclei International Conference (PANIC 2011

Recent results of the STAR high-energy polarized proton-proton program at RHIC at BNL

The STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is carrying out a spin physics program colliding transverse or longitudinal polarized proton beams at $\sqrt{s}=200-500$GeV to gain a deeper insight into the spin structure and dynamics of the proton. These studies provide fundamental tests of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). One of the main objectives of the STAR spin physics program is the determination of the polarized gluon distribution function through a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry, $A_{LL}$, for various processes. Recent results will be shown on the measurement of $A_{LL}$ for inclusive jet production, neutral pion production and charged pion production at $\sqrt{s}=200$GeV. In addition to these measurements involving longitudinal polarized proton beams, the STAR collaboration has performed several important measurements employing transverse polarized proton beams. New results on the measurement of the transverse single-spin asymmetry, $A_{N}$, for forward neutral pion production and the first measurement of $A_{N}$ for mid-rapidity di-jet production will be discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Invited talk given at the 17th International Spin Physics Symposium (SPIN 2006), October 2006, Kyoto, Japa

WIMP Dark Matter in a Well-Tempered Regime: A case study on Singlet-Doublets Fermionic WIMP

Serious searches for the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) have now begun. In this context, the most important questions that need to be addressed are: "To what extent can we constrain the WIMP models in the future?" and "What will then be the remaining unexplored regions in the WIMP parameter space for each of these models?" In our quest to answer these questions, we classify WIMP in terms of quantum number and study each case adopting minimality as a guiding principle. As a first step, we study one of the simple cases of the minimal composition in the well-tempered fermionic WIMP regime, namely the singlet-doublets WIMP model. We consider all available constraints from direct and indirect searches and also the predicted constraints coming from the near future and the future experiments. We thus obtain the current status, the near future prospects and the future prospects of this model in all its generality. We find that in the future, this model will be constrained almost solely by the future direct dark matter detection experiments (as compared to the weaker indirect and collider constraints) and the cosmological (relic density) constraints and will hence be gradually pushed to the corner of the coannihilation region, if no WIMP signal is detected. Future lepton colliders will then be useful in exploring this region not constrained by any other experiments.Comment: 34 pages, 6 figures; v2: minor corrections, published versio

Angular ordering and parton showers for non-global QCD observables

We study the mismatch between a full calculation of non-global single-logarithms in the large-N_c limit and an approximation based on free azimuthal averaging, and the consequent angular-ordered pattern of soft gluon radiation in QCD. We compare the results obtained in either case to those obtained from the parton showers in the Monte Carlo event generators HERWIG and PYTHIA, with the aim of assessing the accuracy of the parton showers with regard to such observables where angular ordering is merely an approximation even at leading-logarithmic accuracy and which are commonly employed for the tuning of event generators to data.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure