19,989 research outputs found
Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Programs in Data Science
The Park City Math Institute (PCMI) 2016 Summer Undergraduate Faculty Program
met for the purpose of composing guidelines for undergraduate programs in Data
Science. The group consisted of 25 undergraduate faculty from a variety of
institutions in the U.S., primarily from the disciplines of mathematics,
statistics and computer science. These guidelines are meant to provide some
structure for institutions planning for or revising a major in Data Science
Bricklayer: An Authentic Introduction to the Functional Programming Language SML
Functional programming languages are seen by many as instrumental to
effectively utilizing the computational power of multi-core platforms. As a
result, there is growing interest to introduce functional programming and
functional thinking as early as possible within the computer science
curriculum. Bricklayer is an API, written in SML, that provides a set of
abstractions for creating LEGO artifacts which can be viewed using LEGO Digital
Designer. The goal of Bricklayer is to create a problem space (i.e., a set of
LEGO artifacts) that is accessible and engaging to programmers (especially
novice programmers) while providing an authentic introduction to the functional
programming language SML.Comment: In Proceedings TFPIE 2014, arXiv:1412.473
An Efficient Policy Iteration Algorithm for Dynamic Programming Equations
We present an accelerated algorithm for the solution of static
Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations related to optimal control problems. Our
scheme is based on a classic policy iteration procedure, which is known to have
superlinear convergence in many relevant cases provided the initial guess is
sufficiently close to the solution. In many cases, this limitation degenerates
into a behavior similar to a value iteration method, with an increased
computation time. The new scheme circumvents this problem by combining the
advantages of both algorithms with an efficient coupling. The method starts
with a value iteration phase and then switches to a policy iteration procedure
when a certain error threshold is reached. A delicate point is to determine
this threshold in order to avoid cumbersome computation with the value
iteration and, at the same time, to be reasonably sure that the policy
iteration method will finally converge to the optimal solution. We analyze the
methods and efficient coupling in a number of examples in dimension two, three
and four illustrating its properties
Research and Education in Computational Science and Engineering
Over the past two decades the field of computational science and engineering
(CSE) has penetrated both basic and applied research in academia, industry, and
laboratories to advance discovery, optimize systems, support decision-makers,
and educate the scientific and engineering workforce. Informed by centuries of
theory and experiment, CSE performs computational experiments to answer
questions that neither theory nor experiment alone is equipped to answer. CSE
provides scientists and engineers of all persuasions with algorithmic
inventions and software systems that transcend disciplines and scales. Carried
on a wave of digital technology, CSE brings the power of parallelism to bear on
troves of data. Mathematics-based advanced computing has become a prevalent
means of discovery and innovation in essentially all areas of science,
engineering, technology, and society; and the CSE community is at the core of
this transformation. However, a combination of disruptive
developments---including the architectural complexity of extreme-scale
computing, the data revolution that engulfs the planet, and the specialization
required to follow the applications to new frontiers---is redefining the scope
and reach of the CSE endeavor. This report describes the rapid expansion of CSE
and the challenges to sustaining its bold advances. The report also presents
strategies and directions for CSE research and education for the next decade.Comment: Major revision, to appear in SIAM Revie
- …