12,086 research outputs found
Recent Advances in Graph Partitioning
We survey recent trends in practical algorithms for balanced graph
partitioning together with applications and future research directions
Analysis of variance--why it is more important than ever
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is an extremely important method in exploratory
and confirmatory data analysis. Unfortunately, in complex problems (e.g.,
split-plot designs), it is not always easy to set up an appropriate ANOVA. We
propose a hierarchical analysis that automatically gives the correct ANOVA
comparisons even in complex scenarios. The inferences for all means and
variances are performed under a model with a separate batch of effects for each
row of the ANOVA table. We connect to classical ANOVA by working with
finite-sample variance components: fixed and random effects models are
characterized by inferences about existing levels of a factor and new levels,
respectively. We also introduce a new graphical display showing inferences
about the standard deviations of each batch of effects. We illustrate with two
examples from our applied data analysis, first illustrating the usefulness of
our hierarchical computations and displays, and second showing how the ideas of
ANOVA are helpful in understanding a previously fit hierarchical model.Comment: This paper discussed in: [math.ST/0508526], [math.ST/0508527],
[math.ST/0508528], [math.ST/0508529]. Rejoinder in [math.ST/0508530
Problems on q-Analogs in Coding Theory
The interest in -analogs of codes and designs has been increased in the
last few years as a consequence of their new application in error-correction
for random network coding. There are many interesting theoretical, algebraic,
and combinatorial coding problems concerning these q-analogs which remained
unsolved. The first goal of this paper is to make a short summary of the large
amount of research which was done in the area mainly in the last few years and
to provide most of the relevant references. The second goal of this paper is to
present one hundred open questions and problems for future research, whose
solution will advance the knowledge in this area. The third goal of this paper
is to present and start some directions in solving some of these problems.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0805.3528 by other author
Multilevel Bayesian framework for modeling the production, propagation and detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are atomic nuclei with energies over
ten million times energies accessible to human-made particle accelerators.
Evidence suggests that they originate from relatively nearby extragalactic
sources, but the nature of the sources is unknown. We develop a multilevel
Bayesian framework for assessing association of UHECRs and candidate source
populations, and Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms for estimating model
parameters and comparing models by computing, via Chib's method, marginal
likelihoods and Bayes factors. We demonstrate the framework by analyzing
measurements of 69 UHECRs observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO) from
2004-2009, using a volume-complete catalog of 17 local active galactic nuclei
(AGN) out to 15 megaparsecs as candidate sources. An early portion of the data
("period 1," with 14 events) was used by PAO to set an energy cut maximizing
the anisotropy in period 1; the 69 measurements include this "tuned" subset,
and subsequent "untuned" events with energies above the same cutoff. Also,
measurement errors are approximately summarized. These factors are problematic
for independent analyses of PAO data. Within the context of "standard candle"
source models (i.e., with a common isotropic emission rate), and considering
only the 55 untuned events, there is no significant evidence favoring
association of UHECRs with local AGN vs. an isotropic background. The
highest-probability associations are with the two nearest, adjacent AGN,
Centaurus A and NGC 4945. If the association model is adopted, the fraction of
UHECRs that may be associated is likely nonzero but is well below 50%. Our
framework enables estimation of the angular scale for deflection of cosmic rays
by cosmic magnetic fields; relatively modest scales of to
are favored. Models that assign a large fraction of UHECRs to a
single nearby source (e.g., Centaurus A) are ruled out unless very large
deflection scales are specified a priori, and even then they are disfavored.
However, including the period 1 data alters the conclusions significantly, and
a simulation study supports the idea that the period 1 data are anomalous,
presumably due to the tuning. Accurate and optimal analysis of future data will
likely require more complete disclosure of the data.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/13-AOAS654 the Annals of
Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
Multilevel RTS in proton irradiated CMOS image sensors manufactured in a deep submicron technology
A new automated method able to detect multilevel random telegraph signals (RTS) in pixel arrays and to extract their main characteristics is presented. The proposed method is applied to several proton irradiated pixel arrays manufactured using a 0.18um CMOS process dedicated to imaging. Despite the large proton energy range and the large fluence range used, similar exponential RTS amplitude distributions are observed. A mean maximum amplitude independent of displacement damage dose is extracted from these distributions and the number of RTS defects appears to scale well with total nonionizing energy loss. These conclusions allow the prediction of RTS amplitude distributions. The effect of electric field on RTS amplitude is also studied and no significant relation between applied bias and RTS amplitude is observed
Analysis and design of a modular multilevel converter with trapezoidal modulation for medium and high voltage DC-DC transformers
Conventional dual active bridge topologies provide galvanic isolation and soft-switching over a reasonable operating range without dedicated resonant circuits. However, scaling the two-level dual active bridge to higher dc voltage levels is impeded by several challenges among which the high dv/dt stress on the coupling transformer insulation. Gating and thermal characteristics of series switch arrays add to the limitations. To avoid the use of standard bulky modular multilevel bridges, this paper analyzes an alternative modulation technique where staircase approximated trapezoidal voltage waveforms are produced; thus alleviating developed dv/dt stresses. Modular design is realized by the utilization of half-bridge chopper cells. Therefore, the analyzed converter is a modular multi-level converter operated in a new mode with no common-mode dc arm currents as well as reduced capacitor size, hence reduced cell footprint. Suitable switching patterns are developed and various design and operation aspects are studied. Soft switching characteristics will be shown to be comparable to those of the two-level dual active bridge. Experimental results from a scaled test rig validate the presented concept
PT-Scotch: A tool for efficient parallel graph ordering
The parallel ordering of large graphs is a difficult problem, because on the
one hand minimum degree algorithms do not parallelize well, and on the other
hand the obtainment of high quality orderings with the nested dissection
algorithm requires efficient graph bipartitioning heuristics, the best
sequential implementations of which are also hard to parallelize. This paper
presents a set of algorithms, implemented in the PT-Scotch software package,
which allows one to order large graphs in parallel, yielding orderings the
quality of which is only slightly worse than the one of state-of-the-art
sequential algorithms. Our implementation uses the classical nested dissection
approach but relies on several novel features to solve the parallel graph
bipartitioning problem. Thanks to these improvements, PT-Scotch produces
consistently better orderings than ParMeTiS on large numbers of processors
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