289 research outputs found
Pun and wordplay – deconstruction and reconstruction of meaning
The present study aims at analyzing puns from the front page of the newspaper Canard Enchaîné, more precisely the deconstruction of meanings and the reconstruction of new meanings by means of this linguistic
process. As it is shown by the specialized literature, the nature of the pun itself actually reveals the lexical or semantic organization of all pre-constructed material. The puns used in our corpus will extend,
as we shall see, from polysemy and ambiguity resulting from the multitude of meanings that a word can have, to the construction of portmanteau words: « Pour Standard et Poor’s : Cet accord Mercozy, c’est de la poudre de Berlinpimpin » (Canard enchaîné, 4754), the construction of new words : « Après l’annonce
surprise du référendum le choeur des 26 européens : On s’est fait Papandréouter » (Canard enchaîné, 4749), to finally arrive at the use of defrosted structures, as in the example: « Sommet à Bruxelles pour sauver la Grèce et l’euro. L’Europe peine à reprendre du poil de la dette » (Canard enchaîné, 4734)
On the geometry of mixed states and the Fisher information tensor
In this paper, we will review the co-adjoint orbit formulation of finite
dimensional quantum mechanics, and in this framework, we will interpret the
notion of quantum Fisher information index (and metric). Following previous
work of part of the authors, who introduced the definition of Fisher
information tensor, we will show how its antisymmetric part is the pullback of
the natural Kostant-Kirillov-Souriau symplectic form along some natural
diffeomorphism. In order to do this, we will need to understand the symmetric
logarithmic derivative as a proper 1-form, settling the issues about its very
definition and explicit computation. Moreover, the fibration of co-adjoint
orbits, seen as spaces of mixed states, is also discussed.Comment: 27 pages; Accepted Manuscrip
Statistical Geometry in Quantum Mechanics
A statistical model M is a family of probability distributions, characterised
by a set of continuous parameters known as the parameter space. This possesses
natural geometrical properties induced by the embedding of the family of
probability distributions into the Hilbert space H. By consideration of the
square-root density function we can regard M as a submanifold of the unit
sphere in H. Therefore, H embodies the `state space' of the probability
distributions, and the geometry of M can be described in terms of the embedding
of in H. The geometry in question is characterised by a natural Riemannian
metric (the Fisher-Rao metric), thus allowing us to formulate the principles of
classical statistical inference in a natural geometric setting. In particular,
we focus attention on the variance lower bounds for statistical estimation, and
establish generalisations of the classical Cramer-Rao and Bhattacharyya
inequalities. The statistical model M is then specialised to the case of a
submanifold of the state space of a quantum mechanical system. This is pursued
by introducing a compatible complex structure on the underlying real Hilbert
space, which allows the operations of ordinary quantum mechanics to be
reinterpreted in the language of real Hilbert space geometry. The application
of generalised variance bounds in the case of quantum statistical estimation
leads to a set of higher order corrections to the Heisenberg uncertainty
relations for canonically conjugate observables.Comment: 32 pages, LaTex file, Extended version to include quantum measurement
theor
Ubiquitin and AP180 Regulate the Abundance of GLR-1 Glutamate Receptors at Postsynaptic Elements in C. elegans
AbstractRegulated delivery and removal of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) glutamate receptors (GluRs) from postsynaptic elements has been proposed as a mechanism for regulating synaptic strength. Here we test the role of ubiquitin in regulating synapses that contain a C. elegans GluR, GLR-1. GLR-1 receptors were ubiquitinated in vivo. Mutations that decreased ubiquitination of GLR-1 increased the abundance of GLR-1 at synapses and altered locomotion behavior in a manner that is consistent with increased synaptic strength. By contrast, overexpression of ubiquitin decreased the abundance of GLR-1 at synapses and decreased the density of GLR-1-containing synapses, and these effects were prevented by mutations in the unc-11 gene, which encodes a clathrin adaptin protein (AP180). These results suggest that ubiquitination of GLR-1 receptors regulates synaptic strength and the formation or stability of GLR-1-containing synapses
Interest Rates and Information Geometry
The space of probability distributions on a given sample space possesses
natural geometric properties. For example, in the case of a smooth parametric
family of probability distributions on the real line, the parameter space has a
Riemannian structure induced by the embedding of the family into the Hilbert
space of square-integrable functions, and is characterised by the Fisher-Rao
metric. In the nonparametric case the relevant geometry is determined by the
spherical distance function of Bhattacharyya. In the context of term structure
modelling, we show that minus the derivative of the discount function with
respect to the maturity date gives rise to a probability density. This follows
as a consequence of the positivity of interest rates. Therefore, by mapping the
density functions associated with a given family of term structures to Hilbert
space, the resulting metrical geometry can be used to analyse the relationship
of yield curves to one another. We show that the general arbitrage-free yield
curve dynamics can be represented as a process taking values in the convex
space of smooth density functions on the positive real line. It follows that
the theory of interest rate dynamics can be represented by a class of processes
in Hilbert space. We also derive the dynamics for the central moments
associated with the distribution determined by the yield curve.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure
A simple probabilistic construction yielding generalized entropies and divergences, escort distributions and q-Gaussians
We give a simple probabilistic description of a transition between two states
which leads to a generalized escort distribution. When the parameter of the
distribution varies, it defines a parametric curve that we call an escort-path.
The R\'enyi divergence appears as a natural by-product of the setting. We study
the dynamics of the Fisher information on this path, and show in particular
that the thermodynamic divergence is proportional to Jeffreys' divergence.
Next, we consider the problem of inferring a distribution on the escort-path,
subject to generalized moments constraints. We show that our setting naturally
induces a rationale for the minimization of the R\'enyi information divergence.
Then, we derive the optimum distribution as a generalized q-Gaussian
distribution
The Bregman chord divergence
Distances are fundamental primitives whose choice significantly impacts the
performances of algorithms in machine learning and signal processing. However
selecting the most appropriate distance for a given task is an endeavor.
Instead of testing one by one the entries of an ever-expanding dictionary of
{\em ad hoc} distances, one rather prefers to consider parametric classes of
distances that are exhaustively characterized by axioms derived from first
principles. Bregman divergences are such a class. However fine-tuning a Bregman
divergence is delicate since it requires to smoothly adjust a functional
generator. In this work, we propose an extension of Bregman divergences called
the Bregman chord divergences. This new class of distances does not require
gradient calculations, uses two scalar parameters that can be easily tailored
in applications, and generalizes asymptotically Bregman divergences.Comment: 10 page
Evolution of the global inequality in greenhouse gases emissions using multidimensional generalized entropy measures.
Given the cumulative consequences of climate change, global concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) must be reduced; being inequality in per-capita emissions levels a problem to achieve a commitment by all countries. Thus, the evolution of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions inequality has received special attention because CO2 is the most abundant GHG in the atmosphere. However, it is necessary to consider other gases to provide a real illustration of our starting point to achieve a multilateral agreement. In this paper, we study the evolution of global inequality in GHGs emissions during the period 1990–2011, considering the four main gases: CO2, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated gases (F-gases). The data used in this analysis is taken from the World Resources Institute (2014) and the groups of countries are constructed according to the quantity of emissions that each country released into the atmosphere in the first year of study. For this purpose we use the multidimensional generalized entropy measures proposed by Maasoumi (1986)
that can be decomposable into the between- and within-group inequality components. The biggest fall in inequality is observed when we attach more weight to the emissions transfers between the most polluting countries and assume a low substitution degree among pollutants. Finally, some economic policy implications are commented.The authors thank the Ministerio de EconomÃa y Competitividad (Project ECO2013-
48326-C2-2-P) and the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (FPU13/02155) for
the partial support of this work
Boundary regularity of rotating vortex patches
We show that the boundary of a rotating vortex patch (or V-state, in the
terminology of Deem and Zabusky) is of class C^infinity provided the patch is
close enough to the bifurcation circle in the Lipschitz norm. The rotating
patch is convex if it is close enough to the bifurcation circle in the C^2
norm. Our proof is based on Burbea's approach to V-states. Thus conformal
mapping plays a relevant role as well as estimating, on H\"older spaces,
certain non-convolution singular integral operators of Calder\'on-Zygmund type.Comment: Various proofs have been shortened. One added referenc
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