22,014 research outputs found
Learn While You Earn: Two Approaches to Learning Auction Parameters in Take-it-or-leave-it Auctions
Much of the research in auction theory assumes that the auctioneer knows the distribution of participants â valuations with complete certainty. However, this is unrealistic. Thus, we analyse cases in which the auctioneer is uncertain about the valuation distributions; specifically, we consider a repeated auction setting in which the auctioneer can learn these distributions. Using take-it-or-leave-it auctions (Sandholm and Gilpin, 2006) as an exemplar auction format, we consider two auction design criteria. Firstly, an auctioneer could maximise expected revenue each time the auction is held. Secondly, an auctioneer could maximise the information gained in earlier auctions (as measured by the Kullback-Liebler divergence between its posterior and prior) to develop good estimates of the unknowns, which are later exploited to improve the revenue earned in the long-run. Simulation results comparing the two criteria indicate that setting offers to maximise revenue does not significantly detract from learning performance, but optimising offers for information gain substantially reduces expected revenue while not producing significantly better parameter estimates
On the accretion origin of a vast extended stellar disk around the Andromeda galaxy
We present the discovery of an inhomogenous, low-surface brightness, extended
disk-like structure around the Andromeda galaxy (M31) based on a large
kinematic survey of more than 2800 stars with the Keck/DEIMOS spectrograph. The
stellar structure spans radii from 15 kpc out to ~40 kpc, with detections out
to R ~ 70 kpc. The constituent stars lag the expected velocity of circular
orbits in the plane of the M31 disk by ~40 kms and have a velocity dispersion
of ~30 kms. The color range on the upper RGB shows a large spread indicative of
a population with a significant range of metallicity. The mean metallicity of
the population, measured from Ca II equivalent widths, is [Fe/H] = -0.9 +/-
0.2. The morphology of the structure is irregular at large radii, and shows a
wealth of substructures which must be transitory in nature, and are almost
certainly tidal debris. The presence of these substructures indicates that the
global entity was formed by accretion. This extended disk follows smoothly on
from the central parts of M31 disk with an exponential density law of
scale-length of 5.1 +/- 0.1 kpc, similar to that of the bright inner disk. The
population possesses similar kinematic and abundance properties over the entire
region where it is detected in the survey. We estimate that the structure
accounts for approximately 10% of the total luminosity of the M31 disk, and
given the huge scale, contains ~30% of the total disk angular momentum. This
finding indicates that at least some galactic stellar disks are vastly larger
than previously thought and are formed, at least in their outer regions,
primarily by accretion. [abridged]Comment: 20 pages, 30 figures, ApJ submitte
A near zero velocity dispersion stellar component in the Canes Venatici dwarf spheroidal galaxy
We present a spectroscopic survey of the newly-discovered Canes Venatici
dwarf galaxy using the Keck/DEIMOS spectrograph. Two stellar populations of
distinct kinematics are found to be present in this galaxy: an extended,
metal-poor component, of half-light radius 7'.8(+2.4/-2.1), which has a
velocity dispersion of 13.9(+3.2/-2.5) km/s, and a more concentrated
(half-light radius 3'.6(+1.1/-0.8) metal-rich component of extremely low
velocity dispersion. At 99% confidence, the upper limit to the central velocity
dispersion of the metal-rich population is 1.9 km/s. This is the lowest
velocity dispersion ever measured in a galaxy. We perform a Jeans analysis on
the two components, and find that the dynamics of the structures can only be
consistent if we adopt extreme (and unlikely) values for the scale length and
velocity dispersion of the metal-poor population. With a larger radial velocity
sample and improved measurements of the density profile of the two populations,
we anticipate that it will be possible to place strong constraints on the
central distribution of the dark matter in this galaxy.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, accepted by MNRA
Nonequilibrium Response from the dissipative Liouville Equation
The problem of response of nonequilibrium systems is currently under intense
investigation. We propose a general method of solution of the Liouville
Equation for thermostatted particle systems subjected to external forces which
retains only the slow degrees of freedom, by projecting out the majority of
fast variables. Response formulae, extending the Green-Kubo relations to
dissipative dynamics are provided, and comparison with numerical data is
presented
Macroscopic control parameter for avalanche models for bursty transport
Similarity analysis is used to identify the control parameter RA for the subset of avalanching systems that can exhibit self-organized criticality (SOC). This parameter expresses the ratio of driving to dissipation. The transition to SOC, when the number of excited degrees of freedom is maximal, is found to occur when RA-->0. This is in the opposite sense to (Kolmogorov) turbulence, thus identifying a deep distinction between turbulence and SOC and suggesting an observable property that could distinguish them. A corollary of this similarity analysis is that SOC phenomenology, that is, power law scaling of avalanches, can persist for finite RA with the same RA-->0 exponent if the system supports a sufficiently large range of lengthscales, necessary for SOC to be a candidate for physical (RA finite) systems
An investigation for the development of an integrated optical data preprocessor
A laboratory model of a 16 channel integrated optical data preprocessor was fabricated and tested in response to a need for a device to evaluate the outputs of a set of remote sensors. It does this by accepting the outputs of these sensors, in parallel, as the components of a multidimensional vector descriptive of the data and comparing this vector to one or more reference vectors which are used to classify the data set. The comparison is performed by taking the difference between the signal and reference vectors. The preprocessor is wholly integrated upon the surface of a LiNbO3 single crystal with the exceptions of the source and the detector. He-Ne laser light is coupled in and out of the waveguide by prism couplers. The integrated optical circuit consists of a titanium infused waveguide pattern, electrode structures and grating beam splitters. The waveguide and electrode patterns, by virtue of their complexity, make the vector subtraction device the most complex integrated optical structure fabricated to date
Flexible high-voltage supply for experimental electron microscope
Scanning microscope uses a field-emission tip for the electron source, an electron gun that simultaneously accelerates and focuses electrons from the source, and one auxiliary lens to produce a final probe size at the specimen on the order of angstroms
Recommended from our members
An Apparent Relation between ELM Occurrence Times and the Prior Evolution of Divertor Flux Loop Measurements in JET
- âŠ