Neural system identification for large populations separating "what" and "where"

Neuroscientists classify neurons into different types that perform similar computations at different locations in the visual field. Traditional methods for neural system identification do not capitalize on this separation of 'what' and 'where'. Learning deep convolutional feature spaces that are shared among many neurons provides an exciting path forward, but the architectural design needs to account for data limitations: While new experimental techniques enable recordings from thousands of neurons, experimental time is limited so that one can sample only a small fraction of each neuron's response space. Here, we show that a major bottleneck for fitting convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to neural data is the estimation of the individual receptive field locations, a problem that has been scratched only at the surface thus far. We propose a CNN architecture with a sparse readout layer factorizing the spatial (where) and feature (what) dimensions. Our network scales well to thousands of neurons and short recordings and can be trained end-to-end. We evaluate this architecture on ground-truth data to explore the challenges and limitations of CNN-based system identification. Moreover, we show that our network model outperforms current state-of-the art system identification models of mouse primary visual cortex.Comment: NIPS 201

Quark mass dependence of the nucleon axial-vector coupling constant

We study the quark mass expansion of the axial-vector coupling constant g_A of the nucleon. The aim is to explore the feasibility of chiral effective field theory methods for extrapolation of lattice QCD results - so far determined at relatively large quark masses corresponding to pion masses larger than 0.6 GeV - down to the physical value of the pion mass. We compare two versions of non-relativistic chiral effective field theory: One scheme restricted to pion and nucleon degrees of freedom only, and an alternative approach which incorporates explicit Delta(1230) resonance degrees of freedom. It turns out that, in order to approach the physical value of g_A in a leading-one-loop calculation, the inclusion of the explicit Delta(1230) degrees of freedom is crucial. With information on important higher order couplings constrained from analyses of inelastic pion production processes, a chiral extrapolation function for g_A is obtained, which works well from the chiral limit across the physical point into the region of present lattice data. The resulting enhancement of our extrapolation function near the physical pion mass is found to arise from an interplay between long- and short- distance physics.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX, 7 figure

Radiative pion capture by a nucleon

The differential cross sections for $\pi^- p \to \gamma n$ and $\pi^+ n \to \gamma p$ are computed up to $O(p^3)$ in heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory (HBChPT). The expressions at $O(p)$ and $O(p^2)$ have no free parameters. There are three unknown parameters at $O(p^3)$, low energy constants of the HBChPT Lagrangian, which are determined by fitting to experimental data. Two acceptable fits are obtained, which can be separated by comparing with earlier dispersion relation calculations of the inverse process. Expressions for the multipoles, with emphasis on the p-wave multipoles, are obtained and evaluated at threshold. Generally the results obtained from the best of the two fits are in good agreement with the dispersion relation predictions.Comment: 24 pages, Latex, using RevTe

A renormalisation group approach to two-body scattering in the presence of long-range forces

We apply renormalisation-group methods to two-body scattering by a combination of known long-range and unknown short-range potentials. We impose a cut-off in the basis of distorted waves of the long-range potential and identify possible fixed points of the short-range potential as this cut-off is lowered to zero. The expansions around these fixed points define the power countings for the corresponding effective field theories. Expansions around nontrivial fixed points are shown to correspond to distorted-wave versions of the effective-range expansion. These methods are applied to scattering in the presence of Coulomb, Yukawa and repulsive inverse-square potentials.Comment: 22 pages (RevTeX), 4 figure

Compton Scattering and the Spin Structure of the Nucleon at Low Energies

We analyze polarized Compton scattering which provides information on the spin-structure of the nucleon. For scattering processes with photon energies up to 100 MeV the spin-structure dependence can be encoded into four independent parameters-the so-called spin-polarizabilities $\gamma_i, i=1...4$ of the nucleon, which we calculate within the framework of the "small scale expansion" in SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory. Specific application is made to "forward" and "backward" spin- polarizabilities.Comment: 8 pages revtex file, separation between pion-pole and regular contributions detailed + minor wording changes, results and conclusions unchange

Chiral Transparency

Color transparency is the vanishing of initial and final state interactions, predicted by QCD to occur in high momentum transfer quasielastic nuclear reactions. For specific reactions involving nucleons, the initial and final state interactions are expected to be dominated by exchanges of pions. We argue that these interactions are also suppressed in high momentum transfer nuclear quasielastic reactions; this is ``chiral transparency". We show that studies of the $e ^3He \to e'\Delta^{++} nn$ reaction could reveal the influence of chiral transparency.Comment: 20 pages, three figures available by fax from [email protected]; submitted to Phys. Rev.

Chiral unitary theory: application to nuclear problems

In this talk we briefly describe some basic elements of chiral perturbation theory, $\chi PT$, and how the implementation of unitarity and other novel elements lead to a better expansion of the $T$ matrix for meson meson and meson baryon interactions. Applications are then done to the $\pi \pi$ interaction in nuclear matter in the scalar and vector channels, antikaons in nuclei and $K^-$ atoms, and how the $\phi$ meson properties are changed in a nuclear medium.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, Invited talk in the International Symposium on Nuclear Physics, Bombay, december 200

Virtual Compton Scattering off the Nucleon in Chiral Perturbation Theory

We investigate the spin-independent part of the virtual Compton scattering (VCS) amplitude off the nucleon within the framework of chiral perturbation theory. We perform a consistent calculation to third order in external momenta according to Weinberg's power counting. With this calculation we can determine the second- and fourth-order structure-dependent coefficients of the general low-energy expansion of the spin-averaged VCS amplitude based on gauge invariance, crossing symmetry and the discrete symmetries. We discuss the kinematical regime to which our calculation can be applied and compare our expansion with the multipole expansion by Guichon, Liu and Thomas. We establish the connection of our calculation with the generalized polarizabilities of the nucleon where it is possible.Comment: 26 pages, 2 Postscript figures, RevTex using epsfi

A new measurement of the properties of the rare decay K -> pi+ e+ e-

A large low-background sample of events (10300) has been collected for the rare decay of kaons in flight K+ -> pi+ e+ e- by experiment E865 at the Brookhaven AGS. The decay products were accepted by a broad band high-resolution charged particle spectrometer with particle identification. The branching ratio (2.94 +- 0.05(stat.) +- 0.13(syst.) +- 0.05(model))*10**{-7} was determined normalizing to events from the decay chain K+ -> pi+ pi0; pi0 -> e+ e- gamma. From the analysis of the decay distributions the vector nature of this decay is firmly established now, and limits on scalar and tensor contributions are deduced. From the (e+ e-) invariant mass distribution the decay form factor f(z)=f0(1+ delta*z) (z=M(ee)**2/m(K)**2) is determined with delta=2.14 +- 0.13 +- 0.15. Chiral QCD perturbation theory predictions for the form factor are also tested, and terms beyond leading order O(p**4) are found to be important.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Chiral dynamics of baryon resonances and hadrons in a nuclear medium

In these lectures I make an introduction to chiral unitary theory applied to the meson baryon interaction and show how several well known resonances are dynamically generated, and others are predicted. Two very recent experiments are analyzed, one of them showing the existence of two $\Lambda(1405)$ states and the other one providing support for the $\Lambda(1520)$ resonance as a quasibound state of $\Sigma(1385) \pi$. The use of chiral Lagrangians to account for the hadronic interaction at the elementary level introduces a new approach to deal with the modification of meson and baryon properties in a nuclear medium. Examples of it for $\bar{K}$, $\eta$ and $\phi$ modification in the nuclear medium are presented.Comment: Lectures given in the Workshop on Hadron Physics, Puri (India), march 200