On Match Lengths, Zero Entropy and Large Deviations - with Application to Sliding Window Lempel-Ziv Algorithm

The Sliding Window Lempel-Ziv (SWLZ) algorithm that makes use of recurrence times and match lengths has been studied from various perspectives in information theory literature. In this paper, we undertake a finer study of these quantities under two different scenarios, i) \emph{zero entropy} sources that are characterized by strong long-term memory, and ii) the processes with weak memory as described through various mixing conditions. For zero entropy sources, a general statement on match length is obtained. It is used in the proof of almost sure optimality of Fixed Shift Variant of Lempel-Ziv (FSLZ) and SWLZ algorithms given in literature. Through an example of stationary and ergodic processes generated by an irrational rotation we establish that for a window of size $n_w$, a compression ratio given by $O(\frac{\log n_w}{{n_w}^a})$ where $a$ depends on $n_w$ and approaches 1 as $n_w \rightarrow \infty$, is obtained under the application of FSLZ and SWLZ algorithms. Also, we give a general expression for the compression ratio for a class of stationary and ergodic processes with zero entropy. Next, we extend the study of Ornstein and Weiss on the asymptotic behavior of the \emph{normalized} version of recurrence times and establish the \emph{large deviation property} (LDP) for a class of mixing processes. Also, an estimator of entropy based on recurrence times is proposed for which large deviation principle is proved for sources satisfying similar mixing conditions.Comment: accepted to appear in IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

Effect of nano-scale surface roughness on transverse energy spread from GaAs photocathodes

High quantum yield, low transverse energy spread and prompt response time make GaAs activated to negative electron affnity, an ideal candidate for a photocathode in high brightness photoinjectors. Even after decades of investigation, the exact mechanism of electron emission from GaAs is not well understood. We show that a nanoscale surface roughness can affect the transverse electron spread from GaAs by nearly an order of magnitude and explain the seemingly controversial experimental results obtained so far. This model can also explain the measured dependence of transverse energy spread on the wavelength of incident light.Comment: 3pages, 3figure

Locally Adaptive Block Thresholding Method with Continuity Constraint

We present an algorithm that enables one to perform locally adaptive block thresholding, while maintaining image continuity. Images are divided into sub-images based some standard image attributes and thresholding technique is employed over the sub-images. The present algorithm makes use of the thresholds of neighboring sub-images to calculate a range of values. The image continuity is taken care by choosing the threshold of the sub-image under consideration to lie within the above range. After examining the average range values for various sub-image sizes of a variety of images, it was found that the range of acceptable threshold values is substantially high, justifying our assumption of exploiting the freedom of range for bringing out local details.Comment: 12 Pages, 4 figures, 1 Tabl