2,259 research outputs found
Information theoretic approach to interactive learning
The principles of statistical mechanics and information theory play an
important role in learning and have inspired both theory and the design of
numerous machine learning algorithms. The new aspect in this paper is a focus
on integrating feedback from the learner. A quantitative approach to
interactive learning and adaptive behavior is proposed, integrating model- and
decision-making into one theoretical framework. This paper follows simple
principles by requiring that the observer's world model and action policy
should result in maximal predictive power at minimal complexity. Classes of
optimal action policies and of optimal models are derived from an objective
function that reflects this trade-off between prediction and complexity. The
resulting optimal models then summarize, at different levels of abstraction,
the process's causal organization in the presence of the learner's actions. A
fundamental consequence of the proposed principle is that the learner's optimal
action policies balance exploration and control as an emerging property.
Interestingly, the explorative component is present in the absence of policy
randomness, i.e. in the optimal deterministic behavior. This is a direct result
of requiring maximal predictive power in the presence of feedback.Comment: 6 page
Liquidity risk and instabilities in portfolio optimization
We show that including a term which accounts for finite liquidity in portfolio optimization naturally mitigates the instabilities that arise in the estimation of coherent risk measures on finite samples. This is because taking into account the impact of trading in the market is mathematically equivalent to introducing a regularization on the risk measure. We show here that the impact function determines which regularizer is to be used. We also show that any regularizer based on the norm ℓpℓp with p>1p>1 makes the sensitivity of coherent risk measures to estimation error disappear, while regularizers with p<1p<1 do not. The ℓ1ℓ1 norm represents a border case: its “soft” implementation does not remove the instability, but rather shifts its locus, whereas its “hard” implementation (including hard limits or a ban on short selling) eliminates it. We demonstrate these effects on the important special case of expected shortfall (ES) which has recently become the global regulatory market risk measure
Simultaneous X-ray and Ultraviolet Observations of the SW Sextantis Star DW Ursae Majoris
We present the first pointed X-ray observation of DW Ursae Majoris, a novalike cataclysmic variable (CV) and one of the archetype members of the SW Sextantis class, obtained with the XMM-Newton satellite. These data provide the first detailed look at an SW Sex star in the X-ray regime (with previous X-ray knowledge of the SW Sex stars limited primarily to weak or non-detections in the ROSAT All Sky Survey). It is also one of only a few XMM-Newton observations (to date) of any high mass transfer rate novalike CV, and the only one in the evolutionarily important 3-4 hr orbital period range. The observed X-ray spectrum of DW UMa is very soft, with ~95% of the detected X-ray photons at energies <2 keV. The spectrum can be fit equally well by a one-component cooling flow model, with a temperature range of 0.2-3.5 keV, or a two-component, two-temperature thermal plasma model, containing hard (~5-6 keV) and soft (~0.8 keV) components. The X-ray light curve of DW UMa shows a likely partial eclipse, implying X-ray reprocessing in a vertically extended region, and an orbital modulation, implying a structural asymmetry in the X-ray reprocessing site (e.g., it cannot be a uniform corona). We also obtained a simultaneous near-ultraviolet light curve of DW UMa using the Optical Monitor on XMM-Newton. This light curve is similar in appearance to published optical-UV light curves of DW UMa and shows a prominent deep eclipse. Regardless of the exact nature of the X-ray reprocessing site in DW UMa, the lack of a prominent hard X-ray total eclipse and very low fraction of high energy X-rays point to the presence of an optically and geometrically thick accretion disk that obscures the boundary layer and modifies the X-ray spectrum emitted near the white dwarf
M-Dwarf Fast Rotators and the Detection of Relatively Young Multiple M-Star Systems
We have searched the Kepler light curves of ~3900 M-star targets for evidence
of periodicities that indicate, by means of the effects of starspots, rapid
stellar rotation. Several analysis techniques, including Fourier transforms,
inspection of folded light curves, 'sonograms', and phase tracking of
individual modulation cycles, were applied in order to distinguish the
periodicities due to rapid rotation from those due to stellar pulsations,
eclipsing binaries, or transiting planets. We find 178 Kepler M-star targets
with rotation periods, P_rot, of < 2 days, and 110 with P_rot < 1 day. Some 30
of the 178 systems exhibit two or more independent short periods within the
same Kepler photometric aperture, while several have three or more short
periods. Adaptive optics imaging and modeling of the Kepler pixel response
function for a subset of our sample support the conclusion that the targets
with multiple periods are highly likely to be relatively young physical binary,
triple, and even quadruple M star systems. We explore in detail the one object
with four incommensurate periods all less than 1.2 days, and show that two of
the periods arise from one of a close pair of stars, while the other two arise
from the second star, which itself is probably a visual binary. If most of
these M-star systems with multiple periods turn out to be bound M stars, this
could prove a valuable way of discovering young hierarchical M-star systems;
the same approach may also be applicable to G and K stars. The ~5% occurrence
rate of rapid rotation among the ~3900 M star targets is consistent with spin
evolution models that include an initial contraction phase followed by magnetic
braking, wherein a typical M star can spend several hundred Myr before spinning
down to periods longer than 2 days.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
FUSE Observations of a Full Orbit of Hercules X-1: Signatures of Disk, Star, and Wind
We observed an entire 1.7 day orbit of the X-ray binary Hercules X-1 with the
Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). Changes in the O VI 1032,1037
line profiles through eclipse ingress and egress indicate a Keplerian accretion
disk spinning prograde with the orbit. These observations may show the first
double-peaked accretion disk line profile to be seen in the Hercules X-1
system. Doppler tomograms of the emission lines show a bright spot offset from
the Roche lobe of the companion star HZ Her, but no obvious signs of the
accretion disk. Simulations show that the bright spot is too far offset from
the Roche lobe to result from uneven X-ray heating of its surface. The absence
of disk signatures in the tomogram can be reproduced in simulations which
include absorption from a stellar wind. We attempt to diagnose the state of the
emitting gas from the C III 977, C III 1175, and N III 991 emission lines. The
latter may be enhanced through Bowen fluorescence.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Evolutionary influences on the structure of red-giant acoustic oscillation spectra from 600d of Kepler observations
Context: The Kepler space mission is reaching continuous observing times long
enough to start studying the fine structure of the observed p-mode spectra.
Aims: In this paper, we aim to study the signature of stellar evolution on the
radial and p-dominated l=2 modes in an ensemble of red giants that show
solar-type oscillations. Results: We find that the phase shift of the central
radial mode (eps_c) is significantly different for red giants at a given large
frequency separation (Dnu_c) but which burn only H in a shell (RGB) than those
that have already ignited core He burning. Even though not directly probing the
stellar core the pair of local seismic observables (Dnu_c, eps_c) can be used
as an evolutionary stage discriminator that turned out to be as reliable as the
period spacing of the mixed dipole modes. We find a tight correlation between
eps_c and Dnu_c for RGB stars and no indication that eps_c depends on other
properties of these stars. It appears that the difference in eps_c between the
two populations becomes if we use an average of several radial orders, instead
of a local, i.e. only around the central radial mode, Dnu to determine the
phase shift. This indicates that the information on the evolutionary stage is
encoded locally, in the shape of the radial mode sequence. This shape turns out
to be approximately symmetric around the central radial mode for RGB stars but
asymmetric for core He burning stars. We computed radial modes for a sequence
of RG models and find them to qualitatively confirm our findings. We also find
that, at least in our models, the local Dnu is an at least as good and mostly
better proxy for both the asymptotic spacing and the large separation scaled
from the model density than the average Dnu. Finally, we investigate the
signature of the evolutionary stage on the small frequency separation and
quantify the mass dependency of this seismic parameter.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&
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