A variational derivation of a class of BFGS-like methods

We provide a maximum entropy derivation of a new family of BFGS-like methods. Similar results are then derived for block BFGS methods. This also yields an independent proof of a result of Fletcher 1991 and its generalisation to the block case.Comment: 10 page

Time and spectral domain relative entropy: A new approach to multivariate spectral estimation

The concept of spectral relative entropy rate is introduced for jointly stationary Gaussian processes. Using classical information-theoretic results, we establish a remarkable connection between time and spectral domain relative entropy rates. This naturally leads to a new spectral estimation technique where a multivariate version of the Itakura-Saito distance is employed}. It may be viewed as an extension of the approach, called THREE, introduced by Byrnes, Georgiou and Lindquist in 2000 which, in turn, followed in the footsteps of the Burg-Jaynes Maximum Entropy Method. Spectral estimation is here recast in the form of a constrained spectrum approximation problem where the distance is equal to the processes relative entropy rate. The corresponding solution entails a complexity upper bound which improves on the one so far available in the multichannel framework. Indeed, it is equal to the one featured by THREE in the scalar case. The solution is computed via a globally convergent matricial Newton-type algorithm. Simulations suggest the effectiveness of the new technique in tackling multivariate spectral estimation tasks, especially in the case of short data records.Comment: 32 pages, submitted for publicatio

Robust Steering of n-level Quantum Systems

Robust open-loop steering of a finite-dimensional quantum system is a central problem in a growing number of applications of information engineering. In the present paper, we reformulate the problem in the classical control-theoretic setting, and provide a precise definition of {\em robustness} of the control strategy. We then discuss and compare some significant problems from NMR in the light of the given definition. We obtain quantitative results that are consistent with the qualitative ones available in the physics literature.Comment: 10 page