219,205 research outputs found
Large Deviation Function of the Partially Asymmetric Exclusion Process
The large deviation function obtained recently by Derrida and Lebowitz for
the totally asymmetric exclusion process is generalized to the partially
asymmetric case in the scaling limit. The asymmetry parameter rescales the
scaling variable in a simple way. The finite-size corrections to the universal
scaling function and the universal cumulant ratio are also obtained to the
leading order.Comment: 10 pages, 2 eps figures, minor changes, submitted to PR
Computationally Efficient Nonparametric Importance Sampling
The variance reduction established by importance sampling strongly depends on
the choice of the importance sampling distribution. A good choice is often hard
to achieve especially for high-dimensional integration problems. Nonparametric
estimation of the optimal importance sampling distribution (known as
nonparametric importance sampling) is a reasonable alternative to parametric
approaches.In this article nonparametric variants of both the self-normalized
and the unnormalized importance sampling estimator are proposed and
investigated. A common critique on nonparametric importance sampling is the
increased computational burden compared to parametric methods. We solve this
problem to a large degree by utilizing the linear blend frequency polygon
estimator instead of a kernel estimator. Mean square error convergence
properties are investigated leading to recommendations for the efficient
application of nonparametric importance sampling. Particularly, we show that
nonparametric importance sampling asymptotically attains optimal importance
sampling variance. The efficiency of nonparametric importance sampling
algorithms heavily relies on the computational efficiency of the employed
nonparametric estimator. The linear blend frequency polygon outperforms kernel
estimators in terms of certain criteria such as efficient sampling and
evaluation. Furthermore, it is compatible with the inversion method for sample
generation. This allows to combine our algorithms with other variance reduction
techniques such as stratified sampling. Empirical evidence for the usefulness
of the suggested algorithms is obtained by means of three benchmark integration
problems. As an application we estimate the distribution of the queue length of
a spam filter queueing system based on real data.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figure
Correlation Assisted Phonon Softenings and the Mott-Peierls Transition in VO
To explore the driving mechanisms of the metal-insulator transition (MIT) and
the structural transition in VO2, we have investigated phonon dispersions of
rutile VO2 (R-VO2) in the DFT and the DFT+U (U : Coulomb correlation) band
calculations. We have found that the phonon softening instabilities occur in
both cases, but the softened phonon mode only in the DFT+U describes properly
both the MIT and the structural transition from R-VO2 to monoclinic VO2
(M1-VO2). This feature demonstrates that the Coulomb correlation effect plays
an essential role of assisting the Peierls transition in R-VO2. We have also
found from the phonon dispersion of M1-VO2 that M1 structure becomes unstable
under high pressure. We have predicted a new phase of VO2 at high pressure that
has a monoclinic CaCl2-type structure with metallic nature
Compositional changes on GaN surfaces under low-energy ion bombardment studied by synchrotron-based spectroscopies
We have investigated compositional changes on GaNsurfaces under Ar-ion bombardment using synchrotron-based high-resolution x-rayphotoemission (PES) and near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure(NEXAFS)spectroscopy. The low-energy ion bombardment of GaN produces a Ga-rich surface layer which transforms into a metallic Ga layer at higher bombarding energies. At the same time, the photoemissionspectra around N 1s core levels reveal the presence of both uncoordinated nitrogen and nitrogen interstitials, which we have analyzed in more details by x-rayabsorption measurements at N K edge. We have demonstrated that PES and NEXAFS provide a powerful combination for studying the compositional changes on GaNsurfaces. A mechanism for the relocation and loss of nitrogen during ion bombardment in agreement with some recent experimental and theoretical studies of defect formation in GaN has been proposed.P.N.K.D. is grateful for the financial
support of the Australian Research Council
The Preference for Round Number Prices
This study determines if a preference for round prices exists in the wheat market and how wheat sales react to price movements around whole dollar amounts. The results show round prices are slightly more prevalent than non-round prices and that transactions increase when price moves above a whole dollar amount.Demand and Price Analysis,
Determining Returns to Storage: USDA Data versus Micro Level Data
USDA data are commonly used to determine producers' returns to storage. Aggregating data may result in a loss of information, leading to underestimated returns. This study compares USDA and elevator data from Oklahoma to determine how much USDA data underestimates returns. Results indicate USDA data only slightly underestimate returns to storage.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,
Type Ia supernova diversity: Standardizing the candles
Future use of type Ia supernovae for cosmology aims not only to determine the
equation of state of dark energy, but also to constrain possible variations in
its value. To achieve this goal, supernovae need to become better calibrated
standard candles - not only to improve the precision of the measurement, but
more importantly to gain better control over systematic uncertainties in order
to ensure the accuracy of the result.
Here we report on a project to quantify the diversity in type Ia supernovae,
and to look for trends and/or sub-types that can be used to improve their
calibration as standard candles. We implement a version of principal component
analysis on type Ia supernova spectra. Although the quantity of data is not
sufficient to draw any firm conclusions we show that this method holds promise
for, at the very least, effectively separating peculiar supernovae. Whether it
can be further used to improve the calibration of normal type Ia's remains a
project for future study.Comment: Conference Proceedings. Cefalu 2006, The multicoloured landscape of
compact objects and their explosive origins. Six pages, three figure
- …