Computational barriers in minimax submatrix detection

This paper studies the minimax detection of a small submatrix of elevated mean in a large matrix contaminated by additive Gaussian noise. To investigate the tradeoff between statistical performance and computational cost from a complexity-theoretic perspective, we consider a sequence of discretized models which are asymptotically equivalent to the Gaussian model. Under the hypothesis that the planted clique detection problem cannot be solved in randomized polynomial time when the clique size is of smaller order than the square root of the graph size, the following phase transition phenomenon is established: when the size of the large matrix $p\to\infty$, if the submatrix size $k=\Theta(p^{\alpha})$ for any $\alpha\in(0,{2}/{3})$, computational complexity constraints can incur a severe penalty on the statistical performance in the sense that any randomized polynomial-time test is minimax suboptimal by a polynomial factor in $p$; if $k=\Theta(p^{\alpha})$ for any $\alpha\in({2}/{3},1)$, minimax optimal detection can be attained within constant factors in linear time. Using Schatten norm loss as a representative example, we show that the hardness of attaining the minimax estimation rate can crucially depend on the loss function. Implications on the hardness of support recovery are also obtained.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/14-AOS1300 in the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Parity of Anti-Decuplet Baryons Revisited from Chiral Soliton Models

We recalculate masses and widths of anti-decuplet baryons in the case of positive parity from chiral soliton models, provided that the member $\Xi_{3/2}$ of the anti-decuplet has a mass 1.86 GeV as reported recently. Calculations show that there are no convincing candidates for the nonexotic members of the anti-decuplet available in the baryon listings. Up to the leading order of $m_s$ and 1/$N_c$, the width formula for the decay of the anti-decuplet baryons to the octet depends only on SU(3) symmetry model-independently, except the coupling constant. Similarly we give a width formula for the decay of negative parity baryons belong to certain SU(3) baryon multiplet by pure symmetry consideration. By this formula, we find that if we have an anti-decuplet with negative parity and that the masses are the same as those given by chiral soltion models, the identification of N(1650) as $N_{\bar{10}}$ are inconsistent with experiments for $N(1650)\to N\pi$ while the widths agree with other two decay channels involving strangeness. And $\Sigma(1750)$ seems to be a reasonable candidate for $\Sigma_{\bar{10}}$.Comment: 4 pages in revtex format, version for journal publication. Arguments revised, with conclusion unchange