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George C. Verghese

Publications and source records attributed to George C. Verghese.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Structural Analysis of Laplacian Spectral Properties of Large-Scale Networks

Using methods from algebraic graph theory and convex optimization, we study the relationship between local structural features of a network and spectral properties of its Laplacian matrix. In particular, we derive expressions for the so-called spectral moments of the Laplacian matrix of a network in terms of a collection of local structural measurements. Furthermore, we propose a series of semidefinite programs to compute bounds on the spectral radius and the spectral gap of the Laplacian matrix from a truncated sequence of Laplacian spectral moments. Our analysis shows that the Laplacian spectral moments and spectral radius are strongly constrained by local structural features of the network. On the other hand, we illustrate how local structural features are usually not enough to estimate the Laplacian spectral gap.

math.OC↗

Operating Regimes of Signaling Cycles: Statics, Dynamics, and Noise Filtering

A ubiquitous building block of signaling pathways is a cycle of covalent modification (e.g., phosphorylation and dephosphorylation in MAPK cascades). Our paper explores the kind of information processing and filtering that can be accomplished by this simple biochemical circuit. Signaling cycles are particularly known for exhibiting a highly sigmoidal (ultrasensitive) input-output characteristic in a certain steady-state regime. Here we systematically study the cycle's steady-state behavior and its response to time-varying stimuli. We demonstrate that the cycle can actually operate in four different regimes, each with its specific input-output characteristics. These results are obtained using the total quasi-steady-state approximation, which is more generally valid than the typically used Michaelis-Menten approximation for enzymatic reactions. We invoke experimental data that suggests the possibility of signaling cycles operating in one of the new regimes. We then consider the cycle's dynamic behavior, which has so far been relatively neglected. We demonstrate that the intrinsic architecture of the cycles makes them act - in all four regimes - as tunable low-pass filters, filtering out high-frequency fluctuations or noise in signals and environmental cues. Moreover, the cutoff frequency can be adjusted by the cell. Numerical simulations show that our analytical results hold well even for noise of large amplitude. We suggest that noise filtering and tunability make signaling cycles versatile components of more elaborate cell signaling pathways.

q-bio.MN↗

Optimal Detection of Symmetric Mixed Quantum States

We develop a sufficient condition for the least-squares measurement (LSM), or the square-root measurement, to minimize the probability of a detection error when distinguishing between a collection of mixed quantum states. Using this condition we derive the optimal measurement for state sets with a broad class of symmetries. We first consider geometrically uniform (GU) state sets with a possibly nonabelian generating group, and show that if the generator satisfies a certain constraint, then the LSM is optimal. In particular, for pure-state GU ensembles the LSM is shown to be optimal. For arbitrary GU state sets we show that the optimal measurement operators are GU with generator that can be computed very efficiently in polynomial time, within any desired accuracy. We then consider compound GU (CGU) state sets which consist of subsets that are GU. When the generators satisfy a certain constraint, the LSM is again optimal. For arbitrary CGU state sets the optimal measurement operators are shown to be CGU with generators that can be computed efficiently in polynomial time.

quant-ph↗

Designing Optimal Quantum Detectors Via Semidefinite Programming

We consider the problem of designing an optimal quantum detector to minimize the probability of a detection error when distinguishing between a collection of quantum states, represented by a set of density operators. We show that the design of the optimal detector can be formulated as a semidefinite programming problem. Based on this formulation, we derive a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for an optimal quantum measurement. We then show that the optimal measurement can be found by solving a standard (convex) semidefinite program followed by the solution of a set of linear equations or, at worst, a standard linear programming problem. By exploiting the many well-known algorithms for solving semidefinite programs, which are guaranteed to converge to the global optimum, the optimal measurement can be computed very efficiently in polynomial time. Using the semidefinite programming formulation, we also show that the rank of each optimal measurement operator is no larger than the rank of the corresponding density operator. In particular, if the quantum state ensemble is a pure-state ensemble consisting of (not necessarily independent) rank-one density operators, then we show that the optimal measurement is a pure-state measurement consisting of rank-one measurement operators.

quant-ph↗