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Govind Menon

Publications and source records attributed to Govind Menon.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The Riemannian Langevin equation and conic programs

Diffusion limits provide a framework for the asymptotic analysis of stochastic gradient descent (SGD) schemes used in machine learning. We consider an alternative framework, the Riemannian Langevin equation (RLE), that generalizes the classical paradigm of equilibration in R^n to a Riemannian manifold (M^n, g). The most subtle part of this equation is the description of Brownian motion on (M^n, g). Explicit formulas are presented for some fundamental cones.

math.PR↗

Two-dimensional grain boundary networks: stochastic particle models and kinetic limits

We study kinetic theories for isotropic, two-dimensional grain boundary networks which evolve by curvature flow. The number densities $f_s(x,t)$ for $s$-sided grains, $s =1,2,\ldots$, of area $x$ at time $t$, are modeled by kinetic equations of the form $\partial_t f_s + v_s \partial_x f_s =j_s$. The velocity $v_s$ is given by the Mullins-von Neumann rule and the flux $j_s$ is determined by the topological transitions caused by the vanishing of grains and their edges. The foundations of such kinetic models are examined through simpler particle models for the evolution of grain size, as well as purely topological models for the evolution of trivalent maps. These models are used to characterize the parameter space for the flux $j_s$. Several kinetic models in the literature, as well as a new kinetic model, are simulated and compared with direct numerical simulations of mean curvature flow on a network. Existence and uniqueness of mild solutions to the kinetic equations with continuous initial data is established.

math.AP↗

The Non-Null and Force-Free Electromagnetic Field

In this paper, we present a covariant formalism that connects solutions to force-free electrodynamics in the non-null case and foliations of spacetime. In doing so, we are also able to derive an expression of the general non-null current density vector. Just as in the null case, solutions in the non-null case can give rise to a dual solution, however, as is shown below, this can happen only when the solution describes a vacuum field. All theorems are illustrated with previously known solutions.

gr-qc↗

The Null and Force-Free Electromagnetic Field

This paper describes the electrodynamics of a null and force-free field in completely geometric terms. As was previously established in \cite{Menon_FF20}, solutions to force-free electrodynamics are governed by the existence of certain special types of foliations of spacetime. Here the nature of the foliations in a coordinate-free formalism in the null case is prescribed. All of the general results are illustrated by constructing a null, force-free electrodynamic field in a Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson- Walker (FLRW) spacetime.

gr-qc↗

Force-free Electrodynamics and Foliations in an arbitrary Spacetime

In this paper we formulate the relationship between force-free electrodynamics and foliations. The background metric, is considered predetermined and electrically neutral, but otherwise arbitrary. As it turns out, solutions to force-free electrodynamics is intimately connected to the existence of foliations of a spacetime with prescribed properties. We also prove a local existence and uniqueness theorem and provide a recipe for constructing the unique solution/class of solutions when certain conditions are met. We clarify the theorem with examples. We are also able to also prove a singularity theorem for when non-null solutions approach the null limit. Here too, we construct an explicit example to illustrate the singularity theorem.

gr-qc↗

Concentration inequalities for a removal-driven thinning process

We prove exponential concentration estimates and a strong law of large numbers for a particle system that is the simplest representative of a general class of models for 2D grain boundary coarsening. The system consists of $n$ particles in $(0,\infty)$ that move at unit speed to the left. Each time a particle hits the boundary point $0$, it is removed from the system along with a second particle chosen uniformly from the particles in $(0,\infty)$. Under the assumption that the initial empirical measure of the particle system converges weakly to a measure with density $f_0(x) \in L^1_+(0,\infty)$, the empirical measure of the particle system at time $t$ is shown to converge to the measure with density $f(x,t)$, where $f$ is the unique solution to the kinetic equation with nonlinear boundary coupling $$\partial_t f (x,t) - \partial_x f(x,t) = -\frac{f(0,t)}{\int_0^\infty f(y,t)\, dy} f(x,t), \quad 0<x < \infty, $$ and initial condition $f(x,0)=f_0(x)$. The proof relies on a concentration inequality for an urn model studied by Pittel, and Maurey's concentration inequality for Lipschitz functions on the permutation group.

math.PR↗

Smoothed Analysis for the Conjugate Gradient Algorithm

The purpose of this paper is to establish bounds on the rate of convergence of the conjugate gradient algorithm when the underlying matrix is a random positive definite perturbation of a deterministic positive definite matrix. We estimate all finite moments of a natural halting time when the random perturbation is drawn from the Laguerre unitary ensemble in a critical scaling regime explored in Deift et al. (2016). These estimates are used to analyze the expected iteration count in the framework of smoothed analysis, introduced by Spielman and Teng (2001). The rigorous results are compared with numerical calculations in several cases of interest.

math.NA↗

On the condition number of the critically-scaled Laguerre Unitary Ensemble

We consider the Laguerre Unitary Ensemble (aka, Wishart Ensemble) of sample covariance matrices $A = XX^*$, where $X$ is an $N \times n$ matrix with iid standard complex normal entries. Under the scaling $n = N + \lfloor \sqrt{ 4 c N} \rfloor$, $c > 0$ and $N \rightarrow \infty$, we show that the rescaled fluctuations of the smallest eigenvalue, largest eigenvalue and condition number of the matrices $A$ are all given by the Tracy--Widom distribution ($β= 2$). This scaling is motivated by the study of the solution of the equation $Ax=b$ using the conjugate gradient algorithm, in the case that $A$ and $b$ are random: For such a scaling the fluctuations of the halting time for the algorithm are empirically seen to be universal.

math.PR↗

Energy landscapes for the self-assembly of supramolecular polyhedra

We develop a mathematical model for the energy landscape of polyhedral supramolecular cages recently synthesized by self-assembly [Sun et al., Science 2010]. Our model includes two essential features of the experiment: (i) geometry of the organic ligands and metallic ions; and (ii) combinatorics. The molecular geometry is used to introduce an energy that favors square-planar vertices (modeling $\mathrm{Pd}^{2+}$ ions) and bent edges with one of two preferred opening angles (modeling boomerang-shaped ligands of two types). The combinatorics of the model involve $2$-colorings of edges of polyhedra with $4$-valent vertices. The set of such $2$-colorings, quotiented by the octahedral symmetry group, has a natural graph structure, and is called the combinatorial configuration space. The energy landscape of our model is the energy of each state in the combinatorial configuration space. The challenge in the computation of the energy landscape is a combinatorial explosion in the number of $2$-colorings of edges. We describe sampling methods based on the symmetries of the configurations and connectivity of the configuration graph. When the two preferred opening angles encompass the geometrically ideal angle, the energy landscape exhibits a very low-energy minimum for the most symmetric configuration at equal mixing of the two angles, even when the average opening angle does not match the ideal angle.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Force-free Currents and the Newman-Penrose Tetrad of a Kerr Black Hole: Exact Local Solutions

In a previous article we derived a class of solutions to the force-free magnetosphere in a Kerr background. Here, the streaming surface, defined by constant values of the toriodal component of the electromagnetic vector potential $A$, were generated by constant values of $θ$. The electromagnetic current vector flowed along the in-falling principle null geodesic vector of the geometry. Subsequently, we generalized this to obtain an out-going principle null geodesic vector as well. In this article, we derive solutions that are complimentary to the above mentioned criteria. Namely, here the solution has a streaming surface generated by spheres of constant radial coordinate $r$, and the current vector is generated by linear combinations of $m$ and $m^\star$, the remaining bases vectors in the Newman-Penrose null tetrad.

gr-qc↗

Local, Non-Geodesic, Timelike Currents in the Force-Free Magnetosphere of a Kerr Black Hole

In this paper, we use previously developed exact solutions to present some of the curious features of a force-free magnetosphere in a Kerr background. More precisely, we obtain a hitherto unseen timelike current in the force-free magnetosphere that does not flow along a geodesic. The electromagnetic field in this case happens to be magnetically dominated. This too is a feature that has entered the literature for the first time. Changing the sign of a single parameter in our solutions generates a spacelike current that creates an electromagnetic field that is electrically dominated.

gr-qc↗

Coarse graining, dynamic renormalization and the kinetic theory of shock clustering

We demonstrate the utility of the equation free methodology developed by one of the authors (I.G.K) for the study of scalar conservation laws with disordered initial conditions. The numerical scheme is benchmarked on exact solutions in Burgers turbulence corresponding to Levy process initial data. For these initial data, the kinetics of shock clustering is described by Smoluchowski's coagulation equation with additive kernel. The equation free methodology is used to develop a particle scheme that computes self-similar solutions to the coagulation equation, including those with fat tails.

nlin.AO↗

Universality in Numerical Computations with Random Data. Case Studies

The authors present evidence for universality in numerical computations with random data. Given a (possibly stochastic) numerical algorithm with random input data, the time (or number of iterations) to convergence (within a given tolerance) is a random variable, called the halting time. Two-component universality is observed for the fluctuations of the halting time, i.e., the histogram for the halting times, centered by the sample average and scaled by the sample variance, collapses to a universal curve, independent of the input data distribution, as the dimension increases. Thus, up to two components, the sample average and the sample variance, the statistics for the halting time are universally prescribed. The case studies include six standard numerical algorithms, as well as a model of neural computation and decision making. A link to relevant software is provided in for the reader who would like to do computations of his'r own.

math.NA↗

Numerical solution of Dyson Brownian motion and a sampling scheme for invariant matrix ensembles

The Dyson Brownian Motion (DBM) describes the stochastic evolution of $N$ points on the line driven by an applied potential, a Coulombic repulsion and identical, independent Brownian forcing at each point. We use an explicit tamed Euler scheme to numerically solve the Dyson Brownian motion and sample the equilibrium measure for non-quadratic potentials. The Coulomb repulsion is too singular for the SDE to satisfy the hypotheses of rigorous convergence proofs for tamed Euler schemes. Nevertheless, in practice the scheme is observed to be stable for time steps of O(1/N^2) and to relax exponentially fast to the equilibrium measure with a rate constant of O(1) independent of $N$. Further, this convergence rate appears to improve with $N$ in accordance with O(1/N) relaxation of local statistics of the Dyson Brownian motion. This allows us to use the Dyson Brownian motion to sample $N\times N$ Hermitian matrices from the invariant ensembles. The computational cost of generating $M$ independent samples is O(MN^4) with a naive scheme, and O(MN^3\log N) when a fast multipole method is used to evaluate the Coulomb interaction.

math.NA↗

How long does it take to compute the eigenvalues of a random symmetric matrix?

We present the results of an empirical study of the performance of the QR algorithm (with and without shifts) and the Toda algorithm on random symmetric matrices. The random matrices are chosen from six ensembles, four of which lie in the Wigner class. For all three algorithms, we observe a form of universality for the deflation time statistics for random matrices within the Wigner class. For these ensembles, the empirical distribution of a normalized deflation time is found to collapse onto a curve that depends only on the algorithm, but not on the matrix size or deflation tolerance provided the matrix size is large enough (see Figure 4, Figure 7 and Figure 10). For the QR algorithm with the Wilkinson shift, the observed universality is even stronger and includes certain non-Wigner ensembles. Our experiments also provide a quantitative statistical picture of the accelerated convergence with shifts.

math.NA↗

Jet Formation in the magnetospheres of supermassive black holes: analytic solutions describing energy loss through Blandford-Znajek processes

In this paper, we provide exact solutions for the extraction of energy from a rotating black hole via both the electromagnetic Poynting flux and matter currents. By appropriate choice of a radially independent poloidal function $Λ(θ)$, we find solutions where the dominant outward energy flux is along the polar axis, consistent with a jet-like collimated outflow, but also with a weaker flux of energy along the equatorial plane. Unlike all the previously obtained solutions (Blandford & Znajek (1977), Menon & Dermer (2005)), the magnetosphere is free of magnetic monopoles everywhere.

astro-ph.HE↗

Complete integrability of shock clustering and Burgers turbulence

We consider scalar conservation laws with convex flux and random initial data. The Hopf-Lax formula induces a deterministic evolution of the law of the initial data. In a recent article, we derived a kinetic theory and Lax equations to describe the evolution of the law under the assumption that the initial data is a spectrally negative Markov process. Here we show that: (i) the Lax equations are Hamiltonian and describe a principle of least action on the Markov group that is in analogy with geodesic flow on $SO(N)$; (ii) the Lax equations are completely integrable and linearized via a loop-group factorization of operators; (iii) the associated zero-curvature equations can be solved via inverse scattering. Our results are rigorous for $N$-dimensional approximations of the Lax equations, and yield formulas for the limit $N \to \infty$. The main observation is that the Lax equations are a $N \to \infty$ limit of a Markovian variant of the $N$-wave model. This allows us to introduce a variety of methods from the theory of integrable systems.

nlin.SI↗