arXiv subjects

Hugo Lavenant

Publications and source records attributed to Hugo Lavenant.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Total Variation Isoperimetric Profiles

Applications such as political redistricting demand quantitative measures of geometric compactness to distinguish between simple and contorted shapes. While the isoperimetric quotient, or ratio of area to perimeter squared, is commonly used in practice, it is sensitive to noisy data and irrelevant geographic features like coastline. These issues are addressed in theory by the isoperimetric profile, which plots the minimum perimeter needed to inscribe regions of different prescribed areas within the boundary of a shape. Efficient algorithms for computing this profile, however, are not known in practice. Hence, in this paper, we propose a convex Eulerian relaxation of the isoperimetric profile using total variation. We prove theoretical properties of our relaxation, showing that it still satisfies an isoperimetric inequality and yields a convex function of the prescribed area. Furthermore, we provide a discretization of the problem, an optimization technique, and experiments demonstrating the value of our relaxation.

math.OC↗

arXiv2019

Harmonic mappings valued in the Wasserstein space

We propose a definition of the Dirichlet energy (which is roughly speaking the integral of the square of the gradient) for mappings mu : Omega -> (P(D), W\_2) defined over a subset Omega of R^p and valued in the space P(D) of probability measures on a compact convex subset D of R^q endowed with the quadratic Wasserstein distance. Our definition relies on a straightforward generalization of the Benamou-Brenier formula (already introduced by Brenier) but is also equivalent to the definition of Koorevaar, Schoen and Jost as limit of approximate Dirichlet energies, and to the definition of Reshetnyak of Sobolev spaces valued in metric spaces. We study harmonic mappings, i.e. minimizers of the Dirichlet energy provided that the values on the boundary d Omega are fixed. The notion of constant-speed geodesics in the Wasserstein space is recovered by taking for Omega a segment of R. As the Wasserstein space (P(D), W\_2) is positively curved in the sense of Alexandrov we cannot apply the theory of Koorevaar, Schoen and Jost and we use instead arguments based on optimal transport. We manage to get existence of harmonic mappings provided that the boundary values are Lipschitz on d Omega, uniqueness is an open question. If Omega is a segment of R, it is known that a curve valued in the Wasserstein space P(D) can be seen as a superposition of curves valued in D. We show that it is no longer the case in higher dimensions: a generic mapping Omega -> P(D) cannot be represented as the superposition of mappings Omega -> D. We are able to show the validity of a maximum principle: the composition F(mu) of a function F : P(D) -> R convex along generalized geodesics and a harmonic mapping mu : Omega -> P(D) is a subharmonic real-valued function. We also study the special case where we restrict ourselves to a given family of elliptically contoured distributions (a finite-dimensional and geodesically convex submanifold of (P(D), W\_2) which generalizes the case of Gaussian measures) and show that it boils down to harmonic mappings valued in the Riemannian manifold of symmetric matrices endowed with the distance coming from optimal transport.

math.AP↗

arXiv2019

New estimates on the regularity of the pressure in density-constrained Mean Field Games

We consider variational Mean Field Games endowed with a constraint on the maximal density of the distribution of players. Minimizers of the variational formulation are equilibria for a game where both the running cost and the final cost of each player is augmented by a pressure effect, i.e. a positive cost concentrated on the set where the density saturates the constraint. Yet, this pressure is a priori only a measure and regularity is needed to give a precise meaning to its integral on trajectories. We improve, in the limited case where the Hamiltonian is quadratic, which allows to use optimal transport techniques after time-discretization, the results obtained in a paper of the second author with Cardaliaguet and M{é}sz{á}ros. We prove H1 and L infinity regularity under very mild assumptions on the data, and explain the consequences for the MFG, in terms of the value function and of the Lagrangian equilibrium formulation.

math.AP↗

arXiv2018

Dynamical Optimal Transport on Discrete Surfaces

We propose a technique for interpolating between probability distributions on discrete surfaces, based on the theory of optimal transport. Unlike previous attempts that use linear programming, our method is based on a dynamical formulation of quadratic optimal transport proposed for flat domains by Benamou and Brenier [2000], adapted to discrete surfaces. Our structure-preserving construction yields a Riemannian metric on the (finite-dimensional) space of probability distributions on a discrete surface, which translates the so-called Otto calculus to discrete language. From a practical perspective, our technique provides a smooth interpolation between distributions on discrete surfaces with less diffusion than state-of-the-art algorithms involving entropic regularization. Beyond interpolation, we show how our discrete notion of optimal transport extends to other tasks, such as distribution-valued Dirichlet problems and time integration of gradient flows.

math.AP↗

arXiv2017

Time-convexity of the entropy in the multiphasic formulation of the incompressible euler equation

We study the multiphasic formulation of the incompressible Euler equation introduced by Brenier: infinitely many phases evolve according to the compressible Euler equation and are coupled through a global in-compressibility constraint. We are able to prove that the entropy, when averaged over all phases, is a convex function of time, a result that was conjectured by Brenier. The novelty in our approach consists in introducing a time-discretization that allows us to import a flow interchange inequality previously used by Matthes, McCann and Savar{é} to study first order in time PDE, namely the JKO scheme associated with non-linear parabolic equations.

math.AP↗

arXiv2017

Optimal density evolution with congestion: L infinity bounds via flow interchange techniques and applications to variational Mean Field Games

We consider minimization problems for curves of measure, with kinetic and potential energy and a congestion penalization, as in the functionals that appear in Mean Field Games with a variational structure. We prove L infinity regularity results for the optimal density, which can be applied to the rigorous derivations of equilibrium conditions at the level of each agent's trajectory, via time-discretization arguments, displacement convexity, and suitable Moser iterations. Similar L infinity results have already been found by P.-L. Lions in his course on Mean Field Games, using a proof based on the use of a (very degenerate) elliptic equation on the dual potential (the value function) phi, in the case where the initial and final density were prescribed (planning problem). Here the strategy is highly different, and allows for instance to prove local-in-time estimates without assumptions on the initial and final data, and to insert a potential in the dynamics.

math.AP↗

arXiv2014

Mechanical magnetometry of Cobalt nanospheres deposited by focused electron beam at the tip of ultra-soft cantilevers

Using focused-electron-beam-induced deposition, Cobalt magnetic nanospheres with diameter ranging between 100 nm and 300 nm are grown at the tip of ultra-soft cantilevers. By monitoring the mechanical resonance frequency of the cantilever as a function of the applied magnetic field, the hysteresis curve of these individual nanospheres are measured. This enables to evaluate their saturation magnetization, found to be around 430 emu/cm^3 independently of the size of the particle, and to infer that the magnetic vortex state is the equilibrium configuration of these nanospheres at remanence.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗