arXiv subjects

M. Zhao

Publications and source records attributed to M. Zhao.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Adaptive Reduced-Rank Minimum Symbol-Error-Rate Receive Processing for Large-Scale Multiple-Antenna Systems

In this work, we propose a novel adaptive reduced-rank receive processing strategy based on joint preprocessing, decimation and filtering (JPDF) for large-scale multiple-antenna systems. In this scheme, a reduced-rank framework is employed for linear receive processing and multiuser interference suppression based on the minimization of the symbol-error-rate (SER) cost function. We present a structure with multiple processing branches that performs a dimensionality reduction, where each branch contains a group of jointly optimized preprocessing and decimation units, followed by a linear receive filter. We then develop stochastic gradient (SG) algorithms to compute the parameters of the preprocessing and receive filters, along with a low-complexity decimation technique for both binary phase shift keying (BPSK) and $M$-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) symbols. In addition, an automatic parameter selection scheme is proposed to further improve the convergence performance of the proposed reduced-rank algorithms. Simulation results are presented for time-varying wireless environments and show that the proposed JPDF minimum-SER receive processing strategy and algorithms achieve a superior performance than existing methods with a reduced computational complexity.

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arXiv2015

First Images of Cool Starspots on a Star Other than the Sun: Interferometric Imaging of $λ$ Andromedae

Presented are the first interferometric images of cool starspots on the chromospherically active giant $λ$ Andromedae. These images represent the first model-independent images of cool starspots on a star other than the Sun to date. The interferometric observations, taken with the Michigan Infra-Red Combiner coupled to the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy Array, span 26 days from Aug 17$^{th}$, 2008 to Sep 24$^{th}$, 2011. The photometric time series acquired at Fairborn Observatory spanning Sep 20$^{th}$, 2008 to Jan 20$^{th}$, 2011 is also presented. The angular diameter and power law limb-darkening coefficient of this star are 2.759 $\pm$ 0.050 mas and 0.229 $\pm$ 0.111, respectively. Starspot properties are obtained from both modeled and SQUEEZE reconstructed images. The images from 2010 through 2011 show anywhere from one to four starspots. The measured properties of identical starspots identified in both the model and reconstructed images are within two $σ$ error bars in 51$\%$ of cases. The cadence in the data for the 2010 and 2011 data sets are sufficient to measure a stellar rotation period based on apparent starspot motion. This leads to estimates of the rotation period (P$_{2010}$ = 60 $\pm$ 13 days, P$_{2011}$ = 54.0 $\pm$ 7.6 days) that are consistent with the photometrically determined period of 54.8 days. In addition, the inclination and position angle of the rotation axis is computed for both the 2010 and 2011 data sets; values ($\barΨ$ = 21.5$\degree$, $\bar{\emph{i}}$ = 78.0$\degree$) for each are nearly identical between the two years. \end{abstract}

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arXiv2015

Spectral and spatial imaging of the Be+sdO binary phi Persei

The rapidly rotating Be star phi Persei was spun up by mass and angular momentum transfer from a now stripped-down, hot subdwarf companion. Here we present the first high angular resolution images of phi Persei made possible by new capabilities in longbaseline interferometry at near-IR and visible wavelengths. We observed phi Persei with the MIRC and VEGA instruments of the CHARA Array. Additional MIRC-only observations were performed to track the orbital motion of the companion, and these were fit together with new and existing radial velocity measurements of both stars to derive the complete orbital elements and distance. The hot subdwarf companion is clearly detected in the near-IR data at each epoch of observation with a flux contribution of 1.5% in the H band, and restricted fits indicate that its flux contribution rises to 3.3% in the visible. A new binary orbital solution is determined by combining the astrometric and radial velocity measurements. The derived stellar masses are 9.6+-0.3Msol and 1.2+-0.2Msol for the Be primary and subdwarf secondary, respectively. The inferred distance (186 +- 3 pc), kinematical properties, and evolutionary state are consistent with membership of phi Persei in the alpha Per cluster. From the cluster age we deduce significant constraints on the initial masses and evolutionary mass transfer processes that transformed the phi Persei binary system. The interferometric data place strong constraints on the Be disk elongation, orientation, and kinematics, and the disk angular momentum vector is coaligned with and has the same sense of rotation as the orbital angular momentum vector. The VEGA visible continuum data indicate an elongated shape for the Be star itself, due to the combined effects of rapid rotation, partial obscuration of the photosphere by the circumstellar disk, and flux from the bright inner disk.

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arXiv2014

Robust MMSE Precoding for Multiuser MIMO Relay Systems using Switched Relaying and Side Information

This study proposes a novel precoding scheme for multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relay systems in the presence of imperfect channel state information (CSI). The base station (BS) and the MIMO relay station (RS) are both equipped with the same codebook of unitary matrices. According to each element of the codebook, we create a latent precoding matrix pair, namely a BS precoding matrix and an RS precoding matrix. The RS precoding matrix is formed by multiplying the appropriate unitary matrix from the codebook by a power scaling factor. Based on the given CSI and a block of transmit symbols, the optimum precoding matrix pair, within the class of all possible latent precoding matrix pairs derived from the various unitary matrices, is selected by a suitable selection mechanism for transmission, which is designed to minimize the squared Euclidean distance between the pre-estimated received vector and the true transmit symbol vector. We develop a minimum mean square error (MMSE) design algorithm for the construction of the latent precoding matrix pairs. In the proposed scheme, rather than sending the complete processing matrix, only the index of the unitary matrix and its power scaling factor are sent by the BS to the RS. This significantly reduces the overhead. Simulation results show that compared to other recently reported precoding algorithms the proposed precoding scheme is capable of providing improved robustness against the effects of CSI estimation errors and multiuser interference.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2014

Robust Multi-Branch Tomlinson-Harashima Precoding in Cooperative MIMO Relay Systems

This paper proposes the design of robust transceivers with Tomlinson-Harashima precoding (THP) for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relay systems with amplify-and-forward (AF) protocols based on a multi-branch (MB) strategy. The MB strategy employs successive interference cancellation (SIC) on several parallel branches which are equipped with different ordering patterns so that each branch produces transmit signals by exploiting a certain ordering pattern. For each parallel branch, the proposed robust nonlinear transceiver design consists of THP at the source along with a linear precoder at the relay and a linear minimum-mean-squared-error (MMSE) receiver at the destination. By taking the channel uncertainties into account, the source and relay precoders are jointly optimised to minimise the mean-squared-error (MSE). We then employ a diagonalization method along with some attributes of matrix-monotone functions to convert the optimization problem with matrix variables into an optimization problem with scalar variables. We resort to an iterative method to obtain the solution for the relay and the source precoders via Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions. An appropriate selection rule is developed to choose the nonlinear transceiver corresponding to the best branch for data transmission. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed MB-THP scheme is capable of alleviating the effects of channel state information (CSI) errors and improving the robustness of the system.

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arXiv2014

Low-Complexity Variable Forgetting Factor Constrained Constant Modulus RLS Algorithm for Adaptive Beamforming

In this paper, a recursive least squares (RLS) based blind adaptive beamforming algorithm that features a new variable forgetting factor (VFF) mechanism is presented. The beamformer is designed according to the constrained constant modulus (CCM) criterion, and the proposed adaptive algorithm operates in the generalized sidelobe canceler (GSC) structure. A detailed study of its operating properties is carried out, including a convexity analysis and a mean squared error (MSE) analysis of its steady-state behavior. The results of numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed VFF mechanism achieves a superior learning and tracking performance compared to other VFF mechanisms.

cs.OH↗

arXiv2014

CHARA/MIRC observations of two M supergiants in Perseus OB1: temperature, Bayesian modeling, and compressed sensing imaging

Two red supergiants of the Per OB1 association, RS Per and T Per, have been observed in H band using the MIRC instrument at the CHARA array. The data show clear evidence of departure from circular symmetry. We present here new techniques specially developed to analyze such cases, based on state-of-the-art statistical frameworks. The stellar surfaces are first modeled as limb-darkened discs based on SATLAS models that fit both MIRC interferometric data and publicly available spectrophotometric data. Bayesian model selection is then used to determine the most probable number of spots. The effective surface temperatures are also determined and give further support to the recently derived hotter temperature scales of red su- pergiants. The stellar surfaces are reconstructed by our model-independent imaging code SQUEEZE, making use of its novel regularizer based on Compressed Sensing theory. We find excellent agreement between the model-selection results and the reconstructions. Our results provide evidence for the presence of near-infrared spots representing about 3-5% of the stellar flux.

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arXiv2012

Dynamics aspect of subbarrier fusion reaction in light heavy ion systems

Subbarrier fusion of the 7Li + 12C reaction is studied using an antisymmetrized molecular dynamics model (AMD) with an after burner, GEMINI. In AMD, 7Li shows an α+ t structure at its ground state and it is significantly deformed. Simulations are made near the Coulomb barrier energies, i.e., E_{cm} = 3 - 8 MeV. The total fusion cross section of the AMD + GEMINI calculations as a function of incident energy is compared to the experimental results and both are in good agreement at E_{cm} > 3 MeV. The cross section for the different residue channels of the AMD + GEMINI at E_{cm} = 5 MeV is also compared to the experimental results.

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arXiv2012

Imaging the Algol Triple System in H Band with the CHARA Interferometer

Algol (Beta Per) is an extensively studied hierarchical triple system whose inner pair is a prototype semi-detached binary with mass transfer occurring from the sub-giant secondary to the main-sequence primary. We present here the results of our Algol observations made between 2006 and 2010 at the CHARA interferometer with the Michigan Infrared Combiner in the H band. The use of four telescopes with long baselines allows us to achieve better than 0.5 mas resolution and to unambiguously resolve the three stars. The inner and outer orbital elements, as well as the angular sizes and mass ratios for the three components are determined independently from previous studies. We report a significantly improved orbit for the inner stellar pair with the consequence of a 15% change in the primary mass compared to previous studies. We also determine the mutual inclination of the orbits to be much closer to perpendicularity than previously established. State-of-the-art image reconstruction algorithms are used to image the full triple system. In particular an image sequence of 55 distinct phases of the inner pair orbit is reconstructed, clearly showing the Roche-lobe-filling secondary revolving around the primary, with several epochs corresponding to the primary and secondary eclipses.

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arXiv2011

Toward Direct Detection of Hot Jupiters with Precision Closure Phase: Calibration Studies and First Results from the CHARA Array

Direct detection of thermal emission from nearby hot Jupiters has greatly advanced our knowledge of extrasolar planets in recent years. Since hot Jupiter systems can be regarded as analogs of high contrast binaries, ground-based infrared long baseline interferometers have the potential to resolve them and detect their thermal emission with precision closure phase - a method that is immune to the systematic errors induced by the Earth's atmosphere. In this work, we present closure phase studies toward direct detection of nearby hot Jupiters using the CHARA interferometer array outfitted with the MIRC instrument. We carry out closure phase simulations and conduct a large number of observations for the best candidate υ And. Our experiments suggest the method is feasible with highly stable and precise closure phases. However, we also find much larger systematic errors than expected in the observations, most likely caused by dispersion across different wavelengths. We find that using higher spectral resolution modes (e.g., R=150) can significantly reduce the systematics. By combining all calibrators in an observing run together, we are able to roughly recalibrate the lower spectral resolution data, allowing us to obtain upper limits of the star-planet contrast ratios of υ And b across the H band. The data also allow us to get a refined stellar radius of 1.625\pm0.011 R\odot. Our best upper limit corresponds to a contrast ratio of 2.1\times10^3:1 with 90% confidence level at 1.52μm, suggesting that we are starting to have the capability of constraining atmospheric models of hot Jupiters with interferometry. With recent and upcoming improvements of CHARA/MIRC, the prospect of detecting emission from hot Jupiters with closure phases is promising.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2011

Colder and Hotter: Interferometric imaging of β Cassiopeiae and α Leonis

Near-infrared interferometers have recently imaged a number of rapidly rotating A-type stars, finding levels of gravity darkening inconsistent with theoretical expectations. Here, we present new imaging of both a cooler star β Cas (F2IV) and a hotter one α Leo (B7V) using the CHARA array and the MIRC instrument at the H band. Adopting a solid-body rotation model with a simple gravity darkening prescription, we modeled the stellar geometric properties and surface temperature distributions, confirming both stars are rapidly rotating and show gravity darkening anomalies. We estimate the masses and ages of these rapid rotators on L-Rpol and HR diagrams constructed for non-rotating stars by tracking their non-rotating equivalents. The unexpected fast rotation of the evolved subgiant β Cas offers a unique test of the stellar core-envelope coupling, revealing quite efficient coupling over the past ~ 0.5 Gyr. Lastly we summarize all our interferometric determinations of the gravity darkening coefficient for rapid rotators, finding none match the expectations from the widely used von Zeipel gravity darkening laws. Since the conditions of the von Zeipel law are known to be violated for rapidly rotating stars, we recommend using the empirically-derived β = 0.19 for such stars with radiation-dominated envelopes. Furthermore, we note that no paradigm exists for self-consistently modeling heavily gravity-darkened stars that show hot radiative poles with cool convective equators.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

The TIANSHAN Radio Experiment for Neutrino Detection

An antenna array devoted to the autonomous radio-detection of high energy cosmic rays is being deployed on the site of the 21 cm array radio telescope in XinJiang, China. Thanks in particular to the very good electromagnetic environment of this remote experimental site, self-triggering on extensive air showers induced by cosmic rays has been achieved with a small scale prototype of the foreseen antenna array. We give here a detailed description of the detector and present the first detection of extensive air showers with this prototype.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2010

Rotationally-modulated g-modes in the rapidly-rotating delta Scuti star Rasalhague (alpha Ophiuchi)

Despite a century of remarkable progress in understanding stellar interiors, we know surprisingly little about the inner workings of stars spinning near their critical limit. New interferometric imaging of these so-called ``rapid rotators'' combined with breakthroughs in asteroseismology promise to lift this veil and probe the strongly latitude-dependent photospheric characteristics and even reveal the internal angular momentum distribution of these luminous objects. Here, we report the first high precision photometry on the low-amplitude delta cuti variable star Rasalhague (alpha Oph, A5IV, 2.18 Msun, omega/omega_c~0.88) based on 30 continuous days of monitoring using the MOST satellite. We have identified 57+/-1 distinct pulsation modes above a stochastic granulation spectrum with a cutoff of ~26 cycles per day. Remarkably, we have also discovered that the fast rotation period of 14.5~hours modulates low-frequency modes (1-10 day periods) that we identify as a rich family of g-modes (|m| up to 7). The spacing of the g-modes is surprisingly linear considering Coriolis forces are expected to strongly distort the mode spectrum, suggesting we are seeing prograde ``equatorial Kelvin'' waves (modes l=m). We emphasize the unique aspects of Rasalhague motivating future detailed asteroseismic modeling -- a source with a precisely measured parallax distance, photospheric oblateness, latitude temperature structure, and whose low-mass companion provides an astrometric orbit for precise mass determinations.

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arXiv2010

Multi-epoch Near-Infrared Interferometry of the Spatially Resolved Disk Around the Be Star Zeta Tau

We present interferometric observations of the Be star Zeta Tau obtained using the MIRC beam combiner at the CHARA Array. We resolved the disk during four epochs in 2007-2009. We fit the data with a geometric model to characterize the circumstellar disk as a skewed elliptical Gaussian and the central Be star as a uniform disk. The visibilities reveal a nearly edge-on disk with a FWHM major axis of ~ 1.8 mas in the H-band. The non-zero closure phases indicate an asymmetry within the disk. Interestingly, when combining our results with previously published interferometric observations of Zeta Tau, we find a correlation between the position angle of the disk and the spectroscopic V/R ratio, suggesting that the tilt of the disk is precessing. This work is part of a multi-year monitoring campaign to investigate the development and outward motion of asymmetric structures in the disks of Be stars.

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arXiv2010

Spectro-interferometry of the Be star delta Sco: Near-Infrared Continuum and Gas Emission Region Sizes in 2007

We present near-infrared H and K-band spectro-interferometric observations of the gaseous disk around the primary Be star in the delta Sco binary system, obtained in 2007 (between periastron passages in 2000 and 2011). Observations using the CHARA/MIRC instrument at H-band resolve an elongated disk with a Gaussian FWHM 1.18 x 0.91 mas. Using the Keck Interferometer, the source of the K-band continuum emission is only marginally spatially resolved, and consequently we estimate a relatively uncertain K-band continuum disk FWHM of 0.7 +/- 0.3 mas. Line emission on the other hand, He1 (2.0583 micron) and Br gamma (2.1657 micron), is clearly detected, with about 10% lower visibilities than those of the continuum. When taking into account the continuum/line flux ratio this translates into much larger sizes for the line emission regions: 2.2 +/- 0.4 mas and 1.9 +/- 0.3 mas for He1 and Br gamma respectively. Our KI data also reveal a relatively flat spectral differential phase response, ruling out significant off-center emission. We expect these new measurements will help constrain dynamical models being actively developed in order to explain the disk formation process in the delta Sco system and Be stars in general.

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arXiv2010

Thresholded Basis Pursuit: An LP Algorithm for Achieving Optimal Support Recovery for Sparse and Approximately Sparse Signals from Noisy Random Measurements

In this paper we present a linear programming solution for sign pattern recovery of a sparse signal from noisy random projections of the signal. We consider two types of noise models, input noise, where noise enters before the random projection; and output noise, where noise enters after the random projection. Sign pattern recovery involves the estimation of sign pattern of a sparse signal. Our idea is to pretend that no noise exists and solve the noiseless $\ell_1$ problem, namely, $\min \|β\|_1 ~ s.t. ~ y=G β$ and quantizing the resulting solution. We show that the quantized solution perfectly reconstructs the sign pattern of a sufficiently sparse signal. Specifically, we show that the sign pattern of an arbitrary k-sparse, n-dimensional signal $x$ can be recovered with $SNR=Ω(\log n)$ and measurements scaling as $m= Ω(k \log{n/k})$ for all sparsity levels $k$ satisfying $0< k \leq αn$, where $α$ is a sufficiently small positive constant. Surprisingly, this bound matches the optimal \emph{Max-Likelihood} performance bounds in terms of $SNR$, required number of measurements, and admissible sparsity level in an order-wise sense. In contrast to our results, previous results based on LASSO and Max-Correlation techniques either assume significantly larger $SNR$, sublinear sparsity levels or restrictive assumptions on signal sets. Our proof technique is based on noisy perturbation of the noiseless $\ell_1$ problem, in that, we estimate the maximum admissible noise level before sign pattern recovery fails.

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arXiv2010

Compressed Blind De-convolution

Suppose the signal x is realized by driving a k-sparse signal u through an arbitrary unknown stable discrete-linear time invariant system H. These types of processes arise naturally in Reflection Seismology. In this paper we are interested in several problems: (a) Blind-Deconvolution: Can we recover both the filter $H$ and the sparse signal $u$ from noisy measurements? (b) Compressive Sensing: Is x compressible in the conventional sense of compressed sensing? Namely, can x, u and H be reconstructed from a sparse set of measurements. We develop novel L1 minimization methods to solve both cases and establish sufficient conditions for exact recovery for the case when the unknown system H is auto-regressive (i.e. all pole) of a known order. In the compressed sensing/sampling setting it turns out that both H and x can be reconstructed from O(k log(n)) measurements under certain technical conditions on the support structure of u. Our main idea is to pass x through a linear time invariant system G and collect O(k log(n)) sequential measurements. The filter G is chosen suitably, namely, its associated Toeplitz matrix satisfies the RIP property. We develop a novel LP optimization algorithm and show that both the unknown filter H and the sparse input u can be reliably estimated.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2009

Exoplanet Characterization and the Search for Life

Over 300 extrasolar planets (exoplanets) have been detected orbiting nearby stars. We now hope to conduct a census of all planets around nearby stars and to characterize their atmospheres and surfaces with spectroscopy. Rocky planets within their star's habitable zones have the highest priority, as these have the potential to harbor life. Our science goal is to find and characterize all nearby exoplanets; this requires that we measure the mass, orbit, and spectroscopic signature of each one at visible and infrared wavelengths. The techniques for doing this are at hand today. Within the decade we could answer long-standing questions about the evolution and nature of other planetary systems, and we could search for clues as to whether life exists elsewhere in our galactic neighborhood.

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