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Peter Müller

Publications and source records attributed to Peter Müller.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Defining Predictive Probability Functions for Species Sampling Models

We review the class of species sampling models (SSM). In particular, we investigate the relation between the exchangeable partition probability function (EPPF) and the predictive probability function (PPF). It is straightforward to define a PPF from an EPPF, but the converse is not necessarily true. In this paper we introduce the notion of putative PPFs and show novel conditions for a putative PPF to define an EPPF. We show that all possible PPFs in a certain class have to define (unnormalized) probabilities for cluster membership that are linear in cluster size. We give a new necessary and sufficient condition for arbitrary putative PPFs to define an EPPF. Finally, we show posterior inference for a large class of SSMs with a PPF that is not linear in cluster size and discuss a numerical method to derive its PPF.

stat.ME↗

Localization for random block operators

We continue the investigations of Kirsch, Metzger and the second-named author [J. Stat. Phys. 143, 1035--1054 (2011)] on spectral properties of a certain type of random block operators. In particular, we establish an alternative version of a Wegner estimate and an improved result on Lifschitz tails at the internal band edges. Using these ingredients and the bootstrap multi-scale analysis, we also prove dynamical localization in a neighbourhood of the internal band edges.

math-ph↗

Modeling dependent gene expression

In this paper we propose a Bayesian approach for inference about dependence of high throughput gene expression. Our goals are to use prior knowledge about pathways to anchor inference about dependence among genes; to account for this dependence while making inferences about differences in mean expression across phenotypes; and to explore differences in the dependence itself across phenotypes. Useful features of the proposed approach are a model-based parsimonious representation of expression as an ordinal outcome, a novel and flexible representation of prior information on the nature of dependencies, and the use of a coherent probability model over both the structure and strength of the dependencies of interest. We evaluate our approach through simulations and in the analysis of data on expression of genes in the Complement and Coagulation Cascade pathway in ovarian cancer.

stat.AP↗

Ergodic properties of randomly coloured point sets

We provide a framework for studying randomly coloured point sets in a locally compact, second-countable space on which a metrisable unimodular group acts continuously and properly. We first construct and describe an appropriate dynamical system for uniformly discrete uncoloured point sets. For point sets of finite local complexity, we characterise ergodicity geometrically in terms of pattern frequencies. The general framework allows to incorporate a random colouring of the point sets. We derive an ergodic theorem for randomly coloured point sets with finite-range dependencies. Special attention is paid to the exclusion of exceptional instances for uniquely ergodic systems. The setup allows for a straightforward application to randomly coloured graphs.

math.DS↗

Bayesian Nonparametric Shrinkage Applied to Cepheid Star Oscillations

Bayesian nonparametric regression with dependent wavelets has dual shrinkage properties: there is shrinkage through a dependent prior put on functional differences, and shrinkage through the setting of most of the wavelet coefficients to zero through Bayesian variable selection methods. The methodology can deal with unequally spaced data and is efficient because of the existence of fast moves in model space for the MCMC computation. The methodology is illustrated on the problem of modeling the oscillations of Cepheid variable stars; these are a class of pulsating variable stars with the useful property that their periods of variability are strongly correlated with their absolute luminosity. Once this relationship has been calibrated, knowledge of the period gives knowledge of the luminosity. This makes these stars useful as "standard candles" for estimating distances in the universe.

stat.ME↗

Galois groups of multivariate Tutte polynomials

The multivariate Tutte polynomial $\hat Z_M$ of a matroid $M$ is a generalization of the standard two-variable version, obtained by assigning a separate variable $v_e$ to each element $e$ of the ground set $E$. It encodes the full structure of $M$. Let $\bv = \{v_e\}_{e\in E}$, let $K$ be an arbitrary field, and suppose $M$ is connected. We show that $\hat Z_M$ is irreducible over $K(\bv)$, and give three self-contained proofs that the Galois group of $\hat Z_M$ over $K(\bv)$ is the symmetric group of degree $n$, where $n$ is the rank of $M$. An immediate consequence of this result is that the Galois group of the multivariate Tutte polynomial of any matroid is a direct product of symmetric groups. Finally, we conjecture a similar result for the standard Tutte polynomial of a connected matroid.

math.CO↗

Lifshits tails in the hierarchical Anderson model

We prove that the homogeneous hierarchical Anderson model exhibits a Lifshits tail at the upper edge of its spectrum. The Lifshits exponent is given in terms of the spectral dimension of the homogeneous hierarchical structure. Our approach is based on Dirichlet-Neumann bracketing for the hierarchical Laplacian and a large-deviation argument.

math-ph↗

Synthesis and Characterization of Single Crystal Samples of Spin-$1/2$ Kagome Lattice Antiferromagnets in the Zn-Paratacamite Family Zn$_{x}$Cu$_{4-x}$(OH)$_{6}$Cl$_{2}$

The Zn-paratacamite family, Zn$_{x}$Cu$_{4-x}$(OH)$_{6}$Cl$_{2}$ for $x \, \geq$ 0.33, is an ideal system for studying spin-1/2 frustrated magnetism in the form of antiferromagnetic Cu$^{2+}$ kagome planes. Here we report a new synthesis method by which high quality millimeter-sized single crystals of Zn-paratacamite have been produced. These crystals have been characterized by metal analysis, x-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, and thermodynamic measurements. The $x$ = 1 member of the series displays a magnetic susceptibility that is slightly anisotropic at high temperatures with $χ_{c} \, > \, χ_{ab}$. Neutron and synchrotron x-ray diffraction experiments confirm the quality of these $x$ = 1 single crystals and indicate no obvious structural transition down to temperatures of T=2 K.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Percolation Hamiltonians

There has been quite some activity and progress concerning spectral asymptotics of random operators that are defined on percolation subgraphs of different types of graphs. In this short survey we record some of these results and explain the necessary background coming from different areas in mathematics: graph theory, group theory, probability theory and random operators.

math-ph↗

Random Block Operators

We study fundamental spectral properties of random block operators that are common in the physical modelling of mesoscopic disordered systems such as dirty superconductors. Our results include ergodic properties, the location of the spectrum, existence and regularity of the integrated density of states, as well as Lifshits tails. Special attention is paid to the peculiarities arising from the block structure such as the occurrence of a robust gap in the middle of the spectrum. Without randomness in the off-diagonal blocks the density of states typically exhibits an inverse square-root singularity at the edges of the gap. In the presence of randomness we establish a Wegner estimate that is valid at all energies. It implies that the singularities are smeared out by randomness, and the density of states is bounded. We also show Lifshits tails at these band edges. Technically, one has to cope with a non-monotone dependence on the random couplings.

math-ph↗

Uniform convergence of spectral shift functions

The spectral shift function ξ_{L}(E) for a Schrödinger operator restricted to a finite cube of length L in multi-dimensional Euclidean space, with Dirichlet boundary conditions, counts the number of eigenvalues less than or equal to E \in \RR created by a perturbation potential V. We study the behavior of this function ξ_{L}(E) as L to infinity for the case of a compactly-supported and bounded potential V. After reviewing results of Kirsch [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 101, 509-512 (1987)], and our recent pointwise convergence result for the Cesàro mean [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 138, 2141-2150 (2010)], we present a new result on the convergence of the energy-averaged spectral shift function that is uniform with respect to the location of the potential V within the finite box.

math-ph↗

The spectral shift function for compactly supported perturbations of Schrödinger operators on large bounded domains

We study the asymptotic behavior as L \to \infty of the finite-volume spectral shift function for a positive, compactly-supported perturbation of a Schrödinger operator in d-dimensional Euclidean space, restricted to a cube of side length L with Dirichlet boundary conditions. The size of the support of the perturbation is fixed and independent of L. We prove that the Cesàro mean of finite-volume spectral shift functions remains pointwise bounded along certain sequences L_n \to \infty for Lebesgue-almost every energy. In deriving this result, we give a short proof of the vague convergence of the finite-volume spectral shift functions to the infinite-volume spectral shift function as L \to\infty . Our findings complement earlier results of W. Kirsch [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 101, 509 - 512 (1987), Int. Eqns. Op. Th. 12, 383 - 391 (1989)] who gave examples of positive, compactly-supported perturbations of finite-volume Dirichlet Laplacians for which the pointwise limit of the spectral shift function does not exist for any given positive energy. Our methods also provide a new proof of the Birman--Solomyak formula for the spectral shift function that may be used to express the measure given by the infinite-volume spectral shift function directly in terms of the potential.

math-ph↗

A Bayesian semi-parametric model for small area estimation

In public health management there is a need to produce subnational estimates of health outcomes. Often, however, funds are not available to collect samples large enough to produce traditional survey sample estimates for each subnational area. Although parametric hierarchical methods have been successfully used to derive estimates from small samples, there is a concern that the geographic diversity of the U.S. population may be oversimplified in these models. In this paper, a semi-parametric model is used to describe the geographic variability component of the model. Specifically, we assume Dirichlet process mixtures of normals for county-specific random effects. Results are compared to a parametric model based on the base measure of the Dirichlet process, using binary health outcomes related to mammogram usage.

stat.AP↗

A lower bound for the density of states of the lattice Anderson model

We consider the Anderson model on the multi-dimensional cubic lattice and prove a positive lower bound on the density of states under certain conditions. For example, if the random variables are independently and identically distributed and the probability measure has a bounded Lebesgue density with compact support, and if this density is essentially bounded away from zero on its support, then we prove that the density of states is strictly positive for Lebesgue-almost every energy in the deterministic spectrum.

math-ph↗

The conductivity measure for the Anderson model

We study the ac-conductivity in linear response theory for the Anderson tight-binding model. We define the electrical ac-conductivity and calculate the linear-response current at zero temperature for arbitrary Fermi energy. In particular, the Fermi energy may lie in a spectral region where extended states are believed to exist.

math-ph↗

Random colourings of aperiodic graphs: Ergodic and spectral properties

We study randomly coloured graphs embedded into Euclidean space, whose vertex sets are infinite, uniformly discrete subsets of finite local complexity. We construct the appropriate ergodic dynamical systems, explicitly characterise ergodic measures, and prove an ergodic theorem. For covariant operators of finite range defined on those graphs, we show the existence and self-averaging of the integrated density of states, as well as the non-randomness of the spectrum. Our main result establishes Lifshits tails at the lower spectral edge of the graph Laplacian on bond percolation subgraphs, for sufficiently small probabilities. Among other assumptions, its proof requires exponential decay of the cluster-size distribution for percolation on rather general graphs.

math.SP↗