arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Stéphane Jaffard.
We study the sets of points where a Lévy function and a translated Lévy function share a given couple of H\''older exponents, and we investigate how their Hausdorff dimensions depend on the translation parameter.
In this article, we determine the multivariate multifractal Legendre spectra of shifted L{é}vy functions. This allows us to explore how the validity of the multivariate multifractal formalism depends on the shift parameter. This article is a continuation of [10] where the corresponding bivariate multifractal spectra were explored.
We develop the mathematical properties of a multifractal analysis of data based on the weak scaling exponent. The advantage of this analysis is that it does not require any a priori global regularity assumption on the analyzed signal, in contrast with the previously used H{ö}lder or p-exponents. As an illustration, we show that this technique allows one to perform a multifractal analysis of MEG signals, which records electromagnetic brain activity, that was not theoretically valid using the formerly introduced methods based on H{ö}lder or p-exponents.
The motivation of this article is to estimate multifractality classification and model selection parameters: the first-order scaling exponent $c_1$ and the second-order scaling exponent (or intermittency coefficient) $c_2$. These exponents are built on wavelet leaders, which therefore constitute fundamental tools in applied multifractal analysis. While most estimation methods, particularly Bayesian approaches, rely on the assumption of log-normality, we challenge this hypothesis by statistically testing the normality of log-leaders. Upon rejecting this common assumption, we propose instead a novel model based on log-concave distributions. We validate this new model on well-known stochastic processes, including fractional Brownian motion, the multifractal random walk, and the canonical Mandelbrot cascade, as well as on real-world marathon runner data. Furthermore, we revisit the estimation procedure for $c_1$, providing confidence intervals, and for $c_2$, applying it to fractional Brownian motions with various Hurst indices as well as to the multifractal random walk. Finally, we establish several theoretical results on the distribution of log-leaders in random wavelet series, which are consistent with our numerical findings.
Marathons are one of the ultimate challenges of human endeavor. In this paper, we apply recently introduced multifractal techniques which yield a new classification parameter in the processing of physiological data captured on marathon runners. The comparison of their values gives a new insight on the way that runners of different level conduct their run, and ultimately, can be used in order to give advice on how to improve their performance.
Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals reflect brain activity across different brain states, characterized by distinct frequency distributions. Through multifractal analysis tools, we investigate the scaling behaviour of different classes of EEG signals and artifacts. We show that brain states associated to sleep and general anaesthesia are not in general characterized by scale invariance. The lack of scale invariance motivates the development of artifact removal algorithms capable of operating independently at each scale. We examine here the properties of the wavelet quantile normalization algorithm, a recently introduced adaptive method for real-time correction of transient artifacts in EEG signals. We establish general results regarding the regularization properties of the WQN algorithm, showing how it can eliminate singularities introduced by artefacts, and we compare it to traditional thresholding algorithms. Furthermore, we show that the algorithm performance is independent of the wavelet basis. We finally examine its continuity and boundedness properties and illustrate its distinctive non-local action on the wavelet coefficients through pathological examples.
We study the regularity properties of random wavelet series constructed by multiplying the coefficients of a deterministic wavelet series with unbounded I.I.D. random variables. In particular, we show that, at the opposite to what happens for Fourier series, the randomization of almost every continuous function gives an almost surely nowhere locally bounded function.
We review the central results concerning wavelet methods in multifractal analysis, which consists in analysis of the pointwise singularities of a signal, and we describe its recent extension to multivariate multifractal analysis, which deals with the joint analysis of several signals; we focus on the mathematical questions that this new techniques motivate. We illustrate these methods by an application to data recorded on marathon runners.
Wavelet quantile normalization (WQN) is a nonparametric algorithm designed to efficiently remove transient artifacts from single-channel EEG in real-time clinical monitoring. Today, EEG monitoring machines suspend their output when artifacts in the signal are detected. Removing unpredictable EEG artifacts would thus allow to improve the continuity of the monitoring. We analyze the WQN algorithm which consists in transporting wavelet coefficient distributions of an artifacted epoch into a reference, uncontaminated signal distribution. We show that the algorithm regularizes the signal. To confirm that the algorithm is well suited, we study the empirical distributions of the EEG and the artifacts wavelet coefficients. We compare the WQN algorithm to the classical wavelet thresholding methods and study their effect on the distribution of the wavelet coefficients. We show that the WQN algorithm preserves the distribution while the thresholding methods can cause alterations. Finally, we show how the spectrogram computed from an EEG signal can be cleaned using the WQN algorithm.
We propose an analysis of heart rate marathon runners implemented by computing a multifractal spectrum based on p-exponents. We draw physiological conclusions about their performance. Finally, we link this analysis with the disturbances of the heart rate autoregulation during the marathon, which had been put in evidence up to now only by scales of feeling of marathon runners during the race.
Multifractal analysis has become a powerful signal processing tool that characterizes signals or images via the fluctuations of their pointwise regularity, quantified theoretically by the so-called multifractal spectrum. The practical estimation of the multifractal spectrum fundamentally relies on exploiting the scale dependence of statistical properties of appropriate multiscale quantities, such as wavelet leaders, that can be robustly computed from discrete data. Despite successes of multifractal analysis in various real-world applications, current estimation procedures remain essentially limited to providing concave upper-bound estimates, while there is a priori no reason for the multifractal spectrum to be a concave function. This work addresses this severe practical limitation and proposes a novel formalism for multifractal analysis that enables nonconcave multifractal spectra to be estimated in a stable way. The key contributions reside in the development and theoretical study of a generalized multifractal formalism to assess the multiscale statistics of wavelet leaders, and in devising a practical algorithm that permits this formalism to be applied to real-world data, allowing for the estimation of nonconcave multifractal spectra. Numerical experiments are conducted on several synthetic multifractal processes as well as on a real-world remote-sensing image and demonstrate the benefits of the proposed multifractal formalism over the state of the art.
We determine the $1$-exponent (according to the Calderón-Zygmund definition) of the Brjuno function $B$ everywhere, thus showing that it is a new example of multifractal function. We also discuss various notions of pointwise regularity of the function $B$.
Multifractal analysis has become a standard signal processing tool,for which a promising new formulation, the p-leader multifractal formalism, has recently been proposed. It relies on novel multiscale quantities, the p-leaders, defined as local l^p norms of sets of wavelet coefficients located at infinitely many fine scales. Computing such infinite sums from actual finite-resolution data requires truncations to the finest available scale, which results in biased p-leaders and thus in inaccurate estimates of multifractal properties. A systematic study of such finite-resolution effects leads to conjecture an explicit and universal closed-form correction that permits an accurate estimation of scaling exponents. This conjecture is formulated from the theoretical study of a particular class of models for multifractal processes, the wavelet-based cascades. The relevance and generality of the proposed conjecture is assessed by numerical simulations conducted over a large variety of multifractal processes. Finally, the relevance of the proposed corrected estimators is demonstrated on the analysis of heart rate variability data.
We show the relevance of a multifractal-type analysis for pointwise convergence and divergence properties of wavelet series: Depending on the sequence space which the wavelet coefficients sequence belongs to, we obtain deterministic upper bounds for the Hausdorff dimensions of the sets of points where a given rate of divergence occurs, and we show that these bounds are generically optimal, according to several notions of genericity.
Multifractal analysis studies signals, functions, images or fields via the fluctuations of their local regularity along time or space, which capture crucial features of their temporal/spatial dynamics. It has become a standard signal and image processing tool and is commonly used in numerous applications of different natures. In its common formulation, it relies on the Hölder exponent as a measure of local regularity, which is by nature restricted to positive values and can hence be used for locally bounded functions only. In this contribution, it is proposed to replace the Hölder exponent with a collection of novel exponents for measuring local regularity, the $p$-exponents. One of the major virtues of $p$-exponents is that they can potentially take negative values. The corresponding wavelet-based multiscale quantities, the $p$-leaders, are constructed and shown to permit the definition of a new multifractal formalism, yielding an accurate practical estimation of the multifractal properties of real-world data. Moreover, theoretical and practical connections to and comparisons against another multifractal formalism, referred to as multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis, are achieved. The performance of the proposed $p$-leader multifractal formalism is studied and compared to previous formalisms using synthetic multifractal signals and images, illustrating its theoretical and practical benefits. The present contribution is complemented by a companion article studying in depth the theoretical properties of $p$-exponents and the rich classification of local singularities it permits.
Multifractal analysis aims to characterize signals, functions, images or fields, via the fluctuations of their local regularity along time or space, hence capturing crucial features of their temporal/spatial dynamics. Multifractal analysis is becoming a standard tool in signal and image processing, and is nowadays widely used in numerous applications of different natures. Its common formulation relies on the measure of local regularity via the Hölder exponent, by nature restricted to positive values, and thus to locally bounded functions or signals. It is here proposed to base the quantification of local regularity on $p$-exponents, a novel local regularity measure potentially taking negative values. First, the theoretical properties of $p$-exponents are studied in detail. Second, wavelet-based multiscale quantities, the $p$-leaders, are constructed and shown to permit accurate practical estimation of $p$-exponents. Exploiting the potential dependence with $p$, it is also shown how the collection of $p$-exponents enriches the classification of locally singular behaviors in functions, signals or images. The present contribution is complemented by a companion article developing the $p$-leader based multifractal formalism associated to $p$-exponents.
Many examples of signals and images cannot be modeled by locally bounded functions, so that the standard multifractal analysis, based on the Hölder exponent, is not feasible. We present a multifractal analysis based on another quantity, the p-exponent, which can take arbitrarily large negative values. We investigate some mathematical properties of this exponent, and show how it allows us to model the idea of "lacunarity" of a singularity at a point. We finally adapt the wavelet based multifractal analysis in this setting, and we give applications to a simple mathematical model of multifractal processes: Lacunary wavelet series.
In this work, we prove that certain L^2-unbounded transformations of orthogonal wavelet bases generate vaguelets. The L^2-unbounded functions involved in the transformations are assumed to be quasi-homogeneous at high frequencies. We provide natural examples of functions which are not quasi-homogeneous and for which the resulting transformations are not vaguelets. We also address the related question of whether the considered family of functions is a Riesz basis in L^2(R). The Riesz property could be deduced directly from the results available in the literature or, as we outline, by using the vaguelet property in the context of this work. The considered families of functions arise in wavelet-based decompositions of stochastic processes with uncorrelated coefficients.