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Wei Sun

Publications and source records attributed to Wei Sun.

At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources

Unconditionally Secure Computation on Large Distributed Databases with Vanishing Cost

Consider a network of k parties, each holding a long sequence of n entries (a database), with minimum vertex-cut greater than t. We show that any empirical statistic across the network of databases can be computed by each party with perfect privacy, against any set of t < k/2 passively colluding parties, such that the worst-case distortion and communication cost (in bits per database entry) both go to zero as n, the number of entries in the databases, goes to infinity. This is based on combining a striking dimensionality reduction result for random sampling with unconditionally secure multi-party computation protocols.

cs.CR↗

Fukushima type decomposition for semi-Dirichlet forms

We present a Fukushima type decomposition in the setting of general quasi-regular semi-Dirichlet forms. The decomposition is then employed to give a transformation formula for martingale additive functionals. Applications of the results to some concrete examples of semi-Dirichlet forms are given at the end of the paper. We discuss also the uniqueness question about Doob-Meyer decomposition on optional sets of interval type.

math.PR↗

Discovery of the transient magnetar 3XMM J185246.6+003317 near supernova remnant Kesteven 79 with XMM-Newton

We report the serendipitous discovery with XMM-Newton that 3XMM J185246.6+003317 is an 11.56 s X-ray pulsar located 1' away from the southern boundary of supernova remnant Kes 79. The spin-down rate of 3XMM J185246.6+003317 is $<1.1\times 10^{-13}$ s s$^{-1}$, which, together with the long period P=11.558714(2) s, indicates a dipolar surface magnetic field of $<3.6\times 10^{-13}$ G, a characteristic age of $>1.7$ Myr, and a spin-down luminosity of $<2.8\times 10^{30}$ erg s$^{-1}$. The X-ray spectrum of the source is best-fitted with a resonant Compton scattering model, and can be also adequately described by a blackbody model. The observations covering a seven month span from 2008 to 2009 show variations in the spectral properties of the source, with the luminosity decreasing from $2.7\times 10^{34}$ erg s$^{-1}$ to $4.6 \times 10^{33}$ erg s$^{-1}$, along with a decrease of the blackbody temperature from $kT\approx 0.8$ keV to $\approx0.6$ keV. The X-ray luminosity of the source is higher than its spin-down luminosity, ruling out rotation as a power source. The combined timing and spectral properties, the non-detection of any optical or infrared counterpart, together with the lack of detection of the source in archival X-ray data prior to the 2008 XMM-Newton observation, point to this source being a newly discovered transient low-B magnetar undergoing an outburst decay during the XMM-Newton observations. The non-detection by Chandra in 2001 sets an upper limit $4\times 10^{32}$ erg s$^{-1}$ to the quiescent luminosity of 3XMM J185246.6+003317. Its period is the longest among currently known transient magnetars. The foreground absorption toward 3XMM J185246.6+003317 is similar to that of Kes 79, suggesting a similar distance of $\sim$7.1 kpc.

astro-ph.HE↗

Consistent selection of tuning parameters via variable selection stability

Penalized regression models are popularly used in high-dimensional data analysis to conduct variable selection and model fitting simultaneously. Whereas success has been widely reported in literature, their performances largely depend on the tuning parameters that balance the trade-off between model fitting and model sparsity. Existing tuning criteria mainly follow the route of minimizing the estimated prediction error or maximizing the posterior model probability, such as cross-validation, AIC and BIC. This article introduces a general tuning parameter selection criterion based on a novel concept of variable selection stability. The key idea is to select the tuning parameters so that the resultant penalized regression model is stable in variable selection. The asymptotic selection consistency is established for both fixed and diverging dimensions. The effectiveness of the proposed criterion is also demonstrated in a variety of simulated examples as well as an application to the prostate cancer data.

stat.ML↗

Parabolic Complex Monge-Ampère Type Equations on Closed Hermitian Manifolds

We study the parabolic complex Monge-Ampère type equations on closed Hermitian manfolds. We derive uniform $C^\infty$ {\em a priori} estimates for normalized solutions, and then prove the $C^\infty$ convergence. The result also yields a way to carry out method of continuity for elliptic Monge-Ampére type equations.

math.AP↗

Levy-Khintchine type representation of Dirichlet generators and Semi-Dirichlet forms

Let $U$ be an open set of $\mathbb{R}^n$, $m$ a positive Radon measure on $U$ such that ${\rm supp}[m]=U$, and $(P_t)_{t>0}$ a strongly continuous contraction sub-Markovian semigroup on $L^2(U;m)$. We investigate the structure of $(P_t)_{t>0}$. (i) Denote respectively by $(A,D(A))$ and $(\hat A,D(\hat A))$ the generator and the co-generator of $(P_t)_{t>0}$. Under the assumption that $C^{\infty}_0(U)\subset D(A)\cap D(\hat A)$, we give an explicit Lévy-Khintchine type representation of $A$ on $C^{\infty}_0(U)$. (ii) If $(P_t)_{t>0}$ is an analytic semigroup and hence is associated with a semi-Dirichlet form $({\cal E}, D({\cal E}))$, we give an explicit characterization of ${\cal E}$ on $C^{\infty}_0(U)$ under the assumption that $C^{\infty}_0(U)\subset D({\cal E})$. We also present a LeJan type transformation rule for the diffusion part of regular semi-Dirichlet forms on general state spaces.

math.PR↗

A note on selection stability: combining stability and prediction

Recently, many regularized procedures have been proposed for variable selection in linear regression, but their performance depends on the tuning parameter selection. Here a criterion for the tuning parameter selection is proposed, which combines the strength of both stability selection and cross-validation and therefore is referred as the prediction and stability selection (PASS). The selection consistency is established assuming the data generating model is a subset of the full model, and the small sample performance is demonstrated through some simulation studies where the assumption is either held or violated.

stat.ME↗

On a class of fully nonlinear elliptic equations on Hermitian manifolds

We derive a priori $C^2$ estimates for a class of complex Monge-Ampere type equations on Hermitian manifolds. As an application we solve the Dirichlet problem for these equations under the assumption of existence of a subsolution; the existence result, as well as the second order boundary estimates, is new even for bounded domains in $\bfC^n$.

math.AP↗

Hunt's hypothesis (H) and Getoor's conjecture for Lévy Processes

In this paper, Hunt's hypothesis (H) and Getoor's conjecture for Lévy processes are revisited. Let $X$ be a Lévy process on $\mathbf{R}^n$ with Lévy-Khintchine exponent $(a,A,μ)$. {First, we show that if $A$ is non-degenerate then $X$ satisfies (H). Second, under the assumption that $μ({\mathbf{R}^n\backslash \sqrt{A}\mathbf{R}^n})<\infty$, we show that $X$ satisfies (H) if and only if the equation $$ \sqrt{A}y=-a-\int_{\{x\in {\mathbf{R}^n\backslash \sqrt{A}\mathbf{R}^n}:\,|x|<1\}}xμ(dx),\ y\in \mathbf{R}^n, $$ has at least one solution. Finally, we show that if $X$ is a subordinator and satisfies (H) then its drift coefficient must be 0.}

math.PR↗

Probability and Asset Updating using Bayesian Networks for Combinatorial Prediction Markets

A market-maker-based prediction market lets forecasters aggregate information by editing a consensus probability distribution either directly or by trading securities that pay off contingent on an event of interest. Combinatorial prediction markets allow trading on any event that can be specified as a combination of a base set of events. However, explicitly representing the full joint distribution is infeasible for markets with more than a few base events. A factored representation such as a Bayesian network (BN) can achieve tractable computation for problems with many related variables. Standard BN inference algorithms, such as the junction tree algorithm, can be used to update a representation of the entire joint distribution given a change to any local conditional probability. However, in order to let traders reuse assets from prior trades while never allowing assets to become negative, a BN based prediction market also needs to update a representation of each user's assets and find the conditional state in which a user has minimum assets. Users also find it useful to see their expected assets given an edit outcome. We show how to generalize the junction tree algorithm to perform all these computations.

cs.AI↗

Giant H II Regions in M101. I. X-ray Analysis of Hot Gas

We performed a Chandra X-ray study of three giant H II regions (GHRs), NGC 5461, NGC 5462, and NGC 5471, in the spiral galaxy M101. The X-ray spectra of the three GHRs all contain a prominent thermal component with a temperature of ~0.2 keV. In NGC 5461, the spatial distribution of the soft (< 1.5 keV) X-ray emission is generally in agreement with the extent of H1105, the most luminous H II region therein, but extends beyond its southern boundary, which could be attributed to outflows from the star cloud between H1105 and H1098. In NGC 5462, the X-ray emission is displaced from the H II regions and a ridge of blue stars; the H-alpha filaments extending from the ridge of star cloud to the diffuse X-rays suggest that hot gas outflows have occurred. The X-rays from NGC 5471 are concentrated at the B-knot, a "hypernova remnant" candidate. Assuming a Sedov-Taylor evolution, the derived explosion energy, on the order of 10^52 ergs, is consistent with a hypernova origin. In addition, a bright source in the field of NGC 5462 has been identified as a background AGN, instead of a black hole X-ray binary in M101.

astro-ph.HE↗

Least squares estimators for discretely observed stochastic processes driven by small Levy noises

We study the problem of parameter estimation for discretely observed stochastic processes driven by additive small Lévy noises. We do not impose any moment condition on the driving Lévy process. Under certain regularity conditions on the drift function, we obtain consistency and rate of convergence of the least squares estimator (LSE) of the drift parameter when a small dispersion coefficient $\varepsilon \to 0$ and $n \to \infty$ simultaneously. The asymptotic distribution of the LSE in our general setting is shown to be the convolution of a normal distribution and a distribution related to the jump part of the Lévy process.

math.ST↗

Crossed Product $C^*$-algebras of Minimal Dynamical Systems on the Product of the Cantor Set and the Torus

This paper studies the relationship between minimal dynamical systems on the product of the Cantor set ($X$) and torus ($\T^2$) and their corresponding crossed product $C^*$-algebras. For the case when the cocycles are rotations, we studied the structure of the crossed product $C^*$-algebra $A$ by looking at a large subalgebra $A_x$. It is proved that, as long as the cocycles are rotations, the tracial rank of the crossed product $C^*$-algebra is always no more than one, which then indicates that it falls into the category of classifiable $C^*$-algebras. If a certain rigidity condition is satisfied, it is shown that the crossed product $C^*$-algebra has tracial rank zero. Under this assumption, it is proved that for two such dynamical systems, if $A$ and $B$ are the corresponding crossed product $C^*$-algebras, and we have an isomorphism between $K_i(A)$ and $K_i(B)$ which maps $K_i(C(X \times \T^2))$ to $K_i(C(X \times \T^2))$, then these two dynamical systems are approximately $K$-conjugate. The proof also indicates that $C^*$-strongly flip conjugacy implies approximate $K$-conjugacy in this case.

math.OA↗

Interaction-induced negative differential resistance in asymmetric molecular junctions

Combining insights from quantum chemistry calculations with master equations, we discuss a mechanism for negative differential resistance (NDR) in molecular junctions, operated in the regime of weak tunnel coupling. The NDR originates from an interplay of orbital spatial asymmetry and strong electron-electron interaction, which causes the molecule to become trapped in a non-conducting state above a voltage threshold. We show how the desired asymmetry can be selectively introduced in individual orbitals in e.g., OPE-type molecules by functionalization with a suitable side group, which is in linear conjugation to one end of the molecule and cross-conjugated to the other end.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

A geometric interpretation of the permutation $p$-value and its application in eQTL studies

Permutation $p$-values have been widely used to assess the significance of linkage or association in genetic studies. However, the application in large-scale studies is hindered by a heavy computational burden. We propose a geometric interpretation of permutation $p$-values, and based on this geometric interpretation, we develop an efficient permutation $p$-value estimation method in the context of regression with binary predictors. An application to a study of gene expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) shows that our method provides reliable estimates of permutation $p$-values while requiring less than 5% of the computational time compared with direct permutations. In fact, our method takes a constant time to estimate permutation $p$-values, no matter how small the $p$-value. Our method enables a study of the relationship between nominal $p$-values and permutation $p$-values in a wide range, and provides a geometric perspective on the effective number of independent tests.

stat.AP↗