1,721,185 research outputs found
Thermodynamic Characterization of Temporal Networks
Full text linkTime-evolving networks have proven to be an efficient and effective means of concisely characterising the behaviour of complex systems over time. However, the analysis of such networks and the identification of the underlying dynamical process has proven to be a challenging problem, particularly trying to model the large-scale properties of graphs. In this paper we present a novel method to characterize the behaviour of the evolving systems based on a thermodynamic framework for graphs. This framework aims at relating the major structural changes in time evolving networks to thermodynamic phase transitions. This is achieved by relating the thermodynamics variables to macroscopic changes in network topology. First, by considering a recent quantum-mechanical characterization of the structure of a network, we derive the network entropy. Then we adopt a Schrödinger picture of the dynamics of the network, in order to obtain a measure of energy exchange through the estimation of a hidden time-varying Hamiltonian from the data. Experimental evaluations on real-world data demonstrate how the estimation of this time-varying energy operator strongly characterizes the different states of time evolving networks
Open System Quantum Thermodynamics of Time Varying Graphs
Full text linkIn this article, we present a novel analysis of time-evolving networks, based on a thermodynamic representation of graph structure. We show how to characterize the evolution of time-varying complex networks by relating major structural changes to thermodynamic phase transitions. In particular, we derive expressions for a number of different thermodynamic quantities (specifically energy, entropy and temperature), which we use to describe the evolutionary behaviour of the network system over time. Since in the real world no system is truly closed and interactions with the environment are usually strong, we assume an open nature of the system. We adopt the Schrödinger picture as the dynamical representation of the quantum system over time. First, we compute the network entropy using a recent quantum mechanical representation of graph structure, connecting the graph Laplacian to a density operator. Then, we assume the system evolves according to the Schrödinger representation, but we allow for decoherence due to the interaction with the environment in a model akin to Environment-Induced Decoherence. We simplify the model by separating its dynamics into (a) an unknown time-dependent unitary evolution plus (b) an observation/interaction process, and this is the sole cause of the changes in the eigenvalues of the density matrix of the system. This allows us to obtain a measure of energy exchange with the environment through the estimation of the hidden time-varying Hamiltonian responsible for the unitary part of the evolution. Using the thermodynamic relationship between changes in energy, entropy, pressure and volume, we recover the thermodynamic temperature. We assess the utility of the method on real-world time-varying networks representing complex systems in the financial and biological domains. We also compare and contrast the different characterizations provided by the thermodynamic variables (energy, entropy, temperature and pressure). The study shows that the estimation of the time-varying energy operator strongly characterizes different states of a time-evolving system and successfully detects critical events occurring during network evolution
Uncalibrated, Two Source Photo-Polarimetric Stereo
Full text linkIn this paper we present methods for estimating shape from polarisation and shading information, i.e. photo-polarimetric shape estimation, under varying, but unknown, illumination, i.e. in an uncalibrated scenario. We propose several alternative photo-polarimetric constraints that depend upon the partial derivatives of the surface and show how to express them in a unified system of partial differential equations of which previous work is a special case. By careful combination and manipulation of the constraints, we show how to eliminate non-linearities such that a discrete version of the problem can be solved using linear least squares. We derive a minimal, combinatorial approach for two source illumination estimation which we use with RANSAC for robust light direction and intensity estimation. We also introduce a new method for estimating a polarisation image from multichannel data and provide methods for estimating albedo and refractive index. We evaluate lighting, shape, albedo and refractive index estimation methods on both synthetic and real-world data showing improvements over existing state-of-the-art
Quantum thermodynamics of time evolving networks
Full text linkIn this paper, we present a novel thermodynamic framework for graphs that can be used to analyze time evolving networks, relating the thermodynamics variables to macroscopic changes in network topology, and linking major structural transition to phase changes in the thermodynamic picture. We start from a recent quantum-mechanical characterization of the structure of a network relating the graph Laplacian to a density operator and resulting in a characterization of the network's entropy. Then we adopt a Schrödinger picture of the dynamics of the network, resulting in an estimation of a hidden time-varying Hamiltonian from the data, from which we derive a measure of Energy exchange. From these variables, using the thermodynamic identity, we obtain temperature under the assumption of constant volume of the system. Evaluation of real-world data shows that the thermodynamic variables thus extracted are effective in detecting critical events occurring during network evolution
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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