Study active nematic forces on curved surfaces, revealing new coupling mechanisms.
problem Understanding active nematic forces on curved surfaces.
method Developed a thermodynamically consistent surface model with nematic activity, analyzed topological defects.
result Active defects contribute both tangential and normal forces on curved surfaces.
New approach to nematic fields on surfaces, relaxing uniformity to quasi-uniformity.
problem Identifying least distorted nematic fields on generic surfaces.
method Relaxing the notion of uniformity into quasi-uniformity and proving parallel transport by geodesics.
result All quasi-uniform fields are parallel transported by the geodesics of the surface.
Tying knots and linking microscopic loops of polymers, macromolecules, or defect lines in complex materials is a challenging task for material scientists. We demonstrate the knotting of microscopic topological defect lines in chiral nematic liquid crystal colloids into knots and links of arbitrary complexity by using l…
The search of unconventional magnetic and nonmagnetic states is a major topic in the study of frustrated magnetism. Canonical examples of those states include various spin liquids and spin nematics. However, discerning their existence and the correct characterization is usually challenging. Here we introduce a machine-…
We develop a theory of axisymmetric surfaces minimizing a combination of surface tension and nematic elastic energies which may be suitable for describing simple film and bubble shapes. As a function of the elastic constant and the applied tension on the bubbles, we find the analogues of the unduloid, sphere, and nodoi…
The topology and the geometry of a surface play a fundamental role in determining the equilibrium configurations of thin films of liquid crystals. We propose here a theoretical analysis of a recently introduced surface Frank energy, in the case of two-dimensional nematic liquid crystals coating a toroidal particle. Our…
Researchers create topologically protected knots in a realizable system.
problem Creating topologically protected vortex knots in experimentally realizable systems.
method Investigated non-Abelian vortices in tetrahedral order in spin-2 Bose--Einstein condensates and bent-core nematic liquid crystals.
result Discovered the first topologically protected knots in an experimentally realizable system.
We analyze an elastic surface energy which was recently introduced by G. Napoli and L.Vergori to model thin films of nematic liquid crystals. We show how a novel approach that takes into account also the extrinsic properties of the surfaces coated by the liquid crystal leads to considerable differences with respect to …
Study phase transition in liquid crystal droplets using mathematical analysis.
problem Mathematical analysis of phase transition between isotropic and nematic states of liquid crystals.
method Rigorous mathematical analysis using the Ericksen model and Γ-convergence theory.
result Γ-limit provides geometric description and anchoring conditions for liquid crystal orientations.
Topologically protected vortex knots and links are proposed and proven.
problem Decaying of tangled vortex structures through local reconnections and strand crossings.
method Proposed and proven topologically protected vortex structures using non-Abelian topological vortices.
result Existence of topologically protected Q8-colored links and classification using the Q-invariant. We investigate the well-posedness of (i) the heat flow of harmonic maps from Rn to a compact Riemannian manifold without boundary for initial data in BMO; and (ii) the hydrodynamic flow (u,d) of nematic liquid crystals on Rn for initial data in BMO−1×BMO.
New framework for analyzing line fields on surfaces, proving stability under specific conditions.
problem Understanding structural stability and generic transitions of line fields on surfaces.
method Developed a new topological framework and introduced representations of complete invariants for line fields and their transitions.
result Line fields with 1-prong and 3-prong singularities are generic under an incompressibility condition.
In this paper, we study Vanishing Mean Oscillation vector fields on a compact manifold with boundary. Inspired by the work of Brezis and Niremberg, we construct a topological invariant - the index - for such fields, and establish the analogue of Morse's formula. As a consequence, we characterize the set of boundary dat…
Extends knotted defect classification to bounded domains using handlebodies.
problem Classifying knotted defects in bounded domains.
method Using continuous maps and monodromies around meridional loops, global defects are described in terms of planar diagrams.
result Classification scheme for defects in handlebodies.
Maximizes mixing efficiency in surface braids.
problem Finding the maximum mixing efficiency in surface braids.
method Introduced an efficient algorithm to compute topological entropy and TEPO for surface braids.
result Conjectured a novel candidate braid to have maximal mixing efficiency.
The Hopf fibration has inspired any number of geometric structures in physical systems, in particular in chiral liquid crystalline materials. Because the Hopf fibration lives on the three sphere, S3, some method of projection or distortion must be employed to realize textures in flat space. Here, we explore…
Classifies defects in ordered media using homotopy theory.
problem Classifying defects in ordered media like liquid crystals.
method Using homotopy theory and continuous maps from ordered media to quotient spaces.
result Equivalence classes of defects are enumerated by subgroups of the quaternion group.
Imaging techniques are essential tools for inquiring a number of properties from different materials. Liquid crystals are often investigated via optical and image processing methods. In spite of that, considerably less attention has been paid to the problem of extracting physical properties of liquid crystals directly …
Many activation functions have been proposed in the past, but selecting an adequate one requires trial and error. We propose a new methodology of designing activation functions within a neural network at each layer. We call this technique an "activation ensemble" because it allows the use of multiple activation functio…
This paper studies activation sparsity in large language models, finding key trends and implications.
problem Activation sparsity in large language models (LLMs) can be improved for efficiency and interpretability.
method Proposes PPL-p% sparsity, analyzes trends with training data, width-depth ratio, and parameter scale. result ReLU is more efficient for sparsity than SiLU, and deeper architectures can improve sparsity.
Activity recognition from sensor data deals with various challenges, such as overlapping activities, activity labeling, and activity detection. Although each challenge in the field of recognition has great importance, the most important one refers to online activity recognition. The present study tries to use online hi…
Many neural network architectures rely on the choice of the activation function for each hidden layer. Given the activation function, the neural network is trained over the bias and the weight parameters. The bias catches the center of the activation, and the weights capture the scale. Here we propose to train the netw…
BinaryDuo improves BNNs by coupling binary activations, outperforming state-of-the-art models.
problem Gradient mismatch in BNNs due to binarizing activations.
method Using gradient of smoothed loss function to estimate gradient mismatch, proposing BinaryDuo scheme with coupled ternary activations.
result BinaryDuo outperforms state-of-the-art BNNs on various benchmarks.
Evolutionary algorithms improve neural network performance by discovering better activation functions.
problem The choice of activation function affects neural network performance, but ReLU remains dominant.
method Defined a tree-based search space of candidate activation functions and used evolutionary algorithms (mutation, crossover, exhaustive search) to explore and discover better functions.
result Replacing ReLU with evolved activation functions statistically significantly increases network accuracy.
Active learning method balances bias and variance under class imbalance.
problem Active learning under label shift when class proportions differ.
method Mediated Active Learning under Label Shift (MALLS) using a 'medial distribution'.
result MALLS reduces asymptotic sample complexity under arbitrary label shift.
New method learns neural network activation functions from data.
problem Learning activation functions for neural networks.
method Model each neuron's activation function as a small neural network.
result Learned activation functions improve network performance.
Study active learning of PTFs with derivative access.
problem Active learning of polynomial threshold functions (PTFs).
method Algorithm for active learning degree-d univariate PTFs with derivative access. result Computational efficient algorithm for active learning degree-d univariate PTFs. Collaborative filtering is a useful technique for exploiting the preference patterns of a group of users to predict the utility of items for the active user. In general, the performance of collaborative filtering depends on the number of rated examples given by the active user. The more the number of rated examples giv…
Bayesian adaptive designs can be biased by active learning, especially with misspecified models.
problem Active learning bias in Bayesian adaptive experimental designs.
method Analysis of linear and preference learning models, empirical testing.
result Model misspecification and noise influence active learning bias in Bayesian designs.
Derives time-averaged active inference from control principles.
problem Finite-horizon or discounted-surprise problems in active inference.
method Derives infinite-horizon, average-surprise active inference from optimal control principles.
result Unified objective functional for sensorimotor control.
RAN model recognizes multiple activities from unlabeled sensor data.
problem Handling weakly labeled multi-activity data from wearable sensors.
method Recurrent Attention Networks (RAN) for sequential multi-activity recognition and localization.
result RAN model can infer multiple activities and determine activity locations from unlabeled data.
A new indicator measures project risk from activity durations.
problem Managing project risks throughout the lifecycle.
method Activity Risk Index (ARI) based on Schedule Risk Baseline.
result Identifies activities contributing most to project uncertainty.
Hidden Markov Models detect hand gestures from wearable sEMG signals.
problem Detecting activity regions in continuous sEMG signals.
method Hidden Markov Models applied to sEMG signals for gesture recognition.
result Average accuracy of 96.25% for activity onsets and 87.5% for activity terminations.
Active testing reduces label costs for efficient model evaluation.
problem Real-world applications require expensive test labels, disconnecting from existing model evaluation methods.
method Derives acquisition strategies to select test points efficiently, addressing label bias and variance.
result Active testing improves model evaluation efficiency without sacrificing accuracy.
Survey of trainable activation functions in neural networks.
problem Improving neural network performance through trainable activation functions.
method Taxonomy and comparison of recent and past models of trainable activation functions.
result Many trainable activation functions are equivalent to adding neuron layers with fixed activation functions and simple constraints.
This paper analyzes and improves active learning techniques for real-world projects.
problem Reducing labelling effort in machine learning models with real-world constraints.
method Systematic study of active learning issues, proposing techniques to address model convergence, annotation error, and dataset imbalance.
result Presentation of two techniques to speed up active learning: partial uncertainty sampling and larger query size.
This paper provides an overview of activation functions in neural networks.
problem Confusion in activation function selection and properties in deep learning.
method Analytic review of popular activation functions.
result Clarification of activation function properties and selection.
Bayesian active learning method improved for censored regression data.
problem Challenges in estimating BALD for censored regression data.
method Derived entropy and mutual information for censored distributions, developed C-BALD objective, proposed novel modelling approach. result Demonstrated C-BALD outperforms other methods in censored regression. DUNs improve active learning by dynamically adjusting model complexity.
problem Active learning datasets grow, leading to model bias or overfitting.
method Depth Uncertainty Networks (DUNs) infer model depth for flexibility and complexity.
result DUNs outperform other BNN variants on active learning tasks, reducing overfitting.
Large deviation principle for deep neural networks with ReLU activation.
problem Understanding the behavior of deep neural networks with ReLU activation.
method Proving a large deviation principle for networks with Gaussian weights and ReLU activation functions.
result Simplified expressions and power-series expansions for the ReLU case.
TransFall uses transfer learning to improve activity recognition from mobile sensors.
problem Performance degradation due to platform and user movement differences.
method Two-tier data transformation, label estimation, and model generation layers.
result TransFall enhances activity recognition accuracy for new scenarios.
Overfitting frequently occurs in deep learning. In this paper, we propose a novel regularization method called Drop-Activation to reduce overfitting and improve generalization. The key idea is to drop nonlinear activation functions by setting them to be identity functions randomly during training time. During testing, …
EmbraceNet fusion model for multi-sensor activity recognition.
problem Human activity recognition using multiple sensors is challenging.
method Independent processing of each sensor, feature fusion with EmbraceNet, post-processing, and additional processes.
result Improved performance in SHL recognition challenge.
New proof shows neural networks can memorize training data with high accuracy.
problem Proving neural networks can memorize training data with high accuracy.
method Probabilistic construction exploiting sparsity.
result Proves neural networks with threshold or mixed threshold-ReLU activations can memorize training data.
We consider active learning of deep neural networks. Most active learning works in this context have focused on studying effective querying mechanisms and assumed that an appropriate network architecture is a priori known for the problem at hand. We challenge this assumption and propose a novel active strategy whereby …
Data-aware activation function customization reduces neural network error.
problem Current neural networks lack consideration for specific activation functions.
method Linear algebraic explanation and Diaconis-Shahshahani Approximation Theorem criteria for activation functions.
result Using an even activation function like seagull can reduce neural network error by orders of magnitude.
In the last few years there has been a growing interest in Human Activity Recognition~(HAR) topic. Sensor-based HAR approaches, in particular, has been gaining more popularity owing to their privacy preserving nature. Furthermore, due to the widespread accessibility of the internet, a broad range of streaming-based app…
Active learning selects inputs for GPSSM to learn latent states.
problem Optimally learn latent states of a GPSSM through active selection of inputs.
method Use mutual information to select informative inputs; approximate mutual information for GPSSM.
result Effective active learning of GPSSM dynamics in physical systems.