Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive reinforcement learning of multi-agent ethically-aligned behaviours: the QSOM and QDSOM algorithms

The numerous deployed Artificial Intelligence systems need to be aligned with our ethical considerations. However, such ethical considerations might change as time passes: our society is not fixed, and our social mores evolve. This makes it difficult for these AI systems; in the Machine Ethics field especially, it has remained an under-studied challenge. In this paper, we present two algorithms, named QSOM and QDSOM, which are able to adapt to changes in the environment, and especially in the reward function, which represents the ethical considerations that we want these systems to be aligned with. They associate the well-known Q-Table to (Dynamic) Self-Organizing Maps to handle the continuous and multi-dimensional state and action spaces. We evaluate them on a use-case of multi-agent energy repartition within a small Smart Grid neighborhood, and prove their ability to adapt, and their higher performance compared to baseline Reinforcement Learning algorithms.
Yielding transition of amorphous solids in the presence of aspherical impurities

Understanding the mechanical properties of amorphous solids has been a field of intense research not only for the zoo of interesting phenomena one observes once these solids are subjected to external deformations but also for their importance in industrial applications. Amorphous solids are known to have higher yield strength compared to crystalline solids made with similar compositions. However, they fail catastrophically via shear band formation, and tuning their mechanical yielding is of significant importance for designing better materials. For decades, engineers have been working on ways to improve the ability of amorphous solids to sustain external deformations. One popular method is micro-alloying, which involves adding small amounts of different materials to the pure sample; while there are many examples of how micro-alloying can improve the yield strain, the microscopic mechanism behind it still needs to be better understood. Via extensive molecular dynamics simulation of model amorphous solids, we have studied the effect of elongated impurity particles on the yielding transition of these solids and show that rod-like particles can enhance the yield threshold but can also make these materials more brittle depending on their sphericity and the concentration. In particular, we show that the rotational relaxation of these impurity particles plays a significant role in suppressing or enhancing the occurrence of shear band formation, which are the main players for the eventual brittle failure of any amorphous solids.
Machine learning for potion development at Hogwarts

Objective: To determine whether machine learning methods can generate useful potion recipes for research and teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Design: Using deep neural networks to classify generated recipes into a standard drug classification system. Setting: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Data sources: 72 potion recipes from the Hogwarts curriculum, extracted from the Harry Potter Wiki. Results: Most generated recipes fall into the categories of psychoanaleptics and dermatologicals. The number of recipes predicted for each category reflected the number of training recipes. Predicted probabilities were often above 90% but some recipes were classified into 2 or more categories with similar probabilities which complicates anticipating the predicted effects. Conclusions: Machine learning powered methods are able to generate potentially useful potion recipes for teaching and research at Hogwarts. This corresponds to similar efforts in the non-magical world where such methods have been applied to identify potentially effective drug combinations.
Ultrafast electro-optic Time-Frequency Fractional Fourier Imaging at the Single-Photon Level

The Fractional Fourier Transform (FRT) corresponds to an arbitrary-angle rotation in the phase space, e.g. the time-frequency (TF) space, and generalizes the fundamentally important Fourier Transform. FRT applications range from classical signal processing (e.g. time-correlated noise optimal filtering) to emerging quantum technologies (e.g. super-resolution TF imaging) which rely on or benefit from coherent low-noise TF operations. Here a versatile low-noise single-photon-compatible implementation of the FRT is presented. Optical TF FRT can be synthesized as a series of a spectral disperser, a time-lens, and another spectral disperser. Relying on the state-of-the-art electro-optic modulators (EOM) for the time-lens, our method avoids added noise inherent to the alternatives based on non-linear interactions (such as wave-mixing, cross-phase modulation, or parametric processes). Precise control of the EOM-driving radio-frequency signal enables fast all-electronic control of the FRT angle. In the experiment, we demonstrate FRT angles of up to 1.63 rad for pairs of coherent temporally separated 11.5 ps-wide pulses in the near-infrared (800 nm). We observe a good agreement between the simulated and measured output spectra in the bright-light and single-photon-level regimes, and for a range of pulse separations (20 ps to 26.67 ps). Furthermore, a tradeoff is established between the maximal FRT angle and bandwidth, with the current setup accommodating up to 248 GHz of bandwidth. With the ongoing progress in EOM on-chip integration, we envisage excellent scalability and vast applications in all-optical TF processing both in the classical and quantum regimes.
UniFine: A Unified and Fine-grained Approach for Zero-shot Vision-Language Understanding

Vision-language tasks, such as VQA, SNLI-VE, and VCR are challenging because they require the model's reasoning ability to understand the semantics of the visual world and natural language. Supervised methods working for vision-language tasks have been well-studied. However, solving these tasks in a zero-shot setting is less explored. Since Contrastive Language-Image Pre-training (CLIP) has shown remarkable zero-shot performance on image-text matching, previous works utilized its strong zero-shot ability by converting vision-language tasks into an image-text matching problem, and they mainly consider global-level matching (e.g., the whole image or sentence). However, we find visual and textual fine-grained information, e.g., keywords in the sentence and objects in the image, can be fairly informative for semantics understanding. Inspired by this, we propose a unified framework to take advantage of the fine-grained information for zero-shot vision-language learning, covering multiple tasks such as VQA, SNLI-VE, and VCR. Our experiments show that our framework outperforms former zero-shot methods on VQA and achieves substantial improvement on SNLI-VE and VCR. Furthermore, our ablation studies confirm the effectiveness and generalizability of our proposed method. Code will be available at https://github.com/ThreeSR/UniFine
On the choice of training data for machine learning of geostrophic mesoscale turbulence

Data plays a central role in data‐driven methods, but is not often the subject of focus in investigations of machine learning algorithms as applied to Earth System Modeling related problems. Here we consider the problem of eddy‐mean interaction in rotating stratified turbulence in the presence of lateral boundaries, where it is known that rotational components of the eddy flux plays no direct role in the sub‐grid forcing onto the mean state variables, and its presence is expected to affect the performance of the trained machine learning models. While an often utilized choice in the literature is to train a model from the divergence of the eddy fluxes, here we provide theoretical arguments and numerical evidence that learning from the eddy fluxes with the rotational component appropriately filtered out, achieved in this work by means of an object called the eddy force function, results in models with comparable or better skill, but substantially reduced sensitivity to the presence of small‐scale features. We argue that while the choice of data choice and/or quality may not be critical if we simply want a model to have predictive skill, it is highly desirable and perhaps even necessary if we want to leverage data‐driven methods to aid in discovering unknown or hidden physical processes within the data itself.
Reynolds number scaling and inner-outer overlap of stream-wise Reynolds stress in wall turbulence

The scaling of Reynolds stresses in turbulent wall-bounded flows is the subject of a long running debate. In the near-wall ``inner'' region, a sizeable group, inspired by the ``attached eddy model'', has advocated the unlimited growth of $\langle uu\rangle^+$ and in particular of its inner peak at $y^+\approxeq 15$, with $\ln\Reytau$ \citep[see e.g.][and references therein]{smitsetal2021}. Only recently, \citet{chen_sreeni2021,chen_sreeni2022} have argued on the basis of bounded dissipation, that $\langle uu\rangle^+$ remains finite in the inner near-wall region for $\Reytau\rightarrow\infty$, with finite Reynolds number corrections of order $\Reytau^{-1/4}$. In this paper, the overlap between the two-term inner expansion $f_0(y^+) + f_1(y^+)/\Reytau^{1/4}$ of \citet{monkewitz22} and the leading order outer expansion for $\langle uu\rangle^+$ is shown to be of the form $C_0 + C_1\,(y^+/\Reytau)^{1/4}$. With a new indicator function, overlaps of this form are reliably identified in $\langle uu\rangle^+$ profiles for channels and pipes, while the situation in boundary layers requires further clarification. On the other hand, the standard logarithmic indicator function, evaluated for the same data, shows no sign of a logarithmic law to connect an inner expansion of $\langle uu\rangle^+$ growing as $\ln{\Reytau}$ to an outer expansion of order unity.
Worth of knowledge in deep learning

Knowledge constitutes the accumulated understanding and experience that humans use to gain insight into the world. In deep learning, prior knowledge is essential for mitigating shortcomings of data-driven models, such as data dependence, generalization ability, and compliance with constraints. To enable efficient evaluation of the worth of knowledge, we present a framework inspired by interpretable machine learning. Through quantitative experiments, we assess the influence of data volume and estimation range on the worth of knowledge. Our findings elucidate the complex relationship between data and knowledge, including dependence, synergistic, and substitution effects. Our model-agnostic framework can be applied to a variety of common network architectures, providing a comprehensive understanding of the role of prior knowledge in deep learning models. It can also be used to improve the performance of informed machine learning, as well as distinguish improper prior knowledge.
Convex Optimization in Legged Robots

Convex optimization is crucial in controlling legged robots, where stability and optimal control are vital. Many control problems can be formulated as convex optimization problems, with a convex cost function and constraints capturing system dynamics. Our review focuses on active balancing problems and presents a general framework for formulating them as second-order cone programming (SOCP) for robustness and efficiency with existing interior point algorithms. We then discuss some prior work around the Zero Moment Point stability criterion, Linear Quadratic Regulator Control, and then the feedback model predictive control (MPC) approach to improve prediction accuracy and reduce computational costs. Finally, these techniques are applied to stabilize the robot for jumping and landing tasks. Further research in convex optimization of legged robots can have a significant societal impact. It can lead to improved gait planning and active balancing which enhances their ability to navigate complex environments, assist in search and rescue operations and perform tasks in hazardous environments. These advancements have the potential to revolutionize industries and help humans in daily life.
Fast Convergence of Inertial Multiobjective Gradient-like Systems with Asymptotic Vanishing Damping

We present a new gradient-like dynamical system related to unconstrained convex smooth multiobjective optimization which involves inertial effects and asymptotic vanishing damping. To the best of our knowledge, this system is the first inertial gradient-like system for multiobjective optimization problems including asymptotic vanishing damping, expanding the ideas laid out in [H. Attouch and G. Garrigos, Multiobjective optimization: an inertial approach to Pareto optima, preprint, arXiv:1506.02823, 201]. We prove existence of solutions to this system in finite dimensions and further prove that its bounded solutions converge weakly to weakly Pareto optimal points. In addition, we obtain a convergence rate of order $O(t^{-2})$ for the function values measured with a merit function. This approach presents a good basis for the development of fast gradient methods for multiobjective optimization.
Time parallelization scheme with an adaptive time step size for solving stiff initial value problems

Abstract In this paper, we introduce a practical strategy to select an adaptive time step size suitable for the parareal algorithm designed to parallelize a numerical scheme for solving stiff initial value problems. For the adaptive time step size, a technique to detect stiffness of a given system is first considered since the step size will be chosen according to the extent of stiffness. Finally, the stiffness detection technique is applied to an initial prediction step of the parareal algorithm, and select an adaptive step size to each time interval according to the stiffness. Several numerical experiments demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.
Tracking Tensor Ring Decompositions of Streaming Tensors

Tensor ring (TR) decomposition is an efficient approach to discover the hidden low-rank patterns for higher-order tensors, and streaming tensors are becoming highly prevalent in real-world applications. In this paper, we investigate how to track TR decompositions of streaming tensors. An efficient algorithm is first proposed. Then, based on this algorithm and randomized techniques, we present a randomized streaming TR decomposition. The proposed algorithms make full use of the structure of TR decomposition, and the randomized version can allow any sketching type. Theoretical results on sketch size are provided. In addition, the complexity analyses for the obtained algorithms are also given. We compare our proposals with the existing batch methods using both real and synthetic data. Numerical results show that they have better performance in computing time with maintaining similar accuracy.
Unsupervised Coordinate-Based Video Denoising

In this paper, we introduce a novel unsupervised video denoising deep learning approach that can help to mitigate data scarcity issues and shows robustness against different noise patterns, enhancing its broad applicability. Our method comprises three modules: a Feature generator creating features maps, a Denoise-Net generating denoised but slightly blurry reference frames, and a Refine-Net re-introducing high-frequency details. By leveraging the coordinate-based network, we can greatly simplify the network structure while preserving high-frequency details in the denoised video frames. Extensive experiments on both simulated and real-captured demonstrate that our method can effectively denoise real-world calcium imaging video sequences without prior knowledge of noise models and data augmentation during training.
Unveiling the Potential of Spike Streams for Foreground Occlusion Removal from Densely Continuous Views

The extraction of a clean background image by removing foreground occlusion holds immense practical significance, but it also presents several challenges. Presently, the majority of de-occlusion research focuses on addressing this issue through the extraction and synthesis of discrete images from calibrated camera arrays. Nonetheless, the restoration quality tends to suffer when faced with dense occlusions or high-speed motions due to limited perspectives and motion blur. To successfully remove dense foreground occlusion, an effective multi-view visual information integration approach is required. Introducing the spike camera as a novel type of neuromorphic sensor offers promising capabilities with its ultra-high temporal resolution and high dynamic range. In this paper, we propose an innovative solution for tackling the de-occlusion problem through continuous multi-view imaging using only one spike camera without any prior knowledge of camera intrinsic parameters and camera poses. By rapidly moving the spike camera, we continually capture the dense stream of spikes from the occluded scene. To process the spikes, we build a novel model \textbf{SpkOccNet}, in which we integrate information of spikes from continuous viewpoints within multi-windows, and propose a novel cross-view mutual attention mechanism for effective fusion and refinement. In addition, we contribute the first real-world spike-based dataset \textbf{S-OCC} for occlusion removal. The experimental results demonstrate that our proposed model efficiently removes dense occlusions in diverse scenes while exhibiting strong generalization.
Variable time-stepping exponential integrators for chemical reactors with analytical Jacobians

Computational chemical combustion problems are known to be stiff, and are typically solved with implicit time integration methods. A novel exponential time integrator, EPI3V, is introduced and applied to a spatially homogeneous isobaric reactive mixture. Three chemical mechanism of increasing complexity are considered, and in two cases the novel method can perform similar if not marginally better to a well-known implementation of a BDF implicit method. In one specific case we see relative performance degradation of the EPI3V to the implicit method. Despite this, the novel exponential method does converge for this case. A performance analysis of the exponential method is provided, demonstrating possible avenues for performance improvement.
Data-Driven Probabilistic Energy Consumption Estimation for Battery Electric Vehicles with Model Uncertainty

This paper presents a novel probabilistic data-driven approach to trip-level energy consumption estimation of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). As there are very few electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, EV trip energy consumption estimation can make EV routing and charging planning easier for drivers. In this research article, we propose a new driver behaviour-centric EV energy consumption estimation model using probabilistic neural networks with model uncertainty. By incorporating model uncertainty into neural networks, we have created an ensemble of neural networks using Monte Carlo approximation. Our method comprehensively considers various vehicle dynamics, driver behaviour and environmental factors to estimate EV energy consumption for a given trip. We propose relative positive acceleration (RPA), average acceleration and average deceleration as driver behaviour factors in EV energy consumption estimation and this paper shows that the use of these driver behaviour features improves the accuracy of the EV energy consumption model significantly. Instead of predicting a single-point estimate for EV trip energy consumption, this proposed method predicts a probability distribution for the EV trip energy consumption. The experimental results of our approach show that our proposed probabilistic neural network with weight uncertainty achieves a mean absolute percentage error of 9.3% and outperforms other existing EV energy consumption models in terms of accuracy.
Classifying World War II Era Ciphers with Machine Learning

We determine the accuracy with which machine learning and deep learning techniques can classify selected World War II era ciphers when only ciphertext is available. The specific ciphers considered are Enigma, M-209, Sigaba, Purple, and Typex. We experiment with three classic machine learning models, namely, Support Vector Machines (SVM), $k$-Nearest Neighbors ($k$-NN), and Random Forest (RF). We also experiment with four deep learning neural network-based models: Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLP), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Extreme Learning Machines (ELM), and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). Each model is trained on features consisting of histograms, digrams, and raw ciphertext letter sequences. Furthermore, the classification problem is considered under four distinct scenarios: Fixed plaintext with fixed keys, random plaintext with fixed keys, fixed plaintext with random keys, and random plaintext with random keys. Under the most realistic scenario, given 1000 characters per ciphertext, we are able to distinguish the ciphers with greater than 97% accuracy. In addition, we consider the accuracy of a subset of the learning techniques as a function of the length of the ciphertext messages. Somewhat surprisingly, our classic machine learning models perform at least as well as our deep learning models. We also find that ciphers that are more similar in design are somewhat more challenging to distinguish, but not as difficult as might be expected.
Towards Suicide Prevention from Bipolar Disorder with Temporal Symptom-Aware Multitask Learning

Bipolar disorder (BD) is closely associated with an increased risk of suicide. However, while the prior work has revealed valuable insight into understanding the behavior of BD patients on social media, little attention has been paid to developing a model that can predict the future suicidality of a BD patient. Therefore, this study proposes a multi-task learning model for predicting the future suicidality of BD patients by jointly learning current symptoms. We build a novel BD dataset clinically validated by psychiatrists, including 14 years of posts on bipolar-related subreddits written by 818 BD patients, along with the annotations of future suicidality and BD symptoms. We also suggest a temporal symptom-aware attention mechanism to determine which symptoms are the most influential for predicting future suicidality over time through a sequence of BD posts. Our experiments demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms the state-of-the-art models in both BD symptom identification and future suicidality prediction tasks. In addition, the proposed temporal symptom-aware attention provides interpretable attention weights, helping clinicians to apprehend BD patients more comprehensively and to provide timely intervention by tracking mental state progression.
3D mesh simplification for deformable human body mesh using deformation saliency

3D mesh of human body is the foundation of many hot research topics, such as 3D body pose tracking. In this topic, the deformation of the human body mesh has to be taken into account because of various poses of the human body. Considering the time cost of the body deformation, however, it’s impractical to adopt a high resolution body mesh generated from scanning systems for the real-time tracking. Mesh simplification is a solution to reduce the size of body meshes and accelerate the deformation process. In this paper, we propose a mesh simplification algorithm using deformation saliency for such deformable human body meshes. This algorithm is based on quadric edge contraction. The deformation saliency is computed from a set of meshes with various poses. With this saliency, our algorithm can simplify the 3D mesh non-uniformly. Experiment shows that using our algorithm can improve the accuracy of body pose simulation in the simplified resolution compared to using classical quadric edge contraction methods.