Energy spectra of neutrons are important for identification of unknown neutron sources and for determination of the equivalent dose. Although standard energy spectra of neutrons are available in some situations, e.g.,...Energy spectra of neutrons are important for identification of unknown neutron sources and for determination of the equivalent dose. Although standard energy spectra of neutrons are available in some situations, e.g., for some radiotherapy treatment machines, they are unknown in other cases, e.g., for photoneutrons created in radiotherapy rooms and neutrons generated in nuclear reactors. In situations where neutron energy spectra need to be determined, unfolding the required neutron energy spectra using the Bonner sphere spectrometer (BSS) and nested neutron spectrometer (NNS) has been found promising. However, without any prior knowledge on the spectra, the unfolding process has remained a tedious task. In this work, a standalone numerical tool named ‘‘NRUunfold’’ was developed which could satisfactorily unfold neutron spectra for BSS or NNS, or any other systems using similar detection methodology. A generic and versatile algorithm based on maximum-likelihood expectation– maximization method was developed and benchmarked against the widely used STAY’SL algorithm which was based on the least squares method. The present method could output decent results in the absence of precisely calculated initial guess, although it was also remarked that employment of exceptionally bizarre initial spectra could lead to some unreasonable output spectra. The neutron count rates computed using the manufacturer’s response functions were used for sensitivity studies. The present NRUunfold code could be useful for neutron energy spectrum unfolding for BSS or NNS applications in the absence of a precisely calculated initial guess.展开更多
This paper deals with the problems of consistency and strong consistency of the maximum likelihood estimators of the mean and variance of the drift fractional Brownian motions observed at discrete time instants. Both ...This paper deals with the problems of consistency and strong consistency of the maximum likelihood estimators of the mean and variance of the drift fractional Brownian motions observed at discrete time instants. Both the central limit theorem and the Berry-Ess′een bounds for these estimators are obtained by using the Stein’s method via Malliavin calculus.展开更多
Maximum likelihood estimation(MLE)is an effective method for localizing radioactive sources in a given area.However,it requires an exhaustive search for parameter estimation,which is time-consuming.In this study,heuri...Maximum likelihood estimation(MLE)is an effective method for localizing radioactive sources in a given area.However,it requires an exhaustive search for parameter estimation,which is time-consuming.In this study,heuristic techniques were employed to search for radiation source parameters that provide the maximum likelihood by using a network of sensors.Hence,the time consumption of MLE would be effectively reduced.First,the radiation source was detected using the k-sigma method.Subsequently,the MLE was applied for parameter estimation using the readings and positions of the detectors that have detected the radiation source.A comparative study was performed in which the estimation accuracy and time consump-tion of the MLE were evaluated for traditional methods and heuristic techniques.The traditional MLE was performed via a grid search method using fixed and multiple resolutions.Additionally,four commonly used heuristic algorithms were applied:the firefly algorithm(FFA),particle swarm optimization(PSO),ant colony optimization(ACO),and artificial bee colony(ABC).The experiment was conducted using real data collected by the Low Scatter Irradiator facility at the Savannah River National Laboratory as part of the Intelligent Radiation Sensing System program.The comparative study showed that the estimation time was 3.27 s using fixed resolution MLE and 0.59 s using multi-resolution MLE.The time consumption for the heuristic-based MLE was 0.75,0.03,0.02,and 0.059 s for FFA,PSO,ACO,and ABC,respectively.The location estimation error was approximately 0.4 m using either the grid search-based MLE or the heuristic-based MLE.Hence,heuristic-based MLE can provide comparable estimation accuracy through a less time-consuming process than traditional MLE.展开更多
The neutron spectrum unfolding by Bonner sphere spectrometer(BSS) is considered a complex multidimensional model,which requires complex mathematical methods to solve the first kind of Fredholm integral equation. In or...The neutron spectrum unfolding by Bonner sphere spectrometer(BSS) is considered a complex multidimensional model,which requires complex mathematical methods to solve the first kind of Fredholm integral equation. In order to solve the problem of the maximum likelihood expectation maximization(MLEM) algorithm which is easy to suffer the pitfalls of local optima and the particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm which is easy to get unreasonable flight direction and step length of particles, which leads to the invalid iteration and affect efficiency and accuracy, an improved PSO-MLEM algorithm, combined of PSO and MLEM algorithm, is proposed for neutron spectrum unfolding. The dynamic acceleration factor is used to balance the ability of global and local search, and improves the convergence speed and accuracy of the algorithm. Firstly, the Monte Carlo method was used to simulated the BSS to obtain the response function and count rates of BSS. In the simulation of count rate, four reference spectra from the IAEA Technical Report Series No. 403 were used as input parameters of the Monte Carlo method. The PSO-MLEM algorithm was used to unfold the neutron spectrum of the simulated data and was verified by the difference of the unfolded spectrum to the reference spectrum. Finally, the 252Cf neutron source was measured by BSS, and the PSO-MLEM algorithm was used to unfold the experimental neutron spectrum.Compared with maximum entropy deconvolution(MAXED), PSO and MLEM algorithm, the PSO-MLEM algorithm has fewer parameters and automatically adjusts the dynamic acceleration factor to solve the problem of local optima. The convergence speed of the PSO-MLEM algorithm is 1.4 times and 3.1 times that of the MLEM and PSO algorithms. Compared with PSO, MLEM and MAXED, the correlation coefficients of PSO-MLEM algorithm are increased by 33.1%, 33.5% and 1.9%, and the relative mean errors are decreased by 98.2%, 97.8% and 67.4%.展开更多
As a widely used reconstruction algorithm in quantum state tomography, maximum likelihood estimation tends to assign a rank-deficient matrix, which decreases estimation accuracy for certain quantum states. Fortunately...As a widely used reconstruction algorithm in quantum state tomography, maximum likelihood estimation tends to assign a rank-deficient matrix, which decreases estimation accuracy for certain quantum states. Fortunately, hedged maximum likelihood estimation （HMLE） [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 （2010）200504] was proposed to avoid this problem. Here we study more details about this proposal in the two-qubit case and further improve its performance. We ameliorate the HMLE method by updating the hedging function based on the purity of the estimated state. Both performances of HMLE and ameliorated HMLE are demonstrated by numerical simulation and experimental implementation on the Werner states of polarization-entangled photons.展开更多
A Bayesian approach using Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms has been developed to analyze Smith’s discretized version of the discovery process model. It avoids the problems involved in the maximum likelihood method...A Bayesian approach using Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms has been developed to analyze Smith’s discretized version of the discovery process model. It avoids the problems involved in the maximum likelihood method by effectively making use of the information from the prior distribution and that from the discovery sequence according to posterior probabilities. All statistical inferences about the parameters of the model and total resources can be quantified by drawing samples directly from the joint posterior distribution. In addition, statistical errors of the samples can be easily assessed and the convergence properties can be monitored during the sampling. Because the information contained in a discovery sequence is not enough to estimate all parameters, especially the number of fields, geologically justified prior information is crucial to the estimation. The Bayesian approach allows the analyst to specify his subjective estimates of the required parameters and his degree of uncertainty about the estimates in a clearly identified fashion throughout the analysis. As an example, this approach is applied to the same data of the North Sea on which Smith demonstrated his maximum likelihood method. For this case, the Bayesian approach has really improved the overly pessimistic results and downward bias of the maximum likelihood procedure.展开更多
A diagnostic procedure based on maximum likelihood estimation, to study the convergence of the Markov chain produced by Gibbs sampler, is presented. The unbiasedness, consistent and asymptotic normality are considered...A diagnostic procedure based on maximum likelihood estimation, to study the convergence of the Markov chain produced by Gibbs sampler, is presented. The unbiasedness, consistent and asymptotic normality are considered for the estimation of the parameters produced by the procedure. An example is provided to illustrate the procedure, and the numerical result is consistent with the theoretical one.展开更多
基金support from the Neutron computer cluster from the Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong
文摘Energy spectra of neutrons are important for identification of unknown neutron sources and for determination of the equivalent dose. Although standard energy spectra of neutrons are available in some situations, e.g., for some radiotherapy treatment machines, they are unknown in other cases, e.g., for photoneutrons created in radiotherapy rooms and neutrons generated in nuclear reactors. In situations where neutron energy spectra need to be determined, unfolding the required neutron energy spectra using the Bonner sphere spectrometer (BSS) and nested neutron spectrometer (NNS) has been found promising. However, without any prior knowledge on the spectra, the unfolding process has remained a tedious task. In this work, a standalone numerical tool named ‘‘NRUunfold’’ was developed which could satisfactorily unfold neutron spectra for BSS or NNS, or any other systems using similar detection methodology. A generic and versatile algorithm based on maximum-likelihood expectation– maximization method was developed and benchmarked against the widely used STAY’SL algorithm which was based on the least squares method. The present method could output decent results in the absence of precisely calculated initial guess, although it was also remarked that employment of exceptionally bizarre initial spectra could lead to some unreasonable output spectra. The neutron count rates computed using the manufacturer’s response functions were used for sensitivity studies. The present NRUunfold code could be useful for neutron energy spectrum unfolding for BSS or NNS applications in the absence of a precisely calculated initial guess.
基金supported by the National Science Foundations (DMS0504783 DMS0604207)National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (70825005)
文摘This paper deals with the problems of consistency and strong consistency of the maximum likelihood estimators of the mean and variance of the drift fractional Brownian motions observed at discrete time instants. Both the central limit theorem and the Berry-Ess′een bounds for these estimators are obtained by using the Stein’s method via Malliavin calculus.
文摘Maximum likelihood estimation(MLE)is an effective method for localizing radioactive sources in a given area.However,it requires an exhaustive search for parameter estimation,which is time-consuming.In this study,heuristic techniques were employed to search for radiation source parameters that provide the maximum likelihood by using a network of sensors.Hence,the time consumption of MLE would be effectively reduced.First,the radiation source was detected using the k-sigma method.Subsequently,the MLE was applied for parameter estimation using the readings and positions of the detectors that have detected the radiation source.A comparative study was performed in which the estimation accuracy and time consump-tion of the MLE were evaluated for traditional methods and heuristic techniques.The traditional MLE was performed via a grid search method using fixed and multiple resolutions.Additionally,four commonly used heuristic algorithms were applied:the firefly algorithm(FFA),particle swarm optimization(PSO),ant colony optimization(ACO),and artificial bee colony(ABC).The experiment was conducted using real data collected by the Low Scatter Irradiator facility at the Savannah River National Laboratory as part of the Intelligent Radiation Sensing System program.The comparative study showed that the estimation time was 3.27 s using fixed resolution MLE and 0.59 s using multi-resolution MLE.The time consumption for the heuristic-based MLE was 0.75,0.03,0.02,and 0.059 s for FFA,PSO,ACO,and ABC,respectively.The location estimation error was approximately 0.4 m using either the grid search-based MLE or the heuristic-based MLE.Hence,heuristic-based MLE can provide comparable estimation accuracy through a less time-consuming process than traditional MLE.
基金supported by the National Natural science Foundation of China (No. 42127807)the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (No. 2020YJ0334)the Sichuan Science and Technology Breeding Program (No. 2022041)。
文摘The neutron spectrum unfolding by Bonner sphere spectrometer(BSS) is considered a complex multidimensional model,which requires complex mathematical methods to solve the first kind of Fredholm integral equation. In order to solve the problem of the maximum likelihood expectation maximization(MLEM) algorithm which is easy to suffer the pitfalls of local optima and the particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm which is easy to get unreasonable flight direction and step length of particles, which leads to the invalid iteration and affect efficiency and accuracy, an improved PSO-MLEM algorithm, combined of PSO and MLEM algorithm, is proposed for neutron spectrum unfolding. The dynamic acceleration factor is used to balance the ability of global and local search, and improves the convergence speed and accuracy of the algorithm. Firstly, the Monte Carlo method was used to simulated the BSS to obtain the response function and count rates of BSS. In the simulation of count rate, four reference spectra from the IAEA Technical Report Series No. 403 were used as input parameters of the Monte Carlo method. The PSO-MLEM algorithm was used to unfold the neutron spectrum of the simulated data and was verified by the difference of the unfolded spectrum to the reference spectrum. Finally, the 252Cf neutron source was measured by BSS, and the PSO-MLEM algorithm was used to unfold the experimental neutron spectrum.Compared with maximum entropy deconvolution(MAXED), PSO and MLEM algorithm, the PSO-MLEM algorithm has fewer parameters and automatically adjusts the dynamic acceleration factor to solve the problem of local optima. The convergence speed of the PSO-MLEM algorithm is 1.4 times and 3.1 times that of the MLEM and PSO algorithms. Compared with PSO, MLEM and MAXED, the correlation coefficients of PSO-MLEM algorithm are increased by 33.1%, 33.5% and 1.9%, and the relative mean errors are decreased by 98.2%, 97.8% and 67.4%.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11574291,61108009 and 61222504
文摘As a widely used reconstruction algorithm in quantum state tomography, maximum likelihood estimation tends to assign a rank-deficient matrix, which decreases estimation accuracy for certain quantum states. Fortunately, hedged maximum likelihood estimation （HMLE） [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 （2010）200504] was proposed to avoid this problem. Here we study more details about this proposal in the two-qubit case and further improve its performance. We ameliorate the HMLE method by updating the hedging function based on the purity of the estimated state. Both performances of HMLE and ameliorated HMLE are demonstrated by numerical simulation and experimental implementation on the Werner states of polarization-entangled photons.
文摘A Bayesian approach using Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms has been developed to analyze Smith’s discretized version of the discovery process model. It avoids the problems involved in the maximum likelihood method by effectively making use of the information from the prior distribution and that from the discovery sequence according to posterior probabilities. All statistical inferences about the parameters of the model and total resources can be quantified by drawing samples directly from the joint posterior distribution. In addition, statistical errors of the samples can be easily assessed and the convergence properties can be monitored during the sampling. Because the information contained in a discovery sequence is not enough to estimate all parameters, especially the number of fields, geologically justified prior information is crucial to the estimation. The Bayesian approach allows the analyst to specify his subjective estimates of the required parameters and his degree of uncertainty about the estimates in a clearly identified fashion throughout the analysis. As an example, this approach is applied to the same data of the North Sea on which Smith demonstrated his maximum likelihood method. For this case, the Bayesian approach has really improved the overly pessimistic results and downward bias of the maximum likelihood procedure.
文摘A diagnostic procedure based on maximum likelihood estimation, to study the convergence of the Markov chain produced by Gibbs sampler, is presented. The unbiasedness, consistent and asymptotic normality are considered for the estimation of the parameters produced by the procedure. An example is provided to illustrate the procedure, and the numerical result is consistent with the theoretical one.
