Sharp adaptation for spherical inverse problems with applications to medical imaging

This paper examines the estimation of an indirect signal embedded in white noise for the spherical case. It is found that the sharp minimax bound is determined by the degree to which the indirect signal is embedded in the linear operator. Thus, when the linear operator has polynomial decay, recovery of the signal is polynomial, whereas if the linear operator has exponential decay, recovery of the signal is logarithmic. The constants are determined for these classes as well. Adaptive sharp estimation is also carried out. In the polynomial case a blockwise shrinkage estimator is needed while in the exponential case, a straight projection estimator will suffice. The framework of this paper include applications to medical imaging, in particular, to cone beam image reconstruction and to diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. Discussion of these applications are included.     

State estimation for a dynamical system described by a linear equation with unknown parameters

We investigate the state estimation problem for a dynamical system described by a linear operator equation with unknown parameters in a Hilbert space. In the case of quadratic restrictions on the unknown parameters, we propose formulas for a priori mean-square minimax estimators and a posteriori linear minimax estimators. A criterion for the finiteness of the minimax error is formulated. As an example, the main results are applied to a system of linear algebraic-differential equations with constant coefficients.     

Minimax estimation and the least squares method

This paper is devoted to the problem of minimax estimation of parameters in linear regression models with uncertain second order statistics. The solution to the problem is shown to be the least squares estimator corresponding to the least favourable matrix of the second moments. This allows us to construct a new algorithm for minimax estimation closely connected with the least squares method. As an example, we consider the problem of polynomial regression introduced by A. N. Kolmogorov     

Abstract Inverse Estimation with Application to Deconvolution on Locally Compact Abelian Groups

Recovery of the unknown parameter in an abstract inverse estimation model can be based on regularizing the inverse of the operator defining the model. Such regularized-inverse type estimators are constructed with the help of a version of the spectral theorem due to Halmos, after suitable preconditioning. A lower bound to the minimax risk is obtained exploiting the van Trees inequality. The proposed estimators are shown to be asymptotically optimal in the sense that their risk converges to zero, as the sample size tends to infinity, at the same rate as this lower bound. The general theory is applied to deconvolution on locally compact Abelian groups, including both indirect density and indirect regression function estimation.     

Local Polynomial Regression: Optimal Kernels and Asymptotic Minimax Efficiency

We consider local polynomial fitting for estimating a regression function and its derivatives nonparametrically. This method possesses many nice features, among which automatic adaptation to the boundary and adaptation to various designs. A first contribution of this paper is the derivation of an optimal kernel for local polynomial regression, revealing that there is a universal optimal weighting scheme. Fan (1993, Ann. Statist., 21, 196-216) showed that the univariate local linear regression estimator is the best linear smoother, meaning that it attains the asymptotic linear minimax risk. Moreover, this smoother has high minimax risk. We show that this property also holds for the multivariate local linear regression estimator. In the univariate case we investigate minimax efficiency of local polynomial regression estimators, and find that the asymptotic minimax efficiency for commonly-used orders of fit is 100% among the class of all linear smoothers. Further, we quantify the loss in efficiency when going beyond this class.     

Hazard rate estimation for left truncated and right censored data

Left truncation and right censoring (LTRC) presents a unique challenge for nonparametric estimation of the hazard rate of a continuous lifetime because consistent estimation over the support of the lifetime is impossible. To understand the problem and make practical recommendations, the paper explores how the LTRC affects a minimal (called sharp) constant of a minimax MISE convergence over a fixed interval. The corresponding theory of sharp minimax estimation of the hazard rate is presented, and it shows how right censoring, left truncation and interval of estimation affect the MISE. Obtained results are also new for classical cases of censoring or truncation and some even for the case of direct observations of the lifetime of interest. The theory allows us to propose a relatively simple data-driven estimator for small samples as well as the methodology of choosing an interval of estimation. The estimation methodology is tested numerically and on real data.     

Adaptive estimation of linear functionals in functional linear models

We consider the estimation of the value of a linear functional of the slope parameter in functional linear regression, where scalar responses are modeled in dependence of randomfunctions. In Johannes and Schenk [2010] it has been shown that a plug-in estimator based on dimension reduction and additional thresholding can attain minimax optimal rates of convergence up to a constant. However, this estimation procedure requires an optimal choice of a tuning parameter with regard to certain characteristics of the slope function and the covariance operator associated with the functional regressor. As these are unknown in practice, we investigate a fully data-driven choice of the tuning parameter based on a combination of model selection and Lepski??s method, which is inspired by the recent work of Goldenshluger and Lepski [2011]. The tuning parameter is selected as theminimizer of a stochastic penalized contrast function imitating Lepski??smethod among a random collection of admissible values. We show that this adaptive procedure attains the lower bound for the minimax risk up to a logarithmic factor over a wide range of classes of slope functions and covariance operators. In particular, our theory covers pointwise estimation as well as the estimation of local averages of the slope parameter.     

Optimal designs with respect to Elfving's partial minimax criterion in polynomial regression

For the polynomial regression model on the interval [a, b] the optimal design problem with respect to Elfving's minimax criterion is considered. It is shown that the minimax problem is related to the problem of determining optimal designs for the estimation of the individual parameters. Sufficient conditions are given guaranteeing that an optimal design for an individual parameter in the polynomial regression is also minimax optimal for a subset of the parameters. The results are applied to polynomial regression on symmetric intervals [–b, b] (b1) and on nonnegative or nonpositive intervals where the conditions reduce to very simple inequalities, involving the degree of the underlying regression and the index of the maximum of the absolute coefficients of the Chebyshev polynomial of the first kind on the given interval. In the most cases the minimax optimal design can be found explicitly.Research supported in part by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.Research supported in part by NSF Grant DMS 9101730.     

NEAR MINIMAX POLYNOMIAL APPROXIMATION

In this paper a representation for linear polynomial projection is given. Then it isshown that the near minimax approximation is equivalant to a problem of the best approxima-tion of hivariste functions. And some properties for near minimax are obtained.     

Linear minimax estimation with ellipsoidal constraints

We consider the simultaneous linear minimax estimation problem in linear models with ellipsoidal constraints imposed on an unknown parameter. Using convex analysis, we derive necessary and sufficient optimality conditions for a matrix to define the linear minimax estimator. For certain regions of the set of characteristics of linear models and constraints, we exploit these optimality conditions and get explicit formulae for linear minimax estimators.     

Least-squares Polynomial Estimation from Observations Featuring Correlated Random Delays

The least-squares polynomial filtering and fixed-point smoothing problems of discrete-time signals from randomly delayed observations is addressed, when the Bernoulli random variables modelling the delay are correlated at consecutive sampling times. Recursive estimation algorithms are deduced without requiring full knowledge of the state-space model generating the signal process, but only information about the delay probabilities and the moments of the processes involved. Defining a suitable augmented observation vector, the polynomial estimation problem is reduced to the linear estimation problem of the signal based on the augmented observations, which is solved by using an innovation approach.     

The quantum generalization of optimal statistical estimation and hypothesis testing

A review of the fundamental ideas and methods of the optimal reception and processing of quantum signals is given. Estimation via an operator based on the usual and generalized measurements (e.g., quasi-measurements) are discussed. The theory of operator estimation enables one to obtain Bayes limits for the usual estimates. The change from usual measurements to quasi-measurements generally improves performance.

We show that some quasi-measurements can be realized as indirect measurements, and introduce an operator measure II(db) which describes the quasi-measurements on the space of measurements.

Estimation based on quasi-measurements is described by operator measures Q(du) on the space of estimates. Minimization with respect to Q(du) is minimization simultaneously for all quasi-measurements and all estimates.

For the M-ary hypothesis testing problem finding the optimum reduces to finding non-negative definite Hermitian operators Q₁,…, Q _m satisfying Q₁+…+Q _m = 1 where 1 is the identity operator, which extremize.

Optimal Bayes quantum estimation is discussed. In the case of Gaussian quantum signal and minimum variance estimation, finding the quasi-measurements leads to optimal linear estimation. Further suboptimal methods for finding the operator in more general cases are discussed.     

On estimation and adaptive estimation for locally asymptotically normal families

Summary Locally asymptotically minimax (LAM) estimates are constructed for locally asymptotically normal (LAN) families under very mild additional assumptions. Adaptive estimation is also considered and a sufficient condition is given for an estimate to be locally asymptotically minimax adaptive. Incidently, it is shown that a well known lower bound due to Hájek (1972) for the local asymptotic minimax risk is not sharp.Research partially supported by NSF grants no. MCS 78-02846 and MCS 77-03493-01     

A minimax theorem on circuits in projective graphs

A minimax theorem is proved. The theorem concerns packing non-separating circuits in eulerian graphs embedded in the projective plane. The proof includes a polynomial algorithm which produces a collection of edge-disjoint, non-separating circuits of the same cardinality as a transversal of such circuits.     

Minimax problems of discrete optimization invariant under majority operators

A special class of discrete optimization problems that are stated as a minimax modification of the constraint satisfaction problem is studied. The minimax formulation of the problem generalizes the classical problem to realistic situations where the constraints order the elements of the set by the degree of their feasibility, rather than defining a dichotomy between feasible and infeasible subsets. The invariance of this ordering under an operator is defined, and the discrete minimization of functions invariant under majority operators is proved to have polynomial complexity. A particular algorithm for this minimization is described.     

Statistical approach to some ill-posed problems for linear partial differential equations

For linear partial differential equations, some inverse source problems are treated statistically based on nonparametric estimation ideas. By observing the solution in a small Gaussian white noise, the kernel type of estimators is used to estimate the unknown source function and its partial derivatives.. It is proved that such estimators are consistent as the noise intensity tends to zero. Depending on the principal part of the differential operator, the optimal asymptotic rate of convergence is ascertained within a wide class of risk functions in a minimax sense. Received: 5 May 1997 / Revised version: 18 June 1998     

On the orthogonality of residual polynomials\newline of minimax polynomial preconditioning

Summary. This paper studies polynomials used in polynomial preconditioning for solving linear systems of equations. Optimum preconditioning polynomials are obtained by solving some constrained minimax approximation problems. The resulting residual polynomials are referred to as the de Boor-Rice and Grcar polynomials. It will be shown in this paper that the de Boor-Rice and Grcar polynomials are orthogonal polynomials over several intervals. More specifically, each de Boor-Rice or Grcar polynomial belongs to an orthogonal family, but the orthogonal family varies with the polynomial. This orthogonality property is important, because it enables one to generate the minimax preconditioning polynomials by three-term recursive relations. Some results on the convergence properties of certain preconditioning polynomials are also presented. Received February 1, 1992/Revised version received July 7, 1993     

On the convergence of the method for indefinite integration of oscillatory and singular functions

We consider the problem of convergence and error estimation of the method for computing indefinite integrals proposed in Keller [8]. To this end, we have analysed the properties of the difference operator related to the difference equation for the Chebyshev coefficients of a function that satisfies a given linear differential equation with polynomial coefficients. Properties of this operator were never investigated before. The obtained results lead us to the conclusion that the studied method is always convergent. We also give a rigorous proof of the error estimates.     

Strong duality for robust minimax fractional programming problems

We develop a duality theory for minimax fractional programming problems in the face of data uncertainty both in the objective and constraints. Following the framework of robust optimization, we establish strong duality between the robust counterpart of an uncertain minimax convex–concave fractional program, termed as robust minimax fractional program, and the optimistic counterpart of its uncertain conventional dual program, called optimistic dual. In the case of a robust minimax linear fractional program with scenario uncertainty in the numerator of the objective function, we show that the optimistic dual is a simple linear program when the constraint uncertainty is expressed as bounded intervals. We also show that the dual can be reformulated as a second-order cone programming problem when the constraint uncertainty is given by ellipsoids. In these cases, the optimistic dual problems are computationally tractable and their solutions can be validated in polynomial time. We further show that, for robust minimax linear fractional programs with interval uncertainty, the conventional dual of its robust counterpart and the optimistic dual are equivalent.     

On the Approximation of the Derivatives of Spline Quasi-Interpolation in Cubic Spline $S_3^{1,2}(∆_{mn}^{(2)})$

In this paper, based on the basis composed of two sets of splines with distinct local supports, cubic spline quasi-interpolating operators are reviewed on nonuniform type-2 triangulation. The variation diminishing operator is defined by discrete linear functionals based on a fixed number of triangular mesh-points, which can reproduce any polynomial of nearly best degrees. And by means of the modulus of continuity, the estimation of the operator approximating a real sufficiently smooth function is reviewed as well. Moreover, the derivatives of the nearly optimal variation diminishing operator can approximate that of the real sufficiently smooth function uniformly over quasi-uniform type-2 triangulation. And then the convergence results are worked out.