Entropy, Volume 15, Issue 2 (February 2013) – 15 articles , Pages 416-720

Although stock option markets have grown dramatically over the past several decades, the relation between an option and its underlying asset, especially bidirectional conduction, is not particularly clear. So far, there have been many debates about this topic. We try to investigate this problem from a novel angle: an artificial stock market including a stock option is constructed in this paper. The model includes two parts, one is a stock trade module based on the Santa Fe Institute Artificial Stock Market (SFI-ASM), and the other is an option trade module. In the latter module, three types of option traders are employed. The results show that the model is effective, and experiments illustrate that option markets have a remarkable effect on stock markets. Furthermore, by appending options, the model replicates some stylized properties, such as volatility clustering and GARCH effect, which can be observed in real financial markets. Full article

The journal Entropy is initiating a “Best Paper” award to recognize outstanding papers in the area of entropy and information studies published in Entropy. We are pleased to announce the first “Entropy Best Paper Award” for 2013. Nominations were selected by the Editor-in-Chief and selected Editorial Board Members from all the papers published in 2009 and evaluated by the Entropy Best Paper Award Committee. Reviews and articles were evaluated separately. A first prize is awarded to the selected review paper, and a first and second prize is awarded to the top two selected research articles. [...] Full article

In this paper, we study a new bus communication model, where two transmitters wish to send their corresponding private messages and a common message to a destination, while they also wish to send the common message to another receiver connected to the same wire. From an information-theoretical point of view, we first study a general case of this new model (with discrete memoryless channels). The capacity region composed of all achievable (R₀,R₁,R₂) triples is determined for this general model, where R₁ and R₂ are the transmission rates of the private messages and R₀ is the transmission rate of the common message. Then, the result is further explained via the Gaussian example. Finally, we give the capacity region for the new bus communication model with additive Gaussian noises and attenuation factors. This new bus communication model captures various communication scenarios, such as the bus systems in vehicles, and the bus type of communication channel in power line communication (PLC) networks. Full article

This research presents a unified approach to power limits in power producing and power consuming systems, in particular those using renewable resources. As a benchmark system which generates or consumes power, a well-known standardized arrangement is considered, in which two different reservoirs are separated by an engine or a heat pump. Either of these units is located between a resource fluid (‘upper’ fluid 1) and the environmental fluid (‘lower’ fluid, 2). Power yield or power consumption is determined in terms of conductivities, reservoir temperatures and internal irreversibility coefficient, F. While bulk temperatures T_i of reservoirs’ are the only necessary state coordinates describing purely thermal units, in chemical (electrochemical) engines, heat pumps or separators it is necessary to use both temperatures and chemical potentials m_k. Methods of mathematical programming and dynamic optimization are applied to determine limits on power yield or power consumption in various energy systems, such as thermal engines, heat pumps, solar dryers, electrolysers, fuel cells, etc. Methodological similarities when treating power limits in engines, separators, and heat pumps are shown. Numerical approaches to multistage systems are based on methods of dynamic programming (DP) or on Pontryagin’s maximum principle. The first method searches for properties of optimal work and is limited to systems with low dimensionality of state vector, whereas the second investigates properties of differential (canonical) equations derived from the process Hamiltonian. A relatively unknown symmetry in behaviour of power producers (engines) and power consumers is enunciated in this paper. An approximate evaluation shows that, at least ¼ of power dissipated in the natural transfer process must be added to a separator or a heat pump in order to assure a required process rate. Applications focus on drying systems which, by nature, require a large amount of thermal or solar energy. We search for minimum power consumed in one-stage and multi-stage operation of fluidized drying. This multi-stage system is supported by heat pumps. We outline the related dynamic programming procedure, and also point out a link between the present irreversible approach and the classical problem of minimum reversible work driving the system. Full article

Starting from a very general trace-form entropy, we introduce a pair of algebraic structures endowed by a generalized sum and a generalized product. These algebras form, respectively, two Abelian fields in the realm of the complex numbers isomorphic each other. We specify our results to several entropic forms related to distributions recurrently observed in social, economical, biological and physical systems including the stretched exponential, the power-law and the interpolating Bosons-Fermions distributions. Some potential applications in the study of complex systems are advanced. Full article

Comparisons of eddy covariance (EC) tower measurements of CO2 concentration with mid-tropospheric observations from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) allow for evaluation of the rising global signal of this greenhouse gas in relation to surface carbon dynamics. Using an information theory approach combining relative entropy and wavelet multi-resolution analysis, this study has explored correlations and divergences between mid-tropospheric and surface CO2 concentrations in grasslands of northeastern Kansas. Results show that surface CO2 measurements at the Kansas Field Station (KFS) and the Konza Prairie Biological Stations 1B (KZU) and 4B (K4B) with different land-cover types correlate well with mid-tropospheric CO2 in this region at the 512-day timescale between 2007 and 2010. Relative entropy further reveals that AIRS observations are indicative of surface CO2 concentrations for all land-cover types on monthly (32-day) and longer timescales. AIRS observations are also similar to CO2 concentrations at shorter timescales at sites KFS and K4B experiencing woody encroachment, though these results require further investigation. Differences in species composition and microclimate add to the variability of surface concentrations compared with mid-tropospheric observations. Full article

We summarize the present state of research on the darkon fluid as a model for the dark sector of the Universe. Nonrelativistic massless particles are introduced as a realization of the Galilei group in an enlarged phase space. The additional degrees of freedom allow for a nonstandard, minimal coupling to gravity respecting Einstein’s equivalence principle. Extended to a self-gravitating fluid the Poisson equation for the gravitational potential contains a dynamically generated effective gravitational mass density of either sign. The equations of motion (EOMs) contain no free parameters and are invariant w.r.t. Milne gauge transformations. Fixing the gauge eliminates the unphysical degrees of freedom. The resulting Lagrangian possesses no free particle limit. The particles it describes, darkons, exist only as fluid particles of a self-gravitating fluid. This darkon fluid realizes the zero-mass Galilean algebra extended by dilations with dynamical exponent z = 5/3 . We reduce the EOMs to Friedmann-like equations and derive conserved quantities and a unique Hamiltonian dynamics by implementing dilation symmetry. By the Casimir of the Poisson-bracket (PB)-algebra we foliate the phase space and construct a Lagrangian in reduced phase space. We solve the Friedmann-like equations with the transition redshift and the value of the Casimir as integration constants. We obtain a deceleration phase for the early Universe and an acceleration phase for the late Universe in agreement with observations. Steady state equations in the spherically symmetric case may model a galactic halo. Numerical solutions of a nonlinear differential equation for the gravitational potential lead to predictions for the dark matter (DM) part of the rotation curves (RCs) of galaxies in qualitative agreement with observational data. We also present a general covariant generalization of the model. Full article

In a recent review an optimal thermodynamics and associated new upper bounds have been proposed, but it was only relative to power delivered by engines. In fact, it appears that for systems and processes with more than one utility (mainly mechanical or electrical power), energy conservation (First Law) is limited for representing their efficiency. Consequently, exergy analysis combining the First and Second Law seems essential for optimization of systems or processes situated in their environment. For thermomechanical systems recent papers report on comparisons between energy and exergy analysis and corresponding optimization, but the proposed models mainly use heat transfer conductance modelling, except for internal combustion engine. Here we propose to reconsider direct and inverse configurations of Carnot machines, with two examples. The first example is concerned with “thermofrigo-pump” where the two utilities are hot and cold thermal exergies due to the difference in the temperature level compared to the ambient one. The second one is relative to a “combined heat and power” (CHP) system. In the two cases, the model is developed based on the Carnot approach, and use of the efficiency-NTU method to characterize the heat exchangers. Obtained results are original thermodynamics optima, that represent exergy upper bounds for these two cases. Extension of the proposed method to other systems and processes is examined, with added technical constraints or not. Full article

We propose a thermodynamic interpretation of transfer entropy near equilibrium, using a specialised Boltzmann’s principle. The approach relates conditional probabilities to the probabilities of the corresponding state transitions. This in turn characterises transfer entropy as a difference of two entropy rates: the rate for a resultant transition and another rate for a possibly irreversible transition within the system affected by an additional source. We then show that this difference, the local transfer entropy, is proportional to the external entropy production, possibly due to irreversibility. Near equilibrium, transfer entropy is also interpreted as the difference in equilibrium stabilities with respect to two scenarios: a default case and the case with an additional source. Finally, we demonstrated that such a thermodynamic treatment is not applicable to information flow, a measure of causal effect. Full article

A computer-aided detection (CAD) system is helpful for radiologists to detect pulmonary nodules at an early stage. In this paper, we propose a novel pulmonary nodule detection method based on hierarchical block classification. The proposed CAD system consists of three steps. In the first step, input computed tomography images are split into three-dimensional block images, and we apply entropy analysis on the block images to select informative blocks. In the second step, the selected block images are segmented and adjusted for detecting nodule candidates. In the last step, we classify the nodule candidate images into nodules and non-nodules. We extract feature vectors of the objects in the selected blocks. Lastly, the support vector machine is applied to classify the extracted feature vectors. Performance of the proposed system is evaluated on the Lung Image Database Consortium database. The proposed method has reduced the false positives in the nodule candidates significantly. It achieved 95.28% sensitivity with only 2.27 false positives per scan. Full article

It is difficult to fully satisfy the energy demand of today’s society with renewables. Nevertheless, most of the energy we use is lost as non-functional waste energy, whereas a large part of the built environment’s energy demand is only for low-quality energy, so the initial demand for primary, high-quality energy can be reduced by more effective usage, such as by low-exergy means. Gaining insight into the parameters of energy demands and local renewable and residual energy potentials enables matching energy demand with a fitting potential, not only concerning quantity but taking into account location, temporality and quality as well. The method of Energy Potential Mapping (EPM) aims to visualise the energy potentials and demands by making information of quantity, quality and location of demand and supply accessible. The aspect of quality specifically applies to heat and cold. The methodology of EPM will be described and explained with case studies. The focus specifically lies on mapping heat (and cold), one of the main reasons for energy demand in the built environment. The visualisation of exergy, to be simplified as the quality of energy, becomes an extra parameter in the case of Dutch Heat Maps. These maps can help finding opportunities of practical implementations of exchanging or cascading heat or cold. This way EPM and Heat Mapping (HM) enables application of exergy principles in the built environment. EPM and HM can be seen as a local energy catalogue and can be useful in spatial planning for energy-based urban and rural plans. Full article

This paper presents an abbreviated method for estimating exergy destruction in a heat exchanger, requiring only black-box data of the exchanger’s inputs and outputs, and eliminating part of the mathematical difficulties associated with the calculations. A well-known model for temperature distributions in an exchanger is adapted for this case, and is used to distinguish between the contributions of the three major causes of the total exergetic loss: heat transfer, fluid friction and energy dissipation to the surroundings. This provides insight into the relative importance of the three, allowing for identification of potential improvements to a given design. Full article

In this paper, we investigate the model of wiretap channel with action-dependent channel state information. Given the message to be communicated, the transmitter chooses an action sequence that affects the formation of the channel states, and then generates the channel input sequence based on the state sequence and the message. The main channel and the wiretap channel are two discrete memoryless channels (DMCs), and they are connected with the legitimate receiver and the wiretapper, respectively. Moreover, the transition probability distribution of the main channel depends on the channel state. Measuring wiretapper’s uncertainty about the message by equivocation, inner and outer bounds on the capacity-equivocation region are provided both for the case where the channel inputs are allowed to depend non-causally on the state sequence and the case where they are restricted to causal dependence. Furthermore, the secrecy capacities for both cases are bounded, which provide the best transmission rate with perfect secrecy. The result is further explained via a binary example. Full article

Optomechanics may be viewed as a light-mechanics interface to realize hybrid structures for (classical or quantum) information processing, switching or storage. Using the two-laser technique, in this paper, we theoretically devise a protocol for quantum light memory via a cavity optomechanical system composed of a Fabry–Perot cavity and a mechanical resonator. Due to the long-lived mechanical resonator, this quantum memory for light based on optomechanically induced transparency (OMIT) can serve as a long-term memory that can store the full quantum light contained in an optical pulse. It is shown that, with the tunable pump laser, the quantum signal light can be reaccelerated and converted back on demand. Our presented work could open the door to all-optical routers for light memory devices and have a guide to actual experiments. Full article

The objective of this research is to investigate the feasibility of utilizing the multi-scale analysis and support vector machine (SVM) classification scheme to diagnose the bearing faults in rotating machinery. For complicated signals, the characteristics of dynamic systems may not be apparently observed in a scale, particularly for the fault-related features of rotating machinery. In this research, the multi-scale analysis is employed to extract the possible fault-related features in different scales, such as the multi-scale entropy (MSE), multi-scale permutation entropy (MPE), multi-scale root-mean-square (MSRMS) and multi-band spectrum entropy (MBSE). Some of the features are then selected as the inputs of the support vector machine (SVM) classifier through the Fisher score (FS) as well as the Mahalanobis distance (MD) evaluations. The vibration signals of bearing test data at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) are utilized as the illustrated examples. The analysis results demonstrate that an accurate bearing defect diagnosis can be achieved by using the extracted machine features in different scales. It can be also noted that the diagnostic results of bearing faults can be further enhanced through the feature selection procedures of FS and MD evaluations. Full article