Upcoming Seminar

Date: Nov 29, 2016TBD

Speaker: Felix Heide

Title: ProxImaL: Efficient Image Optimization using Proximal Algorithms

Abstract: Computational photography systems are becoming increasingly diverse while computational resources, for example on mobile platforms, are rapidly increasing. As diverse as these camera systems may be, slightly different variants of the underlying image processing tasks, such as demosaicking, deconvolution, denoising, inpainting, image fusion, and alignment, are shared between all of these systems. Formal optimization methods have recently been demonstrated to achieve state-of-the-art quality for many of these applications. Unfortunately, different combinations of natural image priors and optimization algorithms may be optimal for different problems, and implementing and testing each combination is currently a time consuming and error prone process.

ProxImaL is a domain-specific language and compiler for image optimization problems that makes it easy to experiment with different problem formulations and algorithm choices. The language uses proximal operators as the fundamental building blocks of a variety of linear and nonlinear image formation models and cost functions, advanced image priors, and different noise models. The compiler intelligently chooses the best way to translate a problem formulation and choice of optimization algorithm into an efficient solver implementation. In applications to the image processing pipeline deconvolution in the presence of Poisson-distributed shot noise, and burst denoising, we show that a few lines of ProxImaL code can generate a highly-efficient solver that achieves state-of-the-art results. We also show applications to the nonlinear and nonconvex problem of phase retrieval.

Date: Dec 6, 2016

Speaker: Michael Kagan

Title: Deep Learning and Computer Vision in High Energy Physics 

Abstract: Recent advances in deep learning have seen great success in the realms of computer vision, natural language processing, and broadly in data science.  However,  these new ideas are only just beginning to be applied to the analysis of High Energy Physics data. In this talk, I will discuss developments in the application of computer vision and deep learning techniques to the analysis and interpretation of High Energy Physics data, with a focus on the Large Hadron Collider. I will show how these state-of-the-art techniques can significantly improve particle identification, aid in searches for new physics signatures, and help reduce the impact of systematic uncertainties. Furthermore, I will discuss methods to visualize and interpret the high level features learned by deep neural networks that provide discrimination beyond physics derived variables, adding a new capability to understand physics and to design more powerful classification methods in High Energy Physics.

Past Seminars

Date: Oct 18, 2016

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