Related papers: Countering Violent Extremism: A mathematical model
The compact Variation Evolving Method (VEM) that originates from the continuous-time dynamics stability theory seeks the optimal solutions with variation evolution principle. It is further developed to be more flexible in solving the…
We propose a framework for studying predictability of extreme events in complex systems. Major conceptual elements -- hierarchical structure, spatial dynamics, and external driving -- are combined in a classical branching diffusion with…
Developing simple, sample-efficient learning algorithms for robust classification is a pressing issue in today's tech-dominated world, and current theoretical techniques requiring exponential sample complexity and complicated improper…
Computers may control safety-critical operations in machines having embedded software. This memoir proposes a regimen to verify such algorithms at prescribed levels of statistical confidence. The United States Department of Defense standard…
Latent variable models are a fundamental modeling tool in machine learning applications, but they present significant computational and analytical challenges. The popular EM algorithm and its variants, is a much used algorithmic tool; yet…
Chance constrained program where one seeks to minimize an objective over decisions which satisfy randomly disturbed constraints with a given probability is computationally intractable. This paper proposes an approximate approach to address…
Cyber resilience is the ability of a system to resist and recover from a cyber attack, thereby restoring the system's functionality. Effective design and development of a cyber resilient system requires experimental methods and tools for…
In the absence of drugs and vaccines, policymakers use non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing to decrease rates of disease-causing contact, with the aim of reducing or delaying the epidemic peak. These measures carry…
Deep-learning-based NLP models are found to be vulnerable to word substitution perturbations. Before they are widely adopted, the fundamental issues of robustness need to be addressed. Along this line, we propose a formal framework to…
While Robust Model Predictive Control considers the worst-case system uncertainty, Stochastic Model Predictive Control, using chance constraints, provides less conservative solutions by allowing a certain constraint violation probability…
I present a unified discussion of several recently published results concerning the escalation, timing and severity of violent events in human conflicts and global terrorism, and set them in the wider context of real-world and cyber-based…
We formalize the argument that political disagreements can be traced to a "clash of narratives". Drawing on the "Bayesian Networks" literature, we model a narrative as a causal model that maps actions into consequences, weaving a selection…
Incarceration-diversion treatment programs aim to improve societal reintegration and reduce recidivism, but limited capacity forces policymakers to make prioritization decisions that often rely on risk assessment tools. While predictive,…
In the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, several reports and studies have attempted to model and predict the spread of the disease. There is also intense debate about policies for limiting the damage, both to health and to the…
This paper introduces an Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) notion for survival analysis. The ODE notion not only provides a unified modeling framework, but more importantly, also enables the development of a widely applicable, scalable,…
We consider optimal control problems involving nonlinear ordinary differential equations with uncertain inputs. Using the sample average approximation, we obtain optimal control problems with ensembles of deterministic dynamical systems.…
This paper proposes a safety analysis method that facilitates a tunable balance between the worst-case and risk-neutral perspectives. First, we define a risk-sensitive safe set to specify the degree of safety attained by a stochastic…
Compartmental models have long served as important tools in mathematical epidemiology, with their usefulness highlighted by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. However, most of the classical models fail to account for certain features of this…
We investigate the emergence of extreme opinion trends in society by employing statistical physics modeling and analysis on polls that inquire about a wide range of issues such as religion, economics, politics, abortion, extramarital sex,…
In survival analysis, cure models have gained much importance due to rapid advancements in medical sciences. More recently, a subset of cure models, called destructive cure models, have been studied extensively under competing risks…