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Adapting Predictive Models for Cepheid Variable Star Classification Using Linear Regression and Maximum Likelihood

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2015

Kinjal Dhar Gupta
Affiliation:
Dept. of Computer Science, University of Houston.
Ricardo Vilalta
Affiliation:
Dept. of Computer Science, University of Houston.
Vicken Asadourian
Affiliation:
Dept. of Mathematics, University of Houston. 4800 Calhoun Road, Houston TX-70004, USA. email: kinjal13@cs.uh.edu, vilalta@cs.uh.edu, vmasadourian@uh.edu
Lucas Macri
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University. 4242 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA. email: lmacri@tamu.edu
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Abstract

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We describe an approach to automate the classification of Cepheid variable stars into two subtypes according to their pulsation mode. Automating such classification is relevant to obtain a precise determination of distances to nearby galaxies, which in addition helps reduce the uncertainty in the current expansion of the universe. One main difficulty lies in the compatibility of models trained using different galaxy datasets; a model trained using a training dataset may be ineffectual on a testing set. A solution to such difficulty is to adapt predictive models across domains; this is necessary when the training and testing sets do not follow the same distribution. The gist of our methodology is to train a predictive model on a nearby galaxy (e.g., Large Magellanic Cloud), followed by a model-adaptation step to make the model operable on other nearby galaxies. We follow a parametric approach to density estimation by modeling the training data (anchor galaxy) using a mixture of linear models. We then use maximum likelihood to compute the right amount of variable displacement, until the testing data closely overlaps the training data. At that point, the model can be directly used in the testing data (target galaxy).

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2015 

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