Quanta in sound, the sound of quanta: a voice-informed quantum theoretical perspective on sound

Humans have a privileged, embodied way to explore the world of sounds, through vocal imitation. The Quantum Vocal Theory of Sounds (QVTS) starts from the assumption that any sound can be expressed and described as the evolution of a superposition of vocal states, i.e., phonation, turbulence, and supraglottal myoelastic vibrations. The postulates of quantum mechanics, with the notions of observable, measurement, and time evolution of state, provide a model that can be used for sound processing, in both directions of analysis and synthesis. QVTS can give a quantum-theoretic explanation to some auditory streaming phenomena, eventually leading to practical solutions of relevant sound-processing problems, or it can be creatively exploited to manipulate superpositions of sonic elements. Perhaps more importantly, QVTS may be a fertile ground to host a dialogue between physicists, computer scientists, musicians, and sound designers, possibly giving us unheard manifestations of human creativity.

Orthogonal Least Squares Algorithm for the Approximation of a Map and its Derivatives with a RBF Network

Radial Basis Function Networks (RBFNs) are used primarily to solve curve-fitting problems and for non-linear system modeling. Several algorithms are known for the approximation of a non-linear curve from a sparse data set by means of RBFNs. However, there are no procedures that permit to define constrains on the derivatives of the curve. In this paper, the Orthogonal Least Squares algorithm for the identification of RBFNs is modified to provide the approximation of a non-linear 1-in 1-out map along with its derivatives, given a set of training data. The interest on the derivatives of non-linear functions concerns many identification and control tasks where the study of system stability and robustness is addressed. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by a study on the stability of a single loop feedback system.