We discuss semiempirical approaches and parametric methods developed for modeling molecular vibronic spectra. These methods, together with databases of molecular fragments, have proved efficient and flexible for solving various problems ranging from detailed interpretation of conventional...

The recent discovery of binary objects in the Kuiper-belt opens an invaluable window into past and present conditions in the trans-Neptunian part of the Solar System. For example, knowledge of how these objects formed can be used to impose constraints on planetary formation theories. We have...

We propose a simulated annealing algorithm (called SNICA for "stochastic non-negative independent component analysis") for blind decomposition of linear mixtures of non-negative sources with non-negative coefficients. The de-mixing is based on a Metropolis type Monte Carlo search for...

A recently proposed mutual information based algorithm for decomposing data into least dependent components (MILCA) is applied to spectral analysis, namely to blind recovery of concentrations and pure spectra from their linear mixtures. The algorithm is based on precise estimates of mutual...

The discovery that many trans-neptunian objects exist in pairs, or binaries, is proving invaluable for shedding light on the formation, evolution and structure of the outer Solar system. Based on recent systematic searches it has been estimated that up to 10% of Kuiper-belt objects might be...

We propose to use precise estimators of mutual information (MI) to find least dependent components in a linearly mixed signal. On the one hand this seems to lead to better blind source separation than with any other presently available algorithm. On the other hand it has the advantage, compared...

Several families of irregular moons orbit the giant planets. These moons are thought to have been captured into planetocentric orbits after straying into a region in which the planet's gravitation dominates solar perturbations (the Hill sphere). This mechanism requires a source of...

We propose a new dynamical model for capture of irregular moons which identifies chaos as the essential feature responsible for initial temporary gravitational trapping within a planet's Hill sphere. The key point is that incoming potential satellites get trapped in chaotic orbits close to...

It has been thought1–3 that the capture of irregular moons—with non-circular orbits—by giant planets occurs by a process in which they are first temporarily trapped by gravity inside the planet’s Hill sphere (the region where planetary gravity dominates over solar tides4). The capture of...