UC scientist explores new approaches to analysing oscillatory systems
As data sets grow in size and complexity, high-performance computing and efficient data-processing techniques have become increasingly indispensable.
Ricardo Gafeira, Director of the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory (OGA) at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC) and a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences, has co-authored a scientific article offering a comprehensive overview of tools used to analyse systems with oscillatory and periodic behaviour.
The paper, published in Nature Reviews Methods Primers, highlights the growing demand for advanced analytical approaches that combine modern theoretical frameworks with emerging technologies — including artificial intelligence — to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of oscillatory data analysis.
According to Ricardo Gafeira, oscillatory signals are common across a wide range of fields, including seismology, engineering, applied mathematics, as well as the biological, social, economic, physical, and computational sciences.
“As data sets grow in size and complexity, high-performance computing and efficient data-processing techniques have become increasingly indispensable. These theoretically sound methods are adaptable to a wide range of oscillatory systems and represent a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration, which is vital to advancing progress in this area,” says the astrophysicist.
The study adopts a multidisciplinary perspective and provides detailed insights into the use and limitations of various analytical tools, taking into account the specific requirements of different scientific objectives and the characteristics of the signals involved — including noise levels, nonlinearities, temporal variability, wavelength, and cadence.
“Targeted at a broad, multidisciplinary audience, this article is intended to serve as a key reference for the selection and appropriate use of tools to analyse oscillatory systems. It also features an open-access repository that provides a variety of analysis tools in an intuitive, user-friendly format,” says Gafeira.
The scientific article “Wave analysis tools” is available here.
