text: We analyze the decomposition problem of multivariate polynomial-exponential functions from truncated series and present new algorithms to compute their decomposition. Using the duality between polynomials and formal power series, we first show how the elements in the dual of an Artinian algebra correspond to polynomial-exponential functions. They are also the solutions of systems of partial differential equations with constant coefficients. We relate their representation to the inverse system of the roots of the characteristic variety. Using the properties of Hankel operators, we establish a correspondence between polynomial exponential series and Artinian Gorenstein algebras. We generalize Kronecker theorem to the multivariate case, by showing that the symbol of a Hankel operator of finite rank is a polynomial-exponential series and by connecting the rank of the Hankel operator with the decomposition of the symbol. A generalization of Prony's approach to multivariate decomposition problems is presented , exploiting eigenvector methods for solving polynomial equations. We show how to compute the frequencies and weights of a minimal polynomial-exponential decomposition , using the first coefficients of the series. A key ingredient of the approach is the flat extension criteria, which leads to a multivariate generalization of a rank condition for a Carath 'e odory-Fej 'e r decomposition of multivariate Hankel matrices. A new algorithm is given to compute a basis of the Artinian Gorenstein algebra, based on a Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization process and to decompose polynomial-exponential series. A general framework for the applications of this approach is described and illustrated in different problems. We provide Kronecker-type theorems for convolution operators, showing that a convolution operator (or a cross-correlation operator) is of finite rank, if and only if, its symbol is a polynomial-exponential function, and we relate its rank to the decomposition of its symbol. We also present Kronecker-type theorems for the reconstruction of measures as weighted sums of Dirac measures from moments and for the decomposition of polynomial-exponential functions from values. Finally, we describe an application of this method for the sparse interpolation of polylog functions from values.
  @cite_43: In this paper we review 30 years of developments and applications of the variable projection method for solving separable nonlinear least-squares problems. These are problems for which the model function is a linear combination of nonlinear functions. Taking advantage of this special structure, the method of variable projections eliminates the linear variables obtaining a somewhat more complicated function that involves only the nonlinear parameters. This procedure not only reduces the dimension of the parameter space but also results in a better-conditioned problem. The same optimization method applied to the original and reduced problems will always converge faster for the latter. We present first a historical account of the basic theoretical work and its various computer implementations, and then report on a variety of applications from electrical engineering, medical and biological imaging, chemistry, robotics, vision, and environmental sciences. An extensive bibliography is included. The method is particularly well suited for solving real and complex exponential model fitting problems, which are pervasive in their applications and are notoriously hard to solve.
  @cite_53: Type Ia supernova light curves are characterized by a rapid rise from zero luminosity to a peak value, followed by a slower quasi-exponential decline. The rise and peak last for a few days, while the decline persists for many months. It is widely believed that the decline is powered by the radioactive decay chain 56Ni → 56Co → 56Fe, but the rates of decline in luminosity do not exactly match the decay rates of Ni and Co. In 1976, Rust, Leventhal, and McCall [19] presented evidence that the declining part of the light curve is well modelled by a linear combination of two exponentials whose decay rates were proportional to, but not exactly equal to, the decay rates for Ni and Co. The proposed reason for the lack of agreement between the rates was that the radioactive decays take place in the interior of a white dwarf star, at densities much higher than any encountered in a terrestrial environment, and that these higher densities accelerate the two decays by the same factor. This paper revisits this model, demonstrating that a variant of it provides excellent fits to observed luminosity data from 6 supernovae.
summary: An important problem is to represent or approximate a function by a sparse or finite sum of exponential terms, removing the constraints on the frequencies. This problem has a long history and many applications, in particular in signal processing @cite_43 , @cite_53 .