4,786 research outputs found
Recovering edges in ill-posed inverse problems: optimality of curvelet frames
We consider a model problem of recovering a function from noisy Radon data. The function to be recovered is assumed smooth apart from a discontinuity along a curve, that is, an edge. We use the continuum white-noise model, with noise level .
Traditional linear methods for solving such inverse problems behave poorly in the presence of edges. Qualitatively, the reconstructions are blurred near the edges; quantitatively, they give in our model mean squared errors (MSEs) that tend to zero with noise level only as as . A recent innovation--nonlinear shrinkage in the wavelet domain--visually improves edge sharpness and improves MSE convergence to . However, as we show here, this rate is not optimal.
In fact, essentially optimal performance is obtained by deploying the recently-introduced tight frames of curvelets in this setting. Curvelets are smooth, highly anisotropic elements ideally suited for detecting and synthesizing curved edges. To deploy them in the Radon setting, we construct a curvelet-based biorthogonal decomposition of the Radon operator and build "curvelet shrinkage" estimators based on thresholding of the noisy curvelet coefficients. In effect, the estimator detects edges at certain locations and orientations in the Radon domain and automatically synthesizes edges at corresponding locations and directions in the original domain.
We prove that the curvelet shrinkage can be tuned so that the estimator will attain, within logarithmic factors, the MSE as noise level . This rate of convergence holds uniformly over a class of functions which are except for discontinuities along curves, and (except for log terms) is the minimax rate for that class. Our approach is an instance of a general strategy which should apply in other inverse problems; we sketch a deconvolution example
The curvelet transform for image denoising
We describe approximate digital implementations of two new mathematical transforms, namely, the ridgelet transform and the curvelet transform. Our implementations offer exact reconstruction, stability against perturbations, ease of implementation, and low computational complexity. A central tool is Fourier-domain computation of an approximate digital Radon transform. We introduce a very simple interpolation in the Fourier space which takes Cartesian samples and yields samples on a rectopolar grid, which is a pseudo-polar sampling set based on a concentric squares geometry. Despite the crudeness of our interpolation, the visual performance is surprisingly good. Our ridgelet transform applies to the Radon transform a special overcomplete wavelet pyramid whose wavelets have compact support in the frequency domain. Our curvelet transform uses our ridgelet transform as a component step, and implements curvelet subbands using a filter bank of a` trous wavelet filters. Our philosophy throughout is that transforms should be overcomplete, rather than critically sampled. We apply these digital transforms to the denoising of some standard images embedded in white noise. In the tests reported here, simple thresholding of the curvelet coefficients is very competitive with "state of the art" techniques based on wavelets, including thresholding of decimated or undecimated wavelet transforms and also including tree-based Bayesian posterior mean methods. Moreover, the curvelet reconstructions exhibit higher perceptual quality than wavelet-based reconstructions, offering visually sharper images and, in particular, higher quality recovery of edges and of faint linear and curvilinear features. Existing theory for curvelet and ridgelet transforms suggests that these new approaches can outperform wavelet methods in certain image reconstruction problems. The empirical results reported here are in encouraging agreement
Bulk Entanglement Gravity without a Boundary: Towards Finding Einstein's Equation in Hilbert Space
We consider the emergence from quantum entanglement of spacetime geometry in
a bulk region. For certain classes of quantum states in an appropriately
factorized Hilbert space, a spatial geometry can be defined by associating
areas along codimension-one surfaces with the entanglement entropy between
either side. We show how Radon transforms can be used to convert this data into
a spatial metric. Under a particular set of assumptions, the time evolution of
such a state traces out a four-dimensional spacetime geometry, and we argue
using a modified version of Jacobson's "entanglement equilibrium" that the
geometry should obey Einstein's equation in the weak-field limit. We also
discuss how entanglement equilibrium is related to a generalization of the
Ryu-Takayanagi formula in more general settings, and how quantum error
correction can help specify the emergence map between the full quantum-gravity
Hilbert space and the semiclassical limit of quantum fields propagating on a
classical spacetime.Comment: 29 pages, 2 figure
On random tomography with unobservable projection angles
We formulate and investigate a statistical inverse problem of a random
tomographic nature, where a probability density function on is
to be recovered from observation of finitely many of its two-dimensional
projections in random and unobservable directions. Such a problem is distinct
from the classic problem of tomography where both the projections and the unit
vectors normal to the projection plane are observable. The problem arises in
single particle electron microscopy, a powerful method that biophysicists
employ to learn the structure of biological macromolecules. Strictly speaking,
the problem is unidentifiable and an appropriate reformulation is suggested
hinging on ideas from Kendall's theory of shape. Within this setup, we
demonstrate that a consistent solution to the problem may be derived, without
attempting to estimate the unknown angles, if the density is assumed to admit a
mixture representation.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/08-AOS673 the Annals of
Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical
Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
Generalized backscattering and the Lax-Phillips transform
Using the free-space translation representation (modified Radon transform) of
Lax and Phillips in odd dimensions, it is shown that the generalized
backscattering transform (so outgoing angle in terms of the
incoming angle with orthogonal and \Id-S invertible) may be further
restricted to give an entire, globally Fredholm, operator on appropriate
Sobolev spaces of potentials with compact support. As a corollary we show that
the modified backscattering map is a local isomorphism near elements of a
generic set of potentials.Comment: Minor changes, typos corrected, references adde
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