169 research outputs found
The Bayesian Formulation of EIT: Analysis and Algorithms
We provide a rigorous Bayesian formulation of the EIT problem in an infinite
dimensional setting, leading to well-posedness in the Hellinger metric with
respect to the data. We focus particularly on the reconstruction of binary
fields where the interface between different media is the primary unknown. We
consider three different prior models - log-Gaussian, star-shaped and level
set. Numerical simulations based on the implementation of MCMC are performed,
illustrating the advantages and disadvantages of each type of prior in the
reconstruction, in the case where the true conductivity is a binary field, and
exhibiting the properties of the resulting posterior distribution.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure
MAP Estimators for Piecewise Continuous Inversion
We study the inverse problem of estimating a field from data comprising a
finite set of nonlinear functionals of , subject to additive noise; we
denote this observed data by . Our interest is in the reconstruction of
piecewise continuous fields in which the discontinuity set is described by a
finite number of geometric parameters. Natural applications include groundwater
flow and electrical impedance tomography. We take a Bayesian approach, placing
a prior distribution on and determining the conditional distribution on
given the data . It is then natural to study maximum a posterior (MAP)
estimators. Recently (Dashti et al 2013) it has been shown that MAP estimators
can be characterised as minimisers of a generalised Onsager-Machlup functional,
in the case where the prior measure is a Gaussian random field. We extend this
theory to a more general class of prior distributions which allows for
piecewise continuous fields. Specifically, the prior field is assumed to be
piecewise Gaussian with random interfaces between the different Gaussians
defined by a finite number of parameters. We also make connections with recent
work on MAP estimators for linear problems and possibly non-Gaussian priors
(Helin, Burger 2015) which employs the notion of Fomin derivative.
In showing applicability of our theory we focus on the groundwater flow and
EIT models, though the theory holds more generally. Numerical experiments are
implemented for the groundwater flow model, demonstrating the feasibility of
determining MAP estimators for these piecewise continuous models, but also that
the geometric formulation can lead to multiple nearby (local) MAP estimators.
We relate these MAP estimators to the behaviour of output from MCMC samples of
the posterior, obtained using a state-of-the-art function space
Metropolis-Hastings method.Comment: 53 pages, 21 figure
Hyperparameter Estimation in Bayesian MAP Estimation: Parameterizations and Consistency
The Bayesian formulation of inverse problems is attractive for three primary
reasons: it provides a clear modelling framework; means for uncertainty
quantification; and it allows for principled learning of hyperparameters. The
posterior distribution may be explored by sampling methods, but for many
problems it is computationally infeasible to do so. In this situation maximum a
posteriori (MAP) estimators are often sought. Whilst these are relatively cheap
to compute, and have an attractive variational formulation, a key drawback is
their lack of invariance under change of parameterization. This is a
particularly significant issue when hierarchical priors are employed to learn
hyperparameters. In this paper we study the effect of the choice of
parameterization on MAP estimators when a conditionally Gaussian hierarchical
prior distribution is employed. Specifically we consider the centred
parameterization, the natural parameterization in which the unknown state is
solved for directly, and the noncentred parameterization, which works with a
whitened Gaussian as the unknown state variable, and arises when considering
dimension-robust MCMC algorithms; MAP estimation is well-defined in the
nonparametric setting only for the noncentred parameterization. However, we
show that MAP estimates based on the noncentred parameterization are not
consistent as estimators of hyperparameters; conversely, we show that limits of
finite-dimensional centred MAP estimators are consistent as the dimension tends
to infinity. We also consider empirical Bayesian hyperparameter estimation,
show consistency of these estimates, and demonstrate that they are more robust
with respect to noise than centred MAP estimates. An underpinning concept
throughout is that hyperparameters may only be recovered up to measure
equivalence, a well-known phenomenon in the context of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck
process.Comment: 36 pages, 8 figure
Iterative Updating of Model Error for Bayesian Inversion
In computational inverse problems, it is common that a detailed and accurate
forward model is approximated by a computationally less challenging substitute.
The model reduction may be necessary to meet constraints in computing time when
optimization algorithms are used to find a single estimate, or to speed up
Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) calculations in the Bayesian framework. The use
of an approximate model introduces a discrepancy, or modeling error, that may
have a detrimental effect on the solution of the ill-posed inverse problem, or
it may severely distort the estimate of the posterior distribution. In the
Bayesian paradigm, the modeling error can be considered as a random variable,
and by using an estimate of the probability distribution of the unknown, one
may estimate the probability distribution of the modeling error and incorporate
it into the inversion. We introduce an algorithm which iterates this idea to
update the distribution of the model error, leading to a sequence of posterior
distributions that are demonstrated empirically to capture the underlying truth
with increasing accuracy. Since the algorithm is not based on rejections, it
requires only limited full model evaluations.
We show analytically that, in the linear Gaussian case, the algorithm
converges geometrically fast with respect to the number of iterations. For more
general models, we introduce particle approximations of the iteratively
generated sequence of distributions; we also prove that each element of the
sequence converges in the large particle limit. We show numerically that, as in
the linear case, rapid convergence occurs with respect to the number of
iterations. Additionally, we show through computed examples that point
estimates obtained from this iterative algorithm are superior to those obtained
by neglecting the model error.Comment: 39 pages, 9 figure
Large Data and Zero Noise Limits of Graph-Based Semi-Supervised Learning Algorithms
Scalings in which the graph Laplacian approaches a differential operator in the large graph limit are used to develop understanding of a number of algorithms for semi-supervised learning; in particular the extension, to this graph setting, of the probit algorithm, level set and kriging methods, are studied. Both optimization and Bayesian approaches are considered, based around a regularizing quadratic form found from an affine transformation of the Laplacian, raised to a, possibly fractional, exponent. Conditions on the parameters defining this quadratic form are identified under which well-defined limiting continuum analogues of the optimization and Bayesian semi-supervised learning problems may be found, thereby shedding light on the design of algorithms in the large graph setting. The large graph limits of the optimization formulations are tackled through Γ−convergence, using the recently introduced TL^p metric. The small labelling noise limits of the Bayesian formulations are also identified, and contrasted with pre-existing harmonic function approaches to the problem
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