Audrey Repetti

A block coordinate variable metric forward---backward algorithm

A number of recent works have emphasized the prominent role played by the Kurdyka-Łojasiewicz inequality for proving the convergence of iterative algorithms solving possibly nonsmooth/nonconvex optimization problems. In this work, we consider the minimization of an objective function satisfying this property, which is a sum of two terms: (i) a differentiable, but not necessarily convex, function and (ii) a function that is not necessarily convex, nor necessarily differentiable. The latter function is expressed as a separable sum of functions of blocks of variables. Such an optimization problem can be addressed with the Forward–Backward algorithm which can be accelerated thanks to the use of variable metrics derived from the Majorize–Minimize principle. We propose to combine the latter acceleration technique with an alternating minimization strategy which relies upon a flexible update rule. We give conditions under which the sequence generated by the resulting Block Coordinate Variable Metric Forward–Backward algorithm converges to a critical point of the objective function. An application example to a nonconvex phase retrieval problem encountered in signal/image processing shows the efficiency of the proposed optimization method.

Scalable splitting algorithms for big-data interferometric imaging in the SKA era

In the context of next generation radio telescopes, like the Square Kilometre Array, the efficient processing of large-scale datasets is extremely important. Convex optimisation tasks under the compressive sensing framework have recently emerged and provide both enhanced image reconstruction quality and scalability to increasingly larger data sets. We focus herein mainly on scalability and propose two new convex optimisation algorithmic structures able to solve the convex optimisation tasks arising in radio-interferometric imaging. They rely on proximal splitting and forward-backward iterations and can be seen, by analogy with the CLEAN major-minor cycle, as running sophisticated CLEAN-like iterations in parallel in multiple data, prior, and image spaces. Both methods support any convex regularisation function, in particular the well studied l1 priors promoting image sparsity in an adequate domain. Tailored for big-data, they employ parallel and distributed computations to achieve scalability, in terms of memory and computational requirements. One of them also exploits randomisation, over data blocks at each iteration, offering further flexibility. We present simulation results showing the feasibility of the proposed methods as well as their advantages compared to state-of-the-art algorithmic solvers. Our Matlab code is available online on GitHub.

Non-convex optimization for self-calibration of direction-dependent effects in radio interferometric imaging

Radio interferometric imaging aims to estimate an unknown sky intensity image from degraded observations, acquired through an antenna array. In the theoretical case of a perfectly calibrated array, it has been shown that solving the corresponding imaging problem by iterative algorithms based on convex optimization and compressive sensing theory can be competitive with classical algorithms such as CLEAN. However, in practice, antenna-based gains are unknown and have to be calibrated. Future radio telescopes, such as the SKA, aim at improving imaging resolution and sensitivity by orders of magnitude. At this precision level, the direction-dependency of the gains must be accounted for, and radio interferometric imaging can be understood as a blind deconvolution problem. In this context, the underlying minimization problem is non-convex, and adapted techniques have to be designed. In this work, leveraging recent developments in non-convex optimization, we propose the first joint calibration and imaging method in radio interferometry, with proven convergence guarantees. Our approach, based on a block-coordinate forward-backward algorithm, jointly accounts for visibilities and suitable priors on both the image and the direction-dependent effects (DDEs). As demonstrated in recent works, sparsity remains the prior of choice for the image, while DDEs are modelled as smooth functions of the sky, i.e. spatially band-limited. Finally, we show through simulations the efficiency of our method, for the reconstruction of both images of point sources and complex extended sources. MATLAB code is available on GitHub.

A non-convex perspective on calibration and imaging in radio interferometry

New generations of imaging devices aim to produce high resolution and high dynamic range images. In this context, the associated high dimensional inverse problems can become extremely challenging from an algorithmic view point. Moreover, the imaging procedure can be affected by unknown calibration kernels. This leads to the need of performing joint image reconstruction and calibration, and thus of solving non-convex blind deconvolution problems. In this work, we focus on the case where the observed object is affected by smooth calibration kernels in the context of radio astronomy, and we leverage a block-coordinate forward-backward algorithm, specifically designed to minimize non-smooth non-convex and high dimensional objective functions.

A regularized tri-linear approach for optical interferometric imaging

In the context of optical interferometry, only undersampled power spectrum and bispectrum data are accessible. It poses an ill-posed inverse problem for image recovery. Recently, a tri-linear model was proposed for monochromatic imaging, leading to an alternated minimization problem. In that work, only a positivity constraint was considered, and the problem was solved by an approximated Gauss-Seidel method. In this paper, we propose to improve the approach on three fundamental aspects. Firstly, we define the estimated image as a solution of a regularized minimization problem, promoting sparsity in a fixed dictionary using either an

A Class of Randomized Primal-Dual Algorithms for Distributed Optimization

\ell_1

A non-convex optimization algorithm for joint DDE calibration and imaging in radio interferometry

or a weighted-

Fast kq-Space Sampling with Motion-Induced Phase in Diffusion MRI

\ell_1

Scalable Algorithm for Polarization Constrained Sparse Interferometric Stokes Imaging

regularization term. Secondly, we solve the resultant non-convex minimization problem using a block-coordinate forward-backward algorithm. This algorithm is able to deal both with smooth and non-smooth functions, and benefits from convergence guarantees even in a non-convex context. Finally, we generalize our model and algorithm to the hyperspectral case, promoting a joint sparsity prior through an

Time-Regularized Blind Deconvolution Approach for Radio Interferometry

\ell_{2,1}