Discretization-free Bayesian inverse problems in distribution spaces

Daniela Calvetti; Erkki Somersalo

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arXiv · 2602.10247

Discretization-free Bayesian inverse problems in distribution spaces

Daniela Calvetti·Erkki Somersalo

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Abstract

The Bayesian approach to inverse problems provides a practical way to solve ill-posed problems by augmenting the observation model with prior information. Due to its measure-theoretic underpinnings, the approach has raised theoretical interest, leading to a rather comprehensive description in infinite-dimensional function spaces. The goal of this article is to bridge the infinite-dimensional theory for linear inverse problems in distribution spaces and associated computational inverse problems without resorting to a discrete approximation of the forward model. We show that the discretization of the unknown of interest is not necessary for the numerical treatment of the problem, the only approximations required being numerical quadratures that are independent of any discrete representation of the unknown. To demonstrate the viability of the approach, an analysis of X-ray tomography inverse problem is given in the proposed framework, and an analysis of the connection between the proposed approach and a discretization-based one is also provided.

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Daniela Calvetti, Erkki Somersalo. 2026-02-10. Discretization-free Bayesian inverse problems in distribution spaces. https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.10247

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