Stochastic Generalized Sampling

Abstract

Reconstructing an infinite-dimensional signal from a finite set of measurements is a fundamental problem in approximation theory and signal processing. While the generalized sampling (GS) framework provides a robust methodology for recovering elements in arbitrary separable Hilbert spaces, deterministic approaches suffer from severe basis-dependent dimensionality constraints, often requiring a quadratic sample complexity $m \gtrsim n^2$ to avoid numerical instability. In this paper, we introduce a fully stochastic framework for GS that natively overcomes these deterministic barriers. By drawing measurements according to an optimal leverage-score probability distribution, we prove that stable recovery is guaranteed with high probability at a near-linear sample complexity of $m \gtrsim n\log n$. Crucially, this optimal rate is universal-independent of the specific choice of measurement and reconstruction bases-and holds even when the sensing system is a highly redundant frame. To establish these guarantees, we derive a novel matrix Bernstein inequality for random rectangular operators, allowing us to rigorously control the aliasing error governed by the empirical cross-term. Finally, we demonstrate the practical efficacy of our approach on the classical problem of recovering analytic functions from continuous Fourier measurements via Legendre polynomials, where our randomized method achieve near-exponential convergence rates.